Why Punjab’s new Land Pooling Policy being opposed? - II

The Punjab government has introduced a new land pooling policy what it claimed aimed at curbing illegal and unplanned development by involving landowners, promoters, and companies as stakeholders.

- BY JAG MOHAN THAKEN

Under this policy, landowners contributing land will receive developed plots in return—1,000 sq yards residential and 200 sq yards commercial per acre, with larger returns for pooling more land. Farmers are promised annual compensation of 30,000 per acre for up to three years until they receive possession. The government emphasizes the voluntary nature of the policy, requiring farmers’ written consent through an NOC.

However, the policy has drawn criticism from opposition parties and farmer unions. BJP’s Sunil Jakhar termed it a “Ponzi scheme”, claiming farmers are being misled and denied the right to sell their land post-notification. Congress leader Amarinder Singh Raja Warring questioned the need to convert 24,000 acres of prime farmland for non-agricultural use, warning of economic collapse. SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal accused the AAP government of using the 1995 Punjab Act instead of the more farmer-friendly 2013 central law to forcibly acquire 40,000 acres for party fundraising.

Farmer unions argue the policy threatens fertile, high-yield farmland without any proper survey or consultation. They fear the conversion of cultivable land into concrete structures and suspect the policy aims to benefit corporates and land mafias rather than meet genuine development needs. Protests are being planned across Punjab to resist the implementation of the policy, with fears of corporate exploitation and long-term harm to the agrarian economy.

Sharing the resentment voice of the farmers, Angrej Singh Bhadaur, Press Secretary, Bharatiya Kisan Union Ekta Dakonda, Punjab quotes the concerns raised by the union - Was there really any need to convert so much cultivable land into concrete jungles?