Kulwinder Singh, a former sarpanch or village head speaks with NDTV on farmers' land acquision.
Farmers at a village in Haryana believe they are stuck in a time warp.
Much of the land in Kaunla village in Ambala was acquired by the army from the British after independence. That land was part of 1400 acres leased by the British for 100 years in the 1850s for a cantonment. The lease expired in 1950 but the army continued to occupy the land, the farmers allege.
In 2009, 319 acres in the village was acquired by the then Congress government for a new housing complex. But the land is lying unused.
Budh Ram, a farmer, is left with only four acres of land. He complains, "Ours was a fertile and irrigated land. We have large families, cattle to feed. Farming was our main source of income, but the government forcibly acquired our land."
The farmers were paid just Rs 8 lakh per acre by the Haryana Urban Development Authority, which, they say, is far below the market price of Rs 50 to 70 lakh per acre depending on the proximity to Ambala city.
Kulwinder Singh, a former sarpanch or village head told NDTV, "When Bhupinder Singh Hooda was the chief minister, some 200 of us went to plead before him, he didn't even care to look at our plea.'
Mr Hooda, who led two successive Congress governments, has reportedly said that the Centre's ordinance bringing changes in land acquisition rules are similar to British colonial laws when farmers were shortchanged.
In 2012 the farmers went to Ambala court and managed to get a further Rs 24 lakh per acre. But again, they say, the Hooda government stopped short of the market price. Dejected farmers then approached the Punjab & Haryana High Court. The case has been dragging since 2012.
65-year-old Nidaan Singh, who has been making trips to the court, said the farmers are now losing hope. He told NDTV, "(The current) land acquisition law should be abolished completely."
The current law was passed by the UPA government in 2013. The BJP-led NDA government wants to clear amendments in the law, but has faced stiff opposition in Parliament.