Farmers at Nindar village, 20 km from here, on Friday suspended their four-day-long unusual agitation, during which they dug pits and trenches and buried themselves chest-deep in the mud with the demand for fair compensation for their land acquired for a housing project. The Jaipur Development Authority (JDA) has assured them of finding a solution to the issue.
The JDA has acquired 1,350 bighas of land at Nindar in several stages since 2010 for a plush housing project, despite the land owners refusing to accept compensation. While the compensation has been offered at the rates prevailing in 2010, the farmers alleged that the JDA's survey was faulty and the compensation was much below the market prices.
‘Unfair compensation’
The Nindar Bachao Yuva Kisan Sangharsh Samiti, which has lauched the ‘Zameen Samadhi Satyagraha’, has demanded that the State government give compensation as per the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, which came into force on January 1, 2014. “Applying the 2010 District Lease Committee rates in 2020 is unfair,” Samiti convener Nagendra Singh Shekhawat said.
Mahesh Joshi, government chief whip in the State Assembly, visited the site of agitation on Friday and assured the farmers of “sympathetic consideration” of their demand. Mr. Shekhawat said the Satyagraha site would be protected during negotiations with the JDA officers and the agitation revived if a satisfactory solution was not offered.
Several women had also buried themselves chest-deep before the protest was suspended.
Farmers of the village had first resorted to this unique form of protest in 2017 when the JDA had started getting possession of the acquired land. The agitation had generated immense public sympathy and forced the then BJP government to hold talks with the farmers.
