Should Panchayats Reject the Land Pooling Scheme? Sukhbir Badal's Call

Ludhiana, July 22 (NationPress) Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) President Sukhbir Badal urged panchayats impacted by the Aam Aadmi Party's ambitious 40,000-acre land pooling initiative to pass resolutions asserting their commitment to retain their land, emphasizing that the party will not permit the acquisition of even a single inch.

During a sit-in protest outside the Deputy Commissioner’s office, Badal demanded the cancellation of the entire 40,000-acre land acquisition scheme.

He stated that the Akali Dal would escalate their protests against this land acquisition by organizing weekly ‘dharnas’, with the inaugural protest scheduled for July 28 in Mohali and another on August 4 in Bathinda.

Badal accused AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal of orchestrating this “theft in collusion with Delhi builders” who were promised significant land tracts based on their demands.

He cautioned the Chief Secretary, now chairing all development authorities, along with their members, that they would be held responsible for any unlawful actions taken during the land acquisition processes in the state.

Diving into the issue, Badal explained that the AAP government aims to acquire 40,000 acres of land, including 24,000 in Ludhiana alone, utilizing the outdated State Land Acquisition Act of 1995 instead of the more equitable Central Land Acquisition Act of 2013.

He highlighted that the 1995 legislation permits the exclusion of certain land parcels from acquisition and allows for auction or allotment based on the ruling party's preferences.

“This will create opportunities for corruption and permit selective exclusion of land parcels from auctions based on government whims. In contrast, the Central Act mandates compensation at four times the collector rate, along with a resettlement scheme,” he noted.

Badal argued that the state’s land acquisition attempt under the 1995 Act was not approved by the state Assembly, rendering it illegal and unconstitutional. He emphasized that small farmers would suffer the most under this new acquisition scheme.

“Farmers with 50 acres would only reclaim 60 percent of their land, while those with nine acres would only recover 33 percent. Additionally, farmers would be restricted from selling their land, securing loans against it, or changing its land use once acquisition notifications are issued,” he elaborated.

Senior leader Daljit Singh Cheema pointed out that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had recently attempted to justify this policy.

He challenged the Chief Minister to explain why he refused to endorse the policy if it was indeed designed for the farmers' benefit, instead forcing the AAP Delhi leadership to replace him as Chairman of development authorities with the Chief Secretary.