Chandigarh, Aug. 4 -- A day after Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann announced that his government would reach out to people and farmers over the land pooling policy and the government would do whatever the farmers would say, leaders of farmer unions have sought immediate scrapping of the land pooling policy. "The policy is anti-farmers so it must be withdrawn at the earliest," said Balbir Singh Rajewal who heads a faction of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), a constituent of the Sanyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM). He added that farmers would be satisfied only if the policy is withdrawn, otherwise the protests would continue. "It seems the government has not conducted a proper survey to weigh the acceptance of the scheme," said Rajewal. Jagmohan Singh, general secretary of BKU (Dakounda), also demanded immediate recall of the policy. BKU (EKta-Ugrahan) chief Joginder Singh Ughrahan too sought a withdrawal of the scheme, stating that the state government had forced farmers to protest. The land pooling policy, launched by the state government on June 2, has witnessed stiff opposition, particularly among the state peasantry and farm organisations who have been holding protests across the state. Under the policy, the government has proposed acquisition of 65,533 acres of land in 21 cities and towns, including Ludhiana, Mohali, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Patiala, Moga and Tarn Taran. CM Mann had on Saturday said that the state government would hold meetings with farmers. "Whatever they will say, we will do it. We are not dictators," he had mentioned. The CM's move is seen as an attempt to defuse the tension amid mounting protests by farmers and criticism from opposition parties. The farmer bodies had a tractor march on July 30 which received a massive response as even those farmers whose land has not been proposed to be covered under the policy also joined the protest. The SKM has planned a rally on August 24 for which venue is yet to be announced. According to BKU (EKta-Ugrahan) chief Joginder Singh Ughrahan, "The state government should have already realised its mistake and withdrawn the land pooling policy." Why has the government forced farmers to resort to protest and unrest, Joginder Singh Ughrahan asked. He demanded that the scheme should be reworked with proper provision of compensation and rehabilitation. He added that the agricultural land acquired in the past, which have not been brought into use, should be used and the government should have made an inventory of such chunks of land. Recently, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Malwinder Singh Kang too had urged party leaders to "earn the trust" of farmers. Apart from increasing backlash from farmers and opposition parties - the Congress, Shiromani Akali Dal and the Bharatiya Janata Party, the policy has also been challenged in the Punjab and Haryana high court. The policy is 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 being opposed, the AAP government had on July 22 approved amendments to its land pooling policy, offering better terms to landowners in lieu of the pooled land. But farmers are still opposing it. 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....