Punjab: Land policy to spur graft by AAP leaders, alleges Opposition

The Opposition parties in the state on Tuesday slammed the Punjab Government’s recently launched land pooling policy, alleging that its implementation would result in large-scale corruption by ruling AAP leaders.

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The policy was unveiled last month to boost urban development, with the government claiming that it would benefit farmers and landowners as they would get plots of higher value than the actual cost of their land.

The policy has been rolled out for 27 urban centres. Townships will be developed near several cities, including Ludhiana, where over 24,000 acres is expected to be acquired for the purpose.

The policy envisaged “complete voluntary participation” by landowners.

However, Congress leader and former Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi questioned the intention of the AAP government behind launching the scheme.

‘Scam being engineered by ruling party leaders’

“It is a land scam being engineered by Delhi leaders of AAP. Otherwise, there was no point in going for the acquisition in excess to the actual needs of Punjab residents,” he said.

Channi claimed that the government had launched the scheme to raise loan against the land to be acquired under it to fund its poll promise of providing a monthly stipend of Rs 1,000 to women.

Union Minister of State for Railways and Food Processing Ravneet Singh Bittu said the decision to acquire 24,000 acres in villages around Ludhiana would have disastrous consequences for farmers.

The BJP leader accused AAP leaders of “functioning like property dealers”.

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Badal alleged that the AAP government was “selling government bonds to finance the acquisition of 24,000 acres of fertile farm land adjoining Ludhiana to fill its own coffers”.

Terming it a “multi-crore scam”, he alleged that AAP leaders “would use the acquisition process to make money”.

“It (the government) is promising change of land use in back dates to property dealers and land sharks in exchange for bribes,” alleged Sukhbir.

‘Land being acquired along Bharatmala road project’

The Lok Raj Punjab, an NGO, too said the acquisition was likely to uproot historic and heritage villages, besides shrinking the availability of fertile agricultural land.

The NGO’s president, Dr Manjit Singh Randhawa, said, “The land for the proposed urban estates was being acquired along the Bharatmala project (Delhi-Amritsar-Katra expressway).

He sought an explanation from the government over it.

Dr Randhawa, along with Harinder Singh Brar, former Chairman and Engineer-in Chief of the PSPCL, appealed to affected villages to pass gram sabha resolutions to denounce the acquisition of their land.