NE NEWS SERVICE
JAIPUR, FEB 29
Farmers in Nindar village in Rajasthan buried themselves neck-deep in the ground on Saturday as they began a fresh round of protest against the alleged land acquisition by the Jaipur Development Authority (JDA) for a housing project.
The farmers have been demanding that their lands be acquired as per the amended Land Acquisition Act and compensation awarded accordingly.
They had first held the ‘Zameen Samadhi Satyagrah’ in January but called off the protest after four days as the state government assured them that it would address their concerns within 50 days.
“The state government had asked for 50 days to resolve the issues of farmers. As the government has failed to arrive at any decision, we have decided to start ‘Zameen Samadhi Satyagrah’ again,” said Nagendra Singh Shekhawata, a leader of the Nindar Bachao Yuva Kisan Sangarsh Samiti.
“It seems that the government is not serious about the issues of farmers. The chief minister himself has said that the JDA is a corrupt department and in such a situation we have no hope from it,” he said.
The farmers had also held a protest in October 2017 against the acquisition of more than 1,300 bighas of land by the JDA, with some of them even going on a hunger strike.
The JDA has taken possession of 600 bighas of land so far and deposited Rs 60 crore in a local court as compensation. The villagers have refused to accept the amount, claiming that it is not commensurate with the prevailing market rates.
Around 10,000 houses will be built under the housing scheme which was announced in January 2011 by Jaipur Development Authority.
