Greater Noida: A new committee is formed by the Uttar Pradesh government to examine farmer requests

By Bricksnwall | 2024-12-05

Anil Sagar is the senior secretary of the new committee established by the Uttar Pradesh government to investigate farmer demands. 

In response to talks with irate farmers on Monday following Delhi Police's blockade of their protest march to Delhi at the border, the Uttar Pradesh government late Tuesday evening established a committee led by Anil Sagar, principal secretary (industry and infrastructure department), to investigate the demands of the demonstrators regarding land compensation and rehabilitation facilities.

According to authorities with knowledge of the situation, Sagar's committee would include Piyush Verma, the secretary of the industries department; Sanjay Kumar Khatri, the additional CEO of Noida; Saumya Srivastava, the additional CEO of Great Noida; and Kapil Singh, the additional CEO of Yamuna Motorway.

In addition to coordinating with the chairman of the UP board of revenue, who oversaw a previous committee established to investigate farmer complaints, the committee is tasked with coordinating with the industrial bodies of Noida, Greater Noida, and Yamuna Motorway. Following discussions with farmers and representatives from the three authorities, the group presented its suggestions to the state government for more action on October 22, 2024.

According to Lokesh M, chief executive officer of the Noida authority, the new committee will work in tandem with the previous one, investigate farmer concerns, and provide recommendations for additional measures.

After a thorough analysis of the current problems, the previous committee, which included Gautam Budh Nagar district magistrate Manish Kumar Verma, Meerut divisional commissioner Selva Kumari J, and revenue board chairman Rajneesh Dube, issued six important recommendations.

The requirement that every member of a farming family be permitted to use a minimum of 1,000 square meters of their abadi property for family use was agreed to. They were formerly only permitted to occupy 450 square meters. According to officials, the committee also granted the request for residential plots, even from farmers who encroached on government-acquired land.

However, the committee turned down three important requests from farmers: first, 10% of all farmers whose land was acquired since 1997 had residential land developed; second, 64.7% of all farmers whose land was acquired between 1997 and 2002 had additional compensation hiked; and third, permission to use their residential plots for commercial purposes.

Following the denial of these three demands, farmers resumed their agitation, which resulted in district-wide demonstrations organised by farmer organisations such as the Bharatiya Kisan Union, Bharatiya Kisan Parishad, and Bharatiya Kisan Manch, among others. They also established a Sanyukt Kisan Morcha and blocked traffic on the roads in Noida and Greater Noida.

The state government's refusal to address our long-standing problems is demonstrated by the denial of these three demands. We donated land for Noida's development, but the government does not care about our situation. Bharatiya Kisan Parishad leader Prempal Chauhan stated, "If the government rejects our three demands, our agitation will continue."

The newly formed group will meet with farmers and discuss how it has addressed the majority of their concerns. In Greater Noida, for instance, the committee has settled the disputes over moving farmers' plots to better locations and giving them their abadi land back. In Noida, farmers have benefited most from the committee's decision to decouple encroachments from residential plot awards. 

Because of encroachment problems, the Noida government has postponed giving farmers access to 5% of the developed land. These problems have been fixed by the Yamuna Motorway and Greater Noida authorities.

About 20% of farmers in Greater Noida who were impacted by land acquisition are still awaiting their 5% constructed plots. Many farmers still do not have their allotted plots, despite the city's rapid development on the purchased property.

We have already addressed the primary concerns of farmers, and we will investigate any that need attention', stated Shailendra Bhatia, Yamuna Motorway authority official on special duty.

The February-formed committee turned in its report in October. However, paperwork pertaining to residential plots and abadi regularisation are still not being expedited by Noida or the Greater Noida administration. There wouldn't have been any need for unrest if officials had promptly addressed farmers' concerns, according to farmer leader Thakur Tikam Singh.

Source: Hindustan Times