CHANDIGARH: Punjab Congress has strongly opposed the proposal of the Aam Aadmi Party government in the state to acquire over 23, 000 acres of land around Ludhiana for non-agriculture purposes.
The party said, it will not only snatch away the livelihood of tens of thousands of farmers, but will prove to be economically and environmentally devastating and disastrous for the area.
“You are going to create a concrete jungle out of green agricultural land”, PCC president and Ludhiana MP Amarinder Singh Raja Warring warned in a letter to the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, while remarking, “AAP appears to have assumed the role of colonisers”.
“I am feeling concerned and worried about such a huge parcel of prime agricultural land getting acquired for non-agricultural purposes”, he told the Chief Minister, adding, “so should be you, worried and concerned as it will not only snatch away the livelihood of tens of thousands of farmers, but will be ecologically and environmentally devastatingly disastrous”.
He said, there was genuine anger and outrage among the affected people. “If executed, this decision will snatch away the livelihood of tens of thousands of farmers in the affected villages”, he added while warning that “from being prosperous farmers, they risk turning into landless labourers in big cities”.
Warring observed that Punjab being an agricultural state, cannot afford to convert such a huge parcel of land into a “concrete jungle”, particularly when there is no need or requirement for the same.
He pointed out, there are hundreds of colonies around Ludhiana, which are crying for attention. “Instead of forcibly grabbing the land of farmers in the name of development, why not regularize those colonies and provide facilities to the residents after claiming due developmental charges?” he asked.
“Or, is it because of some rejected ‘experts’ from Delhi who have suggested bringing in some populist schemes ahead of 2027 elections and for which you need money”, he suspected while remarking, “it is like robbing Peter to pay Paul”.
Suggesting that the scheme will render thousands of farmers landless, jobless, and push them into penury, he asked the government, “do you want to force the farmers out of their livelihood from agriculture and turn them into petty landless labourers in cities like in the movie, ‘Pipli Live’?”
Making a passionate plea to the Chief Minister, Warring reminded him that he also belonged to a farmer’s family. “Please have pity on your brethren. People from Delhi, who have given you this 'ill advice' will stand nothing to lose and you won’t gain anything either, rather you will lose the trust of your brethren”, he cautioned the CM.
“For the sake of future generations of Punjab, for the sake of ‘Rangla Punjab’, that you cherish so profoundly, please stop this ill advised move. Those behind it will just vanish away after 2027, you and us have to stay here; live here and die here. Our ancestors belong to this place and so will our future generations. Please think of everyone, before going ahead with this decision” he urged the CM.