Chandigarh, Jul 30 (PTI) SAD leader Parambans Singh Romana on Wednesday alleged that dissident Akali leader Manpreet Singh Ayali reached a “settlement” with the ruling AAP to get his land excluded from the Punjab government’s land pooling policy, a charge denied by the Dakha MLA.
Opposition parties have been criticising the AAP government for its land pooling policy and have described it as a “looting” scheme aimed at robbing farmers of their fertile land.
Shiromani Akali Dal’s (SAD) Romana said Ayali has been completely “silent” on the land pooling scheme as the AAP government has excluded all of his land from it. Under the scheme, the government wants to “forcibly” take possession of over 24,000 acres of land in Ludhiana district alone, Romana charged.
He asked Ayali to disclose what “settlement” he had reached with the AAP leadership to secure this reprieve.
The SAD leader alleged that a 28-acre plot owned by the Ayali family and another 7.5 acres have been left out of the scheme while adjoining land belonging to poor farmers has been included.
Dismissing Romana’s allegations, Ayali said over 150 acres of his land has been included under the scheme.
“All allegations against me are false. I don’t care (about accusations). I had strongly opposed the land pooling scheme, I am doing it now and will do so in future,” he said.
Farmers are opposing the policy and the government should withdraw it immediately, Ayali said.
The Punjab Cabinet last month gave its nod to the land pooling policy and asserted that not a single yard will be forcibly acquired from land owners.
The government plans to acquire around 65,000 acres of land in 164 villages for developing residential and industrial zones.
Under the policy, an owner will be given a residential plot of 1,000 square yards and a commercial plot of 200 square yards in exchange for one acre of land, the state government has said.
After clearing the policy last month, the government said it was designed to foster transparent and planned urban development across the state. PTI CHS DIV DIV
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