Land pooling policy scrapped, land owners have the last laugh
2
Amritsar: Jagdeep Singh, a farmer from Nijjapura — home to some of the most valuable land on the outskirts of Amritsar — could hardly contain his emotions upon hearing that the govt scrapped the land pooling policy.
Overcome with joy, he broke into a smile, his eyes glistening with tears. A newfound energy filled his stride, as if a heavy burden suddenly lifted.
Expressing gratitude for givng him the news, he couldn't hold back his words and kept repeating, "Bhai sahib, thank you! Tusi badi changi khabar ditti hai. Asi taan jaan di baazi lagan nu tayyar baithhe si—sirf apni zameen bachan layi." (Brother, thank you! You've given us such good news.
We were ready to risk our lives—just to save our land.)
Jagdeep said he owned four to five acres of land while all of his family members own around 70 to 80 acres of land in Nijjarpura, where prime land costs more than Rs 3 crore per acre. He said so many institutes, hotels, etc., have come up in the area, which would have made the land even more costly in the near future. "We could never allow the govt to take away our land and were ready for anything," he said.
Similar emotions were echoed by Dheer Singh, a retired principal, whose 10 to 12 acres of land in Rakh Cheetha and Jandiala fell under the ambit of the land pooling policy. Brimming with happiness, he called the move a major win for farmers and the opposition. "This is a victory of the people, the govt didn't withdraw the policy on its own, it was forced to, under pressure," he said.
Rattan Singh Randhawa, a farmer leader representing the Border Area Sangharsh Committee, warned that if the govt had not withdrawn the policy now, it would have faced more resistance on the scale of the 2021 farmers' agitation that forced the repeal of the three central farm laws. "We were preparing for a massive protest, but this news has come as a huge relief for us and for the farming community," he said, adding that over 4,500 acres of land were affected by the land pooling policy, which he called deeply unjust to farmers.
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