Punjab High Court blocks government policy on agricultural land acquisition

The court has suspended the “Land Pooling Policy 2025” for four weeks. Launched by the Aam Aadmi Party government to acquire 65,533 acres of agricultural land for residential and industrial purposes, the measure is contested by farmers and the opposition who say it was approved without consultation with village assemblies. Trade unions, which have organised several protests in recent days, denounce inadequate compensation, risks to the livelihoods of labourers and benefits only for large real estate groups.

Chandigarh (AsiaNews) – The Punjab and Haryana High Court yesterday ordered the temporary suspension of the ‘Land Pooling Policy 2025’, the policy of consolidating agricultural land promoted by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which governs the Indian state of Punjab. The decision comes following a petition challenging the legality and constitutionality of the measure.

The order upholds the appeal filed by Gurdeep Singh Gill, a resident of Ludhiana (an industrial hub in Punjab), who argued that the policy was approved without the necessary social and environmental impact assessments, bypassing mandatory consultations with the Gram Panchayat and Gram Sabha of the various villages involved.

In rural India, a Gram Panchayat is a local self-governing body at the village level, while a Gram Sabha is the assembly of all adult residents of that village. The Gram Panchayat acts as the executive body, while the Gram Sabha is the general assembly that exercises oversight and approves the decisions of the Panchayat.

The High Court has given the Punjab government four weeks to file a response. However, this decision is part of a long-standing opposition by farmers and political parties to the Land Pooling Policy, officially launched on 2 June, which aims to acquire approximately 65,533 acres of agricultural land in 21 cities for residential and industrial development.

The stated aim of the government, led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, is to curb the proliferation of illegal settlements and the land mafia by offering landowners who voluntarily participate in the project the opportunity to receive plots of land for residential and commercial development in urban areas, as well as cash compensation.

The policy has recently been extended to small farmers with few possessions, and compensation has been increased from 30,000 rupees to 50,000 rupees per acre surrendered (approximately £290-490). In addition, farmers will receive an annual livelihood allowance of 100,000 rupees until their land is developed, a figure that previous governments had set at 20,000 rupees.

The policy has sparked a strong reaction from opposition parties such as the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Congress, but above all from the trade unions representing farmers, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM), while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which leads the national executive, continues to support the need to implement the agricultural laws proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The unions have called the Punjab government's plan a “land grab” and accuse the AAP of wanting to “plunder” farmers (who represent the party's main electoral base) of their land to favour private developers.

On 30 July, the two trade unions organised large protests involving tractors in several districts, blocking party officials from entering many villages.

The protesters claim that while offering building plots, the policy does not provide adequate monetary compensation – some plots are worth millions of rupees – and does not take into account the rehabilitation of labourers and all those linked to agricultural work who will effectively be deprived of their livelihoods.

Many also believe that the initiative was designed to benefit real estate groups in New Delhi and that there is no real need to acquire so much land, given that many already urbanised areas have remained empty for years.

The AAP government has defended itself by stating that the policy is voluntary, while farmers hope that the High Court's ruling will be the first step towards the plan's definitive withdrawal.

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• Punjab
• farmers
• protests
• land
• AAP