IT Chandigarh

Chandigarh Ungoverned

Chandigarh: The next time you take pity on a child seeking alms, think again. For this child, like hundreds of others, is part of any organised racket. Though he may be the one who rakes in the money, but he gets a paltry sum with 70 per cent of his daily earnings going to the group leader and the latter’s bosses.

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Be it the traffic lights and busy intersections in the city or market places in Sectors 17, 34 and 35, it is an organised gang that is involved in the begging operations. Small children from slum colonies, generally broken homes, are easy prey and recruited in the gang as front operatives. Daily, these children gather in the colony from where their gang leader ferries them to their ‘place of work’.

While the youngest of the gang members are let off and told to gather money, the mid-operatives, who liaison between the children and the gang leaders and are referred to as “bara bhai”- generally work in the same area as roadside vendors. The moment these children make some money, these mid-operatives immediately come and collect the same from them.
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Chandigarh: The state government has amended the Punjab Land Reforms Act, withdrawing powers from Sub-Divisional Magistrates (SDMs) to issue notices to landowners– essentially those possessing farmland– in order to review the status of landholdings. A notification in this regard issued last week will come into place with immediate effect.

Officials say the step has been taken to weed out corruption largely on account of the misuse of the provisions of the Act. Prior to this amendment, for decades SDMs held the powers to issue notice to a land owner to review a farmland’s bonafide status or to ensure there is no surplus land under their procession. The Punjab Land Reform Act to date provides for a cap on the maximum area a farmer can hold for cultivation.

An official says, “The powers were misused by harassing farmland owners. By taking the old records (prior to 1972 when the Act did not exist) as the basis, farm owners were issued review notices.”

Romila Dubey, Punjab’s Financial Commissioner Revenue (FCR), while talking to The Indian Express says there were complaints from certain areas of misuse of powers by the designated authority. “It was hard to track down each SDM in districts to ensure check. Instead of SDMs, now district collectors (DCs) will take care of the task if at all there is a need to review any such case,” she says.
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