Punjab launches PERA: A bold reform or a flashpoint in the making?

By Javed Iqbal

The Punjab government has launched the Punjab Enforcement and Regulatory Authority (PERA), a new force tasked with removing illegal encroachments from public lands and ending inflation.

Backed by the Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz’s personal interest, it aims to revive the province’s paralyzed executive enforcement after the end of the executive magistracy.

However, the structural flaws in its design may undercut its mission.

PERA operates under the Deputy Commissioner and depends on revenue officials — many of whom are heavily politicised. Patwaris, registry clerks and the borrowed police personnel often work under the influence of local MPAs and MNAs, raising concerns that only politically unprotected encroachments will be targeted.

Initial actions will define its legitimacy. If PERA bulldozes poor vendors and slum dwellings while sparing elite land grabbers, it will lose public support, trigger law and order issues, and face resistance from police due to turf battles.

Another hurdle is the misuse of judicial stay orders. Courts are expected to be flooded with petitions may block PERA operations. Legal reforms are needed to time-limit these orders and ensure swift judicial decisions — justice must not shelter land mafias.

Meanwhile, police are reportedly increasingly overstepping into land disputes. Officers are seen bragging online about evicting land occupants — a task meant for courts and revenue departments. Helplines like 15 are also misused to manipulate police into unlawful evictions. This jurisdictional overlap must end.

A divisional commissioner, speaking on condition of anonymity, stressed that the solution lies not in new bodies, but in tech-driven transparency. Publicly accessible, blockchain-based land records could curb manipulation and empower citizens and regulators alike.

Additionally, judicial reforms are essential. Stay orders must be time-bound, and magistrates compelled to conclude hearings swiftly. Land grabbing thrives on delays.

There’s also a need to depoliticize the enforcement structure. Summary trials by Assistant Commissioners sound efficient but are often marred by incompetence and political appointments. Unless ACs are appointed on merit, these trials may turn into summary injustice.

Revenue experts suggest the following urgent reforms for PERA to succeed:

Former Secretary and BOR member Zaman Watto suggested to empower revenue officers — not police — with eviction authority, enforce accountability for abuse of power, amend the Land Revenue Act to strengthen ACs’ authority.

Revise CrPC Section 145, often misused to protect land grabbers, target powerful landowners first, not poor one, digitize land demarcation data with tamper-proof, transparent tech.

Beyond land recovery, PERA is also responsible for market regulation. Yet, sugar prices remain unchecked, and the Punjab Sugar Supply-Chain Order lies dormant. Selective price controls — mostly targeting farmers — risk crushing agriculture.

Litmus test for PERA

To prove its impartiality and seriousness, the authority must begin by reclaiming thousands of acres of state land worth trillions of rupees, that, although officially owned by different departments like the Punjab Seed Corporation (over 5,000 acres meant for agricultural research), Auqaf, Irrigation, and trusts or shamlat lands, are currently under illegal possession of politically-backed individuals and land mafias.

These are not petty encroachments but systematic land grabs of strategic assets, often facilitated through political patronage and administrative silence. If the authority avoids confronting these high-powered encroachments and focuses instead on symbolic operations against the weak, it will only confirm fears that this initiative is more about optics than justice. True credibility lies in reclaiming what the state owns but dares not touch.

Bottom line: A promising move shackled by systemic failures

PERA is a step in the right direction — but unless political influence, judicial delays, and institutional turf wars are addressed, it may become another tool of selective justice. Transparency, tech adoption, and a shift in enforcement culture will determine whether it reforms Punjab or reinforces the status quo.