Punjab Congress: High Court order on land pooling policy validates farmers’ concerns

Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring on Thursday said the High Court’s order related to the land pooling policy has validated farmers’ concerns.

The Congress leader said he hoped that better sense would prevail among those in power following the order.

“As we have already said, we will force the government to withdraw this policy using all legal, legitimate and democratic means,” he added.

Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly Partap Singh Bajwa said the order was a “historic victory” for the people of Punjab.

“The 2013 (Land Acquisition) Act provides strong legal safeguards for landowners, including making it mandatory to get the consent of 70–80 per cent of landowners, fair compensation, social impact assessment, rehabilitation and resettlement,” he said

Congress MLA Pargat Singh said the court order was a resounding answer to the “wrong policies of the AAP government and CM Bhagwant Mann”.

“The state government must now realise that land grabbing under the guise of development will not be tolerated and that looting Punjab’s land worth crores at the expense of farmers will be fiercely resisted,” he said.