In a demonstration held on Sunday, as many as 60 families who were evicted from 4 acres of municipal land last month for alleged illegal occupation, demanded immediate rehabilitation.

The protestors, led by Punjab Dalit Chetna Manch president Shamsher Singh, marched towards National Highway-21 threatening to launch a mass public agitation against the district administration in case their demands were not met.

At the rally following the demonstration, Singh blamed the district administration for the displacement of Scheduled Caste families without any alternate arrangements for their rehabilitation. Over 300 persons, including small children, women and aged were rendered homeless without shelter. “If it was encroachment, why was it not checked when it was coming up,” Singh said. Demanding stern action against the officials, who first allowed the alleged encroachment and then displaced the families, Singh declared the Manch will lead the agitation and resort to all possible means for the rehabilitation of the displaced families.