Admn asleep as encroachments thrive on Sukhjit Ashram land
KAPURTHALA: Built on more than 8.5 acres land, Sukhjit Ashram – a home for mentally challenged children in Kapurthala – has now shrunk to 5 acres as the land around the ashram has been encroached upon.
The ashram, for which land was donated by the Maharaja Jagatjit Singh with an aim to shelter specially-abled children, was established in 1994 with the efforts of former minister Chaudhry Jagjit Singh. At present, as many as 30 speciallyabled children are being looked after at the ashram.
Information provided under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, revealed that around 60.1 kanal land was allotted to the Sukhjit Ashram, of which 16.7 kanal of land outside the ashram has been encroached upon by the shopkeepers.
At present, only 36.15 kanal is being utilised by the ashram along with the district fishery office. The remaining 7.8 kanal is not being utilised.
Meanwhile, the encroachers are not only enjoying the illegal possession of the shops for over the past decade some of them have also sublet the shops and minting good amount of rent.
Around 40 illegal shops surround the ashram’s three sides barring the front, where incidentally migrants have constructed slums.
While the ashram slowly shrinks away the administration has not yet batted an eyelid.
Paramjit Singh, executive officer, municipal council of Kapurthala said that he has taken up the matter to remove slums with the deputy commissioner and the temporary encroachments will be removed soon.
“As the ashram is constructed on government land, I am not the right person to comment on permanent encroachments,” he added.
Deputy commissioner of Kapurthala DS Mangat similarly skirted the issue and said the issue was under the district social security officer, who could not be contacted after several attempts.
The list of violators includes the Transport Corporation of India, which is one the biggest logistics service provider in the country. Other encroachers are Veerawali, Harbans Lal, Bushan Kumar, Sukhwinder, Tilak Raj, Joginder Pal, Jaswant Rai, Om Parkash , Tilak Raj Julka, PD Kashyap, Satnam Singh Bhatia, Asha Rani, Ram Lal, Ramesh Kumar and 18 others.