When the British Governor Approved the Sale of Government Land for Model Town Lahore at Rs 400 per Acre (Fifty Rupees per Kanal) (Episode 9)

The story of Model Town Lahore is not merely that of a residential colony. It is also a vivid reflection of the intricate bureaucratic structure of the colonial administration. In 1921, when Dewan Khem Chand and Sir Ganga Ram submitted a proposal to the Punjab Government for establishing a garden cooperative housing society in the forested tract of Rakh Kot Lakhpat, it became an unprecedented and challenging experiment for the provincial administration.

The proposal travelled through a long bureaucratic chain — from the Registrar of Cooperative Societies to the Deputy Commissioner Lahore, the Chief Commissioner Punjab, the Departments of Revenue, Forests, and Local Government, the Lahore Municipal Committee, the Surveyor General of India, the Chief Engineer Punjab Public Works Department, the Railway Contracting Office, and the Governor in Council Punjab. Eventually, it reached the Viceroy of India and the Home Department of the Government of India in Delhi.

Each department added its own observations, objections, and memoranda to the file. Some raised environmental concerns about the forested land, others questioned its proximity to defence zones, and a few debated issues of administrative jurisdiction.

During this period, detailed correspondence continued across departments, involving demarcation of boundaries, land surveys, financial assessments, payment schedules, encroachments, and verification of records. The file circulated between the Punjab Revenue Department, the Cooperative Societies Department, and the Finance and State Department for more than four years.

Later, the Military Command Headquarters Lahore and the Military Lands and Cantonment Board also raised objections, as the proposed site lay in the buffer zone separating the cantonment from the civil limits of the city.

Even today, the faded ink of the Model Town files preserved in the Punjab Archives at the Civil Secretariat Lahore seems to breathe with the memory of that era when a vision stepped out of paper and took form as a living settlement on the map of Lahore.

When the founders of the Model Town Cooperative Society, Lala Dewan Khem Chand and Sir Ganga Ram, formally applied to purchase the forest and game reserve land of Rakh Kot Lakhpat in 1921, the case was processed through the office of the Registrar Cooperative Societies Punjab.

Initially, the Forest Department objected, stating that the land of Rakh Kot Lakhpat was classified as Reserved Forest Land and could not be transferred for private or urban purposes. In its written response, the department observed:

“The land in question being part of the notified reserve of Rakh Kot Lakhpat cannot be alienated without the sanction of His Excellency the Governor in Council.”

This was the paragraph that, for the first time, made the approval of the Governor in Council legally indispensable.

The Registrar of Cooperative Societies forwarded the file to the Punjab Secretariat with a detailed note, arguing that the Model Town proposal was consistent with the principles of the cooperative housing movement, which the Punjab Government itself wished to promote.

The note further clarified that the Society’s objective was not speculative purchase and sale of land but the creation of a well-planned collective housing settlement that could serve as a new model of civic welfare for the educated middle class.

It is important to recall that in the early twentieth century, the British Government had introduced the Cooperative Movement in India to address issues of rural credit, agriculture, and local welfare through collective community effort. The intention was that citizens would combine their capital, labour, and resources to resolve their financial, commercial, and residential challenges through cooperative organisation rather than relying entirely on the state.

In early June 1922, the Registrar’s file was presented to the Governor of Punjab, Sir Edward Douglas Maclagan, who wrote a clear and historic note on it:

“This proposal appears to be in harmony with the broader cooperative housing movement being encouraged by the Government. The land may be transferred to the Model Town Cooperative Society, subject to conditions of full payment and compliance with civic planning norms.”

This note was later incorporated into the Minute of the Governor in Council, Punjab (June 1922). The file was then forwarded to the Departments of Finance and Forests for completion of the financial and legal processes of land allotment.

This step effectively removed the final administrative barrier to the establishment of Model Town Lahore.

At this stage, the Government of Punjab entered the execution phase, carrying out three essential actions:

1. Financial Sanction

The Finance Department sought confirmation from the Revenue Department regarding the valuation of the land. After consultation among the Departments of Finance, Forests, and Revenue, it was determined that since the land was forested and undeveloped, its fair value should be fixed at Rs 400 per acre, equal to Rs 50 per kanal. The Governor in Council approved this rate as reasonable.

2. Revision of Forest Records

The Forest Department temporarily de-reserved the section of land previously classified as Reserved Forest to permit its development for urban purposes. The land of Rakh Kot Lakhpat was then re-entered in the Revenue Estate to ensure clarity in future transfers and taxation records.

3. Mutation and Demarcation

The Deputy Commissioner Lahore was instructed to complete the demarcation and mutation of the land and to submit a report. This work was concluded by early 1923.

Although the administrative processes continued until early 1923, the Governor in Council Punjab had already issued formal approval in June 1922, declaring the allotment cleared and sanctioned.

With the administrative and financial matters between the Society and the Government of Punjab resolved, a new challenge arose.

When military and civil authorities in Lahore, particularly the Cantonment Board and the Chief Commissioner’s Office, learned that a new housing scheme was being developed along Kasur Road, they objected that the proposed site lay within a sensitive buffer zone between cantonment and civil boundaries. They expressed concern that the establishment of a residential settlement might later create jurisdictional and defence-related disputes.

Governor Maclagan reviewed all objections carefully and, after consulting the relevant departments, argued that a cooperative settlement such as Model Town would not intensify such divisions but would, in fact, help to balance the interests of the military and civil administrations. He stated that if the Society were legally structured and placed under municipal supervision with defined construction regulations, the area could serve as a planned transitional zone for Lahore’s future urban expansion rather than a cause of conflict.

At that time, Lahore was undergoing profound transformation. The First World War (1914 to 1918) had recently ended, and the city was entering a new phase of growth. Soon after the war, the British administration extended the Lahore Cantonment up to Walton, which became important for both military and civil aviation. A new aerodrome was constructed there beginning in 1919 and became operational in 1920.

On one side of Kasur Road, the aerodrome was emerging; on the other, preparations were underway to lay the foundations of India’s first modern cooperative township — Model Town Lahore.

It was an era when the identity, geography, and atmosphere of Lahore were being reshaped. To the south, where once stood the ancient forests of Rakh and Bhabhra, new aerodromes and housing settlements were taking form. The post-war city of Lahore was indeed becoming a city of the modern age.

Governor Sir Edward Maclagan, well aware of these urban transitions, addressed the objections of the military and civil departments with legal, environmental, and administrative reasoning. He faced strong resistance, but after prolonged correspondence and consultation, the Governor in Council ruled that the land of Rakh Kot Lakhpat should be cleared and sanctioned for transfer to the Model Town Cooperative Society.

Soon after this approval, the Governor in Council Punjab forwarded the Model Town file to the Viceroy of India, Lord Reading, for review in Delhi. Historical records show that this report, titled “Alienation of Crown Land near Kot Lakhpat, Lahore District,” was sent to the Home Department of the Government of India in June 1922 to keep the central administration informed about Punjab’s cooperative housing initiatives.

According to the India Office Records (IOR L PJ 6 1922) preserved in London, Viceroy Lord Reading examined the report in detail and expressed appreciation for the project.

It was then, for the first time, under the order of the Governor of Punjab, that approximately two hundred acres of land near Kot Lakhpat were transferred to the Model Town Cooperative Society at Rs 400 per acre, equal to Rs 50 per kanal. This was the first allotment that gave Model Town its formal legal and financial foundation.

The original note preserved in the official record reads:

“The first tract of land comprising approximately 200 acres was transferred to the Model Town Cooperative Society under the approval of His Excellency the Governor in Council, Punjab, June 1922. The rate of Rs 400 per acre may be accepted as reasonable considering the undeveloped and forested nature of the land near Kot Lakhpat.”

Most of the records relating to Model Town Lahore are today preserved in the Punjab Archives at the Old Secretariat Building in Lahore, which remains the central repository of the province’s historical government documents.

To be continued in the next episode.

(This article is excerpted from my forthcoming book

The Birth of Model Town in Colonial Lahore (“برطانوی لاہور میں ماڈل ٹاؤن کا جنم”).

The book will soon be available through the Real Estate Think Tank and the web portal SyedShayan.com. A comprehensive documentary on the same subject is also in its final stage of production. Individuals or institutions wishing to share historical documents, research material, or photographic records are most welcome to contribute. Such material will be invaluable for scholarly reference and historical authenticity. Current or former residents of Model Town who wish to share their memories, photographs, or reflections for this historical book or documentary may contact

mail@syedshayan.com

Facebook.com/SyedShayanOfficial

Syed Shayan )