Land pooling initiative akin to Ponzi scheme, alleges Jakhar

Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar on Monday termed the state government’s land pooling initiative a “Ponzi scheme” to loot farmers, who he said were being enticed with a “false of promise” of four-time return on their land.

The policy was launched in May to boost urban development, with the government claiming that is would benefit farmers and landowners who would get plots of higher value than the cost of the land contributed by them.

The policy has been rolled out for 27 urban centres. Townships will be developed near several cities, including Ludhiana, where over 24,000 acres of agriculture land is expected to acquire for the purpose. The policy envisaged “complete voluntary participation” by landowners.

For every one acre contributed by farmers, they would get a residential plot of 1,000 sq yards, besides a commercial plot of 200 sq yards.

However, addressing reporters here, Jakhar accused the government of “misleading people”.

“This scheme has been designed with the intention to loot Punjab. Government officials are falsely claiming that farmers will not lose their land. Once a notification is issued, a farmer cannot even sell his land. If an owner cannot sell his land, isn’t this a violation of his rights?” Jakhar asked.

“This is like a Ponzi scheme aimed at earning commissions through favoured real estate players,” he alleged, warning Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema that since they occupied constitutional positions, they would be held accountable for Punjab’s exploitation.

Jakhar said if the BJP formed the government in the state in the 2027 Assembly poll, it would ensure that farmers retained the ownership of their land.

Meanwhile, BJP leaders along with Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatraya and CM Nayab Singh Saini today paid tribute to former CM and Punjab BJP affairs in-charge Vijay Rupani, who died in a plane crash in Ahmedabad.

‘Will turn state into concrete jungle’

Akali leader Prem Singh Chandumajra too slammed the initiative, saying it would turned the state into a “concrete jungle”. He described the scheme as a “conspiracy to construct tall buildings and colonies on Punjab’s fertile land to settle a large influx of people from other states”. In a statement, he said an “indiscriminate network of roads” was being laid in Punjab, resulting in displacement of a large number of farmers.

Punjab