Chandigarh, Aug. 13 -- Minister of state (MoS) for home affairs Nityanand Rai has clarified that the Chandigarh administration has neither formulated a land pooling policy nor is it considering it. There are 22 villages in the city having around 3,000 acres of agricultural land.

The minister was responding to a question posed by Chandigarh Member of Parliament (MP) Manish Tewari during the ongoing monsoon session.

The clarification has come as a setback for thousands of residents who have been waiting for a land pooling policy for several years. Tewari had asked whether the Union ministry of home affairs was considering introducing a policy on the lines of the models implemented in Punjab and Haryana, where landowners are given develope...