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MP government withdraws land pooling act
The state government had initially planned to acquire land from farmers in Ujjain under the Land Pooling Act to develop a sacred city for the Simhastha festival scheduled to be held in 2028
The Madhya Pradesh government has cancelled the Land Pooling Act in Ujjain after the Bhartiya Kisan Sangh (BKS), along with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs, announced a protest against the amendment order issued on November 17.
In a late-night order, urban development department deputy secretary CK Sadhav said, “The state government had modified, i.e., amended, the proposed town development schemes numbers 8, 9, 10, and 11 of the Ujjain Development Authority under the provisions of Section 52(1)(b) of the Madhya Pradesh Town and Country Planning Act, 1973 on November 17. The said order is hereby completely canceled.”
The order further read, “Therefore, the Government of Madhya Pradesh, in the public interest, under Section 52(1)(c) of the Madhya Pradesh Town and Country Planning Act, 1973, hereby revokes and completely cancels the proposed town development schemes numbers 8, 9, 10, and 11 of the Ujjain Development Authority.”
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The state government had initially planned to acquire land from farmers in Ujjain under the Land Pooling Act to develop a sacred city for the Simhastha festival scheduled to be held in 2028.
However, the Bhartiya Kisan Sangh staged protests, declaring they would not provide farmland for permanent construction.
On November 17, the government amended its order, stating that land would be acquired only for the construction of roads and drainage systems.
BKS alleged that the state government cheated farmers by merely modifying the Land Pooling Act instead of withdrawing it completely.
On Sunday, the BKS held a meeting with 217 office-bearers from 18 districts and announced an indefinite sit-in protest at the administrative complex building starting December 26. The BKS alleged that the government had broken its promise to the farmers.
