Punjab parties unite against land pooling scheme, demand FTA exclusion
During the meeting held on Friday, leaders from across the political spectrum sought to strengthen the cooperative sector, annul all existing water accords and review Sections 78, 79, and 80 of the Punjab Reorganisation Act. A consensus was reached to urge the Punjab assembly to pass a resolution and sent to the Centre, advocating for parliamentary amendments to these sections.
The SKM had convened the all-party meeting, challenging political factions to clarify their positions on contentious issues facing Punjab.
Representatives from Congress, BJP, Shiromani Akali Dal, BSP, SAD (five-member recruitment committee), CPI, CPI (M), CPI(ML) Liberation, CPI(ML) New Democracy, and RMPI participated, with only AAP absent.
The land pooling scheme has faced widespread condemnation. In a voice vote, party leaders slammed the state govt, labelling the scheme a "ploy to seize fertile lands from farmers and hand them over to corporates".
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They vowed to resist its implementation, citing over 90% opposition from landowning farmers. Some parties even implicated AAP's "Delhi-based top leadership," alleging collusion with corporations targeting valuable land.
Beyond land pooling, political leaders supported the SKM's agenda to annul water-sharing agreements, urging the state govt to pass a resolution to the Centre. They also backed the SKM's demand to scrap the Dam Safety Act in its current form, arguing it undermines the federal structure by transferring state rights over dams to the Centre.
Unanimous support was also voiced for bolstering the cooperative movement to combat the sale of spurious seeds, fertilisers, pesticides, and insecticides.
SKM leaders Balbir Singh Rajewal, Harinder Singh Lakhowal, Darshanpal, Buta Singh Burjgill, and Raminder Patiala presided over the proceedings. Prominent attendees included Avtar Singh Karimpuri (BSP), Randeep Singh Nabha (Congress), Kewal Singh Dhillon (former MLA), Subash Sharma (BJP), Sukhdeep Singh and Dinesh Kumar (SAD), Iqbal Singh Jhunda and Gurpartap Singh Wadala (SAD five-member committee), Sukhwinder Sekhon (CPI(M)), Bant Singh Brar (CPI), Sukhdarshan Natt and Gurmeet Singh Bakhtupura (CPI(ML) Liberation), Darshan Singh Khatkar (CPI(ML) New Democracy), and Pargat Singh Jamrai (RMPI), all presenting their party's views.
SKM leaders later clarified their objective is to understand political parties' stances. The SKM stated it would continue to champion these issues, with parties expected to offer external support.
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Lakhowal said that a total of around 200 panchayats of 160 where land is being acquired for residential purposes and another 40 where, in the coming week, land will be acquired for industrial purpose, are expected to pass the resolutions soon. Most of them are in Ludhiana, and around 24,000 acres of land is being acquired in the district, followed by Moga, Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur and Amritsar districts, he added. "Besides this 24,000 acres to be acquired in Ludhiana for residential purpose and another 21,000 acres is being acquired for industrial purposes, the notification of the same is expected to be issued in the coming week for that the farmers unions have called for a meeting tomorrow to oppose the acquisition and we will ask the villagers if they want to give their land to the government or not as all of them have already objected,'' he said. Pawandeep Singh of Mehlon said that 250 acres of land is being acquired in their village, which is being opposed. "The very thought of losing his small landholding and moving to a new place did not let him sleep,'' he said. Gurinder Singh of Nathu Bhaini village says that around 350 acres of land in their village are being acquired by the government, leaving nothing to the villagers. "This is the first legal hurdle we have cleared in what we assume will be a long fight with the state government,'' he said. In Bhattian village near Phillaur, where 700 acres of land is to be acquired, the sarpanch of the village Ranjit Singh Batth said that the panchayat passed a resolution against the acquisition a few days ago. Many farmers are drawing parallels between this policy and the three farm laws that were introduced in 2020 by the BJP-led Union Government, which were later repealed after a year-long struggle. Senior SKM leader and president of the BKU (Rajewal Group) said that the SKM was also guiding panchayats on filing of resolutions against their land being taken away. "The government is falsely saying that the farmers support this policy,' he said. The farmers from across the state will take out a tractor march on July 30 against the land pooling policy.
