Punjab Congress chief Raja Warring hails withdrawal of Land Pooling Policy

"Farmers stand vindicated in their opposition to the land pooling policy, which would not only have turned them into paupers but would have damaged Punjab socially, economically and environmentally", he said, while expressing relief that better sense prevailed on the government.

Reacting to the development, Warring said it was a victory for the farmers and congratulated them for standing firm against this policy, whose obvious aim was to rob farmers of land worth lakhs of crores of rupees without any compensation or their consent.

The PCC president also thanked thousands of Congress workers for resisting and opposing the policy, standing by farmers, and staging regular protests across the state.

The Punjab government has officially announced the withdrawal of its land pooling policy, following a temporary stay by the Punjab and Haryana High Court and mounting public opposition.

The High Court had given the government four weeks to rectify the shortcomings in the scheme, but the decision to withdraw the policy was made before the deadline.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court had earlier stayed the land pooling policy, citing several shortcomings and irregularities in its implementation. The court had also highlighted the lack of transparency and consultation with stakeholders, leading to widespread public outcry.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has spelt out why it stayed the Punjab government's Land Pooling Policy, 2025, in its order passed on August 7.

The Bench of Justice Anupinder Singh Grewal and Justice Deepak Manchanda listed a series of legal and procedural shortcomings -- from the absence of environmental and social impact studies to the lack of timelines, grievance redressal and budgetary clarity.

It is worth mentioning that even today, the land pooling scheme was opposed by farmers. The court had said in its order that the policy lacks mandatory social and environmental impact assessment, there is no provision for resettlement of landless workers and other affected sections, no grievance redressal mechanism has been created, and no time frame or budget has been clarified.

In the past few weeks, tractor marches, door-to-door campaigns and demonstrations were held by farmers' unions, opposition parties and local people in protest against the policy. (ANI)