India, July 2 -- The Punjab government has announced a new land pooling policy proposing to acquire over 40,000 acres for urbanisation. Ludhiana district with 23,073 acres tops the list followed by Amritsar with 4,464 acres and Mohali with 3,535 acres. While the government is defending the policy by stating it is purely voluntary and would make farmers stakeholders and beneficiaries of urbanisation, opposition parties and farmers at few places claim it is working in collusion with corporates and big realtors. Amid the discourses on the cost-benefit analysis of the land pooling policy, it is the right time to explore an alternative model of development in Punjab that conserves fertile land.

Land is limited and has alternative uses for agr...