Punjab Village Panchayat Orders Migrant Families to Vacate, Deadline Issued

Fatehgarh Sahib (The Uttam Hindu) : Migrant families living in Lakhanpur village of Khamano block in Fatehgarh Sahib district of Punjab have been asked to vacate the village within a week. This decision has been taken by the village panchayat.

The Panchayat alleged that these migrant youths are camping on the banks of the canal, roam around in the streets of the village without any reason, smoke bidi-cigarettes in public places and harass women and children. The Panchayat has also claimed that some people are involved in the cultivation and consumption of intoxicating cannabis, which is spoiling the atmosphere of the village and increasing crime and insecurity. The villagers say that these migrant families had earlier come to work as laborers during the paddy planting and wheat harvesting season, but now they have started living permanently in the village. If they had Aadhar cards or identity cards, the situation would have been different, but due to their lack of identification, a crisis has arisen on law and order.

The village sarpanch has said that if any landlord wants to employ these migrant laborers on his motor or fields, he can do so but only by taking the identity card and with full responsibility. Along with this, the Panchayat has appealed to the administration to cooperate in removing the migrant families in view of the fear of crime, drug addiction and anti-social activities in the village.