Punjab scraps, Chandigarh villages seek land pooling policy

A day after Punjab scrapped its land pooling policy following widespread protest by stakeholders and politicians, Chandigarh MP Manish Tewari on Tuesday demanded a similar policy for the villages that fall under the jurisdiction of the Union Territory (UT).

However, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), which governs the UT Administration, has said neither any such policy has been formulated in the past nor is there any plan under consideration for Chandigarh.

“The people of 22 villages in Chandigarh have been demanding for a very long time that a land pooling policy must be put in place in order to ensure that lands, which can no longer be utilised for agricultural purposes, are put to use for the development of the city,” said the Congress parliamentarian and former Union Minister.

Tewari said over a period of time, different political dispensations, especially the ruling party, have been giving assurances to the people of these villages that a land pooling policy is being formulated. Unfortunately, like all other assurances, this promises has also proven to be a chimera, a mirage.

“In response to my Parliament question above, the government has made it clear that no land pooling policy is being formulated or even being contemplated for that matter,” the senior Congress leader said.

He said the legitimate aspirations of the residents of these 22 villages in Chandigarh are being repeatedly belied, as is the case with all other developmental initiatives pertaining to Chandigarh.

“The Chandigarh administrative and governance model requires a reset,” reiterated MP Tewari.

Replying to his unstarred question, the Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai told Parliament on Tuesday that the Chandigarh Administration has informed the MHA that no land pooling policy has been formulated by them and nor is such policy under consideration.

Before the Punjab Government ordered the withdrawal of its land pooling policy on Monday, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had also ordered an interim stay on the operation of the government’s policy for four weeks, while holding that Punjab’s policy appears to have been notified in haste. Concerns, including social impact assessment and environment impact assessment should have been addressed before its notification, the court observed.