The AAP government in Punjab on Monday withdrew its land pooling policy due to strict opposition from rival political parties and peasant bodies.Although the government was defending the policy of Punjab and Haryana High Court a few days ago, or ordered an interim stay on its implementation for four weeks.
According to the now-scrapped policy, the owner of a land will be given a 200 square yard residential plot and a 200 square yard commercial plot in a fully developed land in exchange for one acre land.On Monday evening, the Principal Secretary in the Housing and Urban Development Department said, “The government withdrew the land pooling policy and subsequent amendments on 14 May.” According to the statement, “As a result, all action, such as letters of intention issued, registered, or any other action will be reversed.”On August 7, the High Court ordered an interim migration on the policy, assuming that it was notified in haste and concerns, including social impact assessment and environmental impact assessment, must have been addressed before its notification.The AAP government led by Bhagwant Mann was facing flakes from opposition parties and various peasant bodies, which gave the land pooling policy “looting” scheme, which aims to “loot” the farmers of their land.Shiromani Akali Dal, BJP and Congress, others had staged several protests against the policy, while various peasant bodies including Samyukta Kisan Morcha also planned demonstrations and protests.The AAP had hit opposition parties to spread “publicity” against the state government’s policy, describing it as “farmers friendly” by party leaders.The state government had planned to acquire about 65,000 acres of land in 164 villages including Ludhiana to develop residential and industrial areas.It had earlier assured people that not a single yard of the land would be forcibly acquired from the owners and emphasized that the policy was designed to promote transparent and planned urban development across the state.
