Punjab sweetens land pooling deal, offers plots for 1-kanal land too

Facing mounting opposition to its land pooling policy, the AAP government in Punjab has announced revised incentives to placate protesting farmers. Under the amended policy, landowners with less than one acre will also be eligible for residential and commercial plots if they voluntarily participate in land pooling.

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For every kanal of land offered, farmers will receive a 125-sq-yd residential plot and a 25-sq-yd commercial booth site. Similarly, larger land contributions will yield proportionally bigger plots -- two kanal will fetch a 250-sq-yd residential plot and a 50-sq-yard shop site, while three kanal will get two residential plots (250 and 125 sq yd) and a 75-sq-yd commercial space. Benefits scale up further for contributions of up to seven kanal.

A decision to amend the land pooling policy was taken in a meeting of the Council of Ministers, chaired by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, on Tuesday. An approval for enhanced compensation of Rs 50,000 per acre to farmers was also given. It has also been decided that farmers who opt out of commercial plots can instead receive residential plots three times the standard size.

In the earlier such policies brought by the Akali-BJP or Congress governments, landowners were only offered a residential plot of 150 sq yard in lieu of one kanal of land acquired. There was no provision of giving commercial sites for acquisition of up to three kanal.

Meanwhile, Mann slammed the Opposition for “indulging in false propaganda claiming displacement of people”. “The commercial sites to be allotted to farmers will help them enhance their income. Why would I bring a policy to displace villagers? Nothing of this sort will happen as land will be developed in small pockets,” he assured.

The CM reiterated that the participation remained voluntary and there would be no forced acquisitions. “Farmers can continue cultivating their land until development begins and will receive enhanced compensation until then,” he said. A Letter of Intent for allotted plots will be issued within 21 days, enabling farmers to secure loans against future holdings.

The revisions follow fierce resistance from farmers and opposition parties, who allege the policy threatens rural livelihoods. Housing Minister Hardeep Singh Mundian had earlier assured concessions to farmers across 164 villages targeted for acquisition. The government plans to secure 65,533 acres -- 43,983 for residential zones and 21,550 for industrial hubs -- across 21 cities and towns.