Target land acquisition, sustaining livelihoods in Punjab

Land acquisition in Punjab represents a complex and contentious process that intertwines the state's economic future with the preservation of its agrarian heritage.

- Suresh Kumar

The Punjab State Investment Promotion and Industrial Policy, 2019, outlined an ambitious vision for industrial and infrastructural growth, requiring over 50,000 hectares of land to be repurposed for development over the next decade. This policy emphasized large-scale projects like special economic zones (SEZs), the Ludhiana-Kolkata and Amritsar-Kolkata Freight Corridors, Rajpura Industrial Park, and the Katra-Amritsar-Delhi highway. These initiatives aim to revitalise Punjab's economy by generating millions of jobs, boosting industrial output, and improving logistics. A 2016 report by the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) estimated that such projects could create over two million jobs, fuelling substantial economic expansion.

Trade-offs accompany progress However, significant trade-offs accompany progress. The lands that once sustained Punjab's farmers are increasingly being diverted for industrial use, disrupting lives, uprooting communities, and threatening a centuries-old way of life. For farmers, land is not merely an economic asset but a cornerstone of their identity and heritage. Consequently, the loss of agricultural land extends beyond financial hardship, representing a profound social and cultural upheaval.

Many farmers, displaced and deprived of their ancestral land, have reported receiving compensation far below market value. For instance, in the case of the Amritsar-Kolkata Freight Corridor, farmers claimed the compensation was insufficient to replace their properties, let alone account for the loss of their way of life. The emotional toll of displacement and estrangement from ancestral land leaves deep scars, affecting not just individuals but entire communities.