Kejriwal reaches out to rural Delhiites to propagate Land Pooling Policy

In an attempt to reach out to farmers in rural Delhi, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday held meetings in villages to propagate the Land Pooling Policy (LPP) recently notified by his government.

In the meetings held in rural constituencies of Najafgarh and Matiala, Kejriwal said the new LPP will not only help develop rural areas in the city, but also create employment.

Last week, the Kejriwal government had declared 89 villages in the national Capital as urban areas which would help authorities develop infrastructure projects in those localities.

Under the policy, government agencies would develop infrastructures like roads, schools, hospitals, community centres, and stadia on part of the pooled land and return a portion of the plot to the farmer who can, later on, execute housing projects with help of private builders.

Around 20-25 lakh housing units will come up in these urbanised villages in the next 5-10 years and this will ensure properties are available at affordable rates.

Earlier, building housing units on agricultural land of these 89 villages was not allowed as the LPP was not in place.

"Under LPP, rural areas will be urbanised and there will be development and creation of employment," Kejriwal said.

He said that in 2015, the Aam Aadmi Party-led government had given highest ever compensation in the country to farmers hit by a hailstorm.

The party did not fare well in rural areas in the recent MCD polls. To regain its grip, the party has appointed Kailash Gahlot as Transport Minister to represent rural Delhi.

"I have told him (Gahlot) buy as many buses you want so that you can use it for rural Delhi," Kejriwal said.