Farmers in Punjab stage demonstration under KMM banner against Govt’s land pooling policy; Akali Dal also protests

Farmers under the banner of Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) on Monday held demonstrations against the Punjab government’s land pooling policy, even as Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) members held a protest on the same issue in Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar district’s Mohali.

Terming the land pooling policy as anti-farming community, farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher said “the Punjab government was following the policy of the central government, and is dreaming of building concrete forests on the fertile lands of Punjab to benefit the corporate bosses, which will not be allowed to be fulfilled.”

“Scores of farmers and farm labourers staged demonstrations in most of the districts of the state and submitted memorandums to deputy commissioners, demanding withdrawal of the land pool policy,” he said.

Separately, Shiromani Akali Dal members staged a protest rally in Mohali against the land pooling policy. The party announced to hold another demonstration rally in Bathinda on August 4.

SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal said his party would not allow the government to grab even an inch of farmers’ land.”The AAP has hatched the conspiracy to rob farmers of their fertile land. The AAP government is forcing officials to issue notices to stop Change of Land Use approvals in our villages and towns. We will oppose this tooth and nail,” he said, addressing the gathering.

He said that he had been receiving resolutions against the Punjab’s government’s land polling policy passed by land owners from all across the affected regions in the State.