In a first-of-its-kind commitment that addresses long-standing demands of farmers affected by the ongoing 11,103-acre land acquisition drive across Greater Mohali and New Chandigarh, the Punjab Government has decided that villages giving up their agricultural land for new townships will be developed simultaneously, as equal partners in the urbanisation they are enabling.The in-principle decision, taken at a high-level meeting held recently, marks a significant departure from the standard model of land acquisition in which villages are stripped of their agricultural land and then left to decay — without roads, sewerage, water supply or maintained public spaces — as planned urban development races ahead around them.A formal notification giving effect to the commitment will be issued shortly, top government functionaries privy to the development told The Tribune.At the core of the decision is a non-negotiable protection for common village facilities such as government and panchayat schools, parks, dispensaries and similar public assets. These will be fully exempt from land acquisition under the ongoing proceedings. Sarpanches across the Aerotropolis acquisition belt had repeatedly pressed for the preservation of these facilities within the village fabric.Beyond exemption, the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) has committed to actively integrating village infrastructure with its own systems. Village sewerage, water supply network and drainage will be integrated with GMADA’s infrastructure. The construction of village roads will be ensured by all departments concerned. GMADA will provide critical gap funding to ensure no village road project stalls for want of money.Houses along the village “phirni” — the traditional boundary road that marks the outer edge of a village settlement — will be completely exempt from land acquisition, ensuring that the physical identity and boundary of each village remains intact even as new sectors are built around it. Houses standing in agricultural fields outside the village “abadi” and beyond the “phirni”, which happen to fall within the planning area, will be relocated, with GMADA taking responsibility for the process.THREE-YEAR DEADLINEThe government has for the first time formally committed to a fixed completion deadline for all development works — three years from the date of passing of the acquisition award and taking physical possession of the land by GMADA. This applies across all ongoing projects in the 11,103-acre acquisition drive.FROM COMPULSION TO PARTNERSHIP“The meeting concluded with a consensus that the above proposals are necessary to address the genuine concerns of farmers and to reinforce their role as partners in the development process,” a top functionary said.IT’S A GUARANTEE TO OUR FARMERS: Punjab CM“For the first time, we are not just acquiring land, we are making a promise to every village that gives us that land — we will develop your village in the same breath that we develop the township around it. Not after. Not someday. Within three years. That is not a policy — that is a guarantee. And this government keeps its guarantees to its kisans,” said Bhagwant Mann, Punjab Chief Minister.