Farmers to protest against land pooling scheme tomorrow

Farmers from Kukkad Pind, Rehmanpur, Alipur, Nangal Karar Khan, Kotla Kalan and Kotla Khurd villages are set to stage a protest against the Punjab Government’s proposed land pooling scheme aimed at developing Urban Estate, Phase-3 along the Jalandhar Cantonment area.

Congress MLA from the Jalandhar Cantonment Assembly segment, Pargat Singh, will join the farmers at Kukkad village on July 6 to extend his support against the plan initiated by the Jalandhar Development Authority (JDA). The state government under the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has proposed the use of an estimated 1,000 acres of land for urbanisation in the region.

The farmers of the six villages have stated that they will register their dissent to the proposal during their respective gram sabha meetings. “If more than 70 per cent of the farmers in a village express their dissent, the scheme cannot be initiated. Land pooling is a voluntary scheme and the land of farmers cannot be forcibly acquired,” they asserted.

They further said there is no assurance regarding the timeline for the completion of the scheme or the allotment of plots to farmers. “If the scheme becomes entangled in legal issues, farmers risk losing not only their land but also their livelihood for an indefinite period. We will not let the farmers suffer at any cost,” said MLA Pargat Singh in support of the protest.

Jalandhar already has two Urban Estates, with the second developed nearly 25 years ago. The planning for Urban Estate, Phase-3 was originally undertaken during the SAD-BJP regime, with a master plan finalised for areas from Paragpur-Pholariwal to Nakodar Road. However, the plan failed to take off due to a lukewarm response from farmers at the time.