Patiala, Aug. 3 -- In an apparent bid to defuse tensions amid mounting protests by farmers and criticism from opposition parties, Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Saturday said his government will soon reach out to the public and farmers to discuss the state's contentious land pooling policy. "This is not a dictatorship. We will do what the people and the farmers want," Mann told reporters during a visit to Gurdwara Katalgarh Sahib in Chamkaur Sahib, Rupnagar district, where he offered prayers accompanied by his wife and daughter. The chief minister's statement marks the first placatory gesture from the government since discontent over the policy began to swell. Just a day earlier, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Malwinder Singh Kang had urged party leaders to "earn the trust" of farmers. "In the coming days, we will be reaching out to the common people and farmers. We will hold meetings with them. Whatever they say, we will do it. We are not dictators," said Mann during a media interaction at the gurudwara, where he said he performed "ardas" for the welfare of Punjab and its people. Apart from widening backlash from farmers and opposition parties - the Congress, Shirmomani Akali Dal and the Bharatiya Janata Party - that have termed the policy "anti-peasantry and impractical", the policy has also been challenged in the Punjab and Haryana high court. Through the policy, approved by the cabinet on June 2, the state government plans to acquire 65,533 acres of land across 21 cities and towns in the state to develop both industrial and residential zones. It is being dubbed as the largest acquisition of land by the government in the state since 1966. However, only 115 land owners - 15 from Ludhiana and nearly 100 from Mohali - have come forward to adopt the scheme since its launch on June 2. The policy is open till September 30. After stiff opposition to the scheme, the AAP government on July 22 approved amendments to its land pooling policy, offering better terms to landowners in lieu of pooled land. Announcing the amendments, CM Mann had said the farmers who opt for land pooling will receive an annual livelihood allowance of Rs.1 lakh until their land is developed - a fivefold increase from Rs.20,000 given by previous governments, and those offering one kanal of land will get an alternative of 125 square yards of residential land and 25 square yards of commercial land per kanal of land. He also said throughout the process, there will be no restrictions on the sale or purchase of land. "Farmers will be free to buy, sell or register their land at any time," he said. The changes, however, failed to find favour with farmers who have been drawing parallels between this policy and the three farm laws introduced in 2020 by the BJP-led Union government, which were later repealed after a year-long struggle....