CHANDIGARH: As farmers and the Opposition in Punjab are preparing for a fight against the state’s land pooling policy, ruling AAP’s Anandpur Sahib MP Malvinder Singh Kang on Sunday became the first party leader to speak up against the policy.
Kang, who till recently was also the chief spokesperson of the Punjab unit of the AAP, took to social media and urged party leaders to “earn the trust of farmers” on this policy.
“The objections raised by farmer unions on the land pooling policy must, in my view, be heard with empathy and addressed through a meaningful dialogue. In the last three years, our government has ensured uninterrupted agri-power, pushed canal water to every field, fast-tracked mandi reforms and promoted crop diversification. On this, too, trust must be earned — not assumed — before any policy takes root,” he wrote on X, while tagging his party.
Though Kang did not respond to calls, his statement is significant considering that tensions are simmering in the state over the rollout of the policy, under which the government proposes to acquire 65,533 acres of farmland for urbanisation.
Though privately many party leaders, including MLAs, especially those from rural areas, have reservations about the policy, no one, till tonight, has spoken openly against it or even asked the party top brass to reconsider the policy. According to leaders of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha, as many as 107 village panchayats have already passed resolutions against giving away their land for acquisition through land pooling.
