Women farmers protest near the Delhi-Noida Flyway.
In a symbolic protest near the Delhi-Noida Flyway, women farmers tied their hands up to express helplessness, during a farmers rally in Delhi. Over 1,500 farmers from Uttar Pradesh staged a protest near the Delhi-Noida flyway on Saturday, demanding an increased compensation for land acquired before 2013. The crucial route connecting UP and Delhi was briefly shut on Friday evening.
The rally organised by Kisan Uday Abhiyan, included farmers from Gautam Buddh Nagar, Ghaziabad, Aligarh and Meerut.
"We are here to demand compensation in accordance with the law on land acquisition that was passed in Parliament in 2013. Our lands were acquired prior to that and we have been left out from the benefits given out under the new law," Kaale Singh, a farmer told news agency PTI. He said the farmers want local authorities and administration to take up the matter with UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
"Yesterday we tried to go to Delhi but were stopped midway, so we decided to stay put near the DND. We won't budge unless we get a satisfactory response from top officials," he said.
Gautam Buddh Nagar District Magistrate BN Singh met the farmers on Saturday and assured them that he would discuss the matter with the state government.
In 2011, two policemen and farmers were killed in clashes following protests over acquisition of land in Greater Noida's Bhatta Parsaul, a Jat-dominated village.
Two years since that upheaval the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (also Land Acquisition Act, 2013) was passed.
The new law was aimed at providing "fair compensation" to those whose land is taken away, brings transparency to the process of acquisition of land to set up factories or buildings, infrastructure projects and assures rehabilitation of those affected.