Ludhiana: A govt team that reached Malak village in Jagraon Monday to persuade the farmers about the benefits of the land pooling policy faced stiff opposition from them. Local sources said no sooner did the team led by Kanungo Ranjit Singh and Patwari Piara Singh arrived in Malak than the farmers from there and three nearby villages gathered and started raising slogans and showing them black flags.The sources said the adamant farmers made it clear that they would not listen to the govt on the issue. Despite being repeatedly convinced that the govt is not acquiring their land, the farmers rejected the proposal outright. They said they are the owners of their land and do not accept the govt’s partnership, the sources added.With protesters showing no signs of relenting, the team had to return. Farmer leader Didar Singh handed over the panchayat’s proposal and the farmers’ affidavits to the team. He said the farmers have stated therein that they will not give away their land as farming is their main occupation.The sources said the govt has constituted several teams to explain the land pooling policy. In the coming days, the teams plan to visit Cheemna and Pona villages to educate the farmers about the benefits of the plan.Earlier on July 11, members of farmers’ organisations and villagers from Samrala’s Baliyon staged a protest against the state govt’s land pooling policy outside the SDM office. They were demanding that the govt withdraw the land acquisition decision. On July 7, villagers from four Malak, Poona, Kothe, and Aligarh in Jagraon, supported by farmer organisations and opposition parties, held a demonstration against land pooling at Tehsil Chowk. The protesters demanded the scrapping of the policy and asserted that they wouldn’t part with even an inch of their land.
