Lucknow:
To thrash out a novel land acquisition policy, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati has invited farmers' representatives from different corners of the state for a 'kisan panchayat' in Lucknow today that would set the pace for major changes in the state's land acquisition policy.
"The chief minister is contemplating a completely new policy whereby the state government will not acquire land sought by the private sector for industrial or commercial development," a top official in the chief minister's office told IANS.
"We were working on a proposal whereby settlement of compensation would be negotiated directly between the farmer and the organisation seeking land, with the government limiting its role to that of a facilitator," he said.
According to him, "several other changes in the existing acquisition policy would be made in accordance with the needs and demands of the farmers".
A broad framework of the desired amendments in the existing acquisition policy is understood to have been drawn up by Uttar Pradesh Cabinet Secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh, who was stated to be the key man behind the move.
Earlier, Mayawati had asked Agriculture Minister Chaudhary Laxmi Narain to hold talks with farmers after anti-land acquisition protests in Tappal and Bhatta-Parsaul villages in Greater Noida.