NOIDA: UP govt on Saturday directed the three development authorities — Noida, Greater Noida and Yamuna — to prepare a list of farmers eligible for increased compensation for land acquired from them since 1997 for various industrial projects and disburse the sums without delay.
Chief secretary Manoj Kumar Singh and DGP Prashant Kumar, who were in Greater Noida, held a closed-door meeting with officials from the district administration and the three development authorities.
“We discussed the recommendations of a high-level committee set up (by UP govt) to address farmers’ demands and instructed officials to organise camps in villages to prioritise the resolution of farmers’ eligibility, additional compensation and leaseback cases. The entitlement benefits shall be delivered in a timely manner,” the chief secretary said.
The three authorities have also been told to allocate spaces in vending zones on priority under the PM SVANidhi scheme.
In Feb, UP set up a committee led by the chairman of the revenue board Rajneesh Dube to examine farmers’ concerns.
The committee, which submitted its recommendations to the state govt on Aug 27, emphasised the settlement cases should be resolved based on the cutoff date of June 30, 2011, using satellite imagery. The committee also recommended completing the physical survey and boundary marking of villages within three months to prevent further encroachments.
It recommended Noida Authority, similar to Greater Noida and Yamuna authorities, should resolve cases involving the allocation of 5% abadi plots within two months.The committee, however, cited legal and technical reasons to refuse 10% residential land against land acquired since 1997.
Noida Authority sources claimed one of the reasons for rejecting the demand for 10% abadi land is the severe scarcity of available land, while equivalent cash compensation, they said, would require the Authority to incur a financial burden running into thousands of crores. This, however, has led to widespread farmer agitation, the latest round on Dec 2.
Nearly 5,000 farmers tried to march to Delhi and brought traffic to a crawl on the Noida Expressway. This was followed by a sit-in at Dalit Prerna Sthal the next day and detention of several protesters. On Wednesday night and Thursday morning, police arrested 77 farmers from Yamuna Expressway loop, also known as Zero Point, for allegedly attempting to march to the capital again. On Friday too, 45 farmers were arrested from Pari Chowk when they tried to protest over increased compensation.
On Saturday, around 50 farmers, who gathered at Pari Chowk to protest, were also arrested, a farmer leader Rajendra Kumar said. SP MLA from Meerut’s Sardhana Atul Pradhan and some farmers were also stopped near Sirsa toll plaza when they were coming to meet farmers in Greater Noida. “We wanted to meet the protesting farmers and extend support. However, a police team arrived at the toll plaza and did not allow us to move forward,” Pradhan told TOI.
In response to the growing farmers’ unrest, UP govt set up another high-level committee under infrastructure and industrial development department principal secretary Anil Kumar Sagar on Dec 3. The committee has been tasked with submitting a detailed, point-wise report on the recommendations of the Dube panel within a month.
Meanwhile, a group of farmers under the banner of Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) called a meeting in Atta Gujran village in Greater Noida on Saturday morning and demanded the release of arrested farmers.
Sunil Pradhan, spokesperson of BKU-Tikait faction, said the meeting was attended by several organisations including Bharatiya Kisan Union (Tikait), Jai Jawan Jai Kisan, Bharatiya Kisan Union (Mahatma Tikait), All India Kisan Sabha, Bharatiya Kisan Ekta, Bharatiya Kisan Parishad, Kisan Ekta Federation, Bharatiya Kisan Union Manch, etc.
“There is an atmosphere of fear due to police excesses against farmers and this must end. The farmers imprisoned should be released unconditionally to create a harmonious environment conducive to dialogue and discussion,” SKM said in a press note. The organisation welcomed the decision of the high-level meeting.
