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Punjab: Rallies against land pooling policy on Aug 11, 20
August 11 is set to witness statewide bike rallies while a gathering in Jalandhar will be organised on August 20, says Sanyukt Kisan Morcha (non-political)
The Sanyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) (non-political) on Tuesday said it had decided to hold a kisan (farmer) maha (grand) rally against state government’s land pooling scheme on August 20 in Jalandhar’s Kukkad village. Besides, motorcycle rallies will be organised across the state on August 11. Under the scheme, a total of 1,000 acres of land from six villages — Kukkad Pind, Kot Khurd, Kot Kalan, Rehmanpur, Alipur and Nangal Krar Khan — would be acquired.
SKM senior leader Sarwan Singh Pandher, who was in Jalandhar, said the farmers, farm labourers and traders from across the state would be participating in this mega rally themed “Zameen Bachao, Pind Bachao and Punjab Bachao Sangarsh”. “We are not going relent till the government scraps this anti-farmer policy with immediate effect,” he said, adding that not only the agricultural land, even residential areas and grain markets in several districts come under the purview of this policy. Pandher said they have also invited other outfits of the SKM to join the stir but yet to receive any response.
Another SKM leader, Manjit Singh Rai, said there is no need of urbanisation in Punjab at such a large scale. “The state government has been working on the lines of the BJP, which introduced three anti-farmer laws in 2020. The implementation of the land pooling scheme is going to be the last nail in the coffin for the state government and AAP as they have to face serious repercussions,” Rai said.
He added that the farmers and their representative bodies were not consulted by the government before drafting this policy.
Meanwhile, farmers at Kukkad, situated on the outskirts of Jalandhar city, have also installed boards, banning the entry of AAP leaders in the village.
