Officials of the Greater Noida authority will hold a meeting with farmers on June 30 at the authority office to discuss issues faced by farmers pertaining to land acquisition for development work.
The authority had in 2006-07 acquired abadi land (meant for residential purposes) along with agricultural land for setting up industries and promised to employ farmers’ children. Farmers, however, had protested on the grounds that they will not have a place to live if the authority acquired their land.
After a series of protests, the authority and the Uttar Pradesh government in 2016 agreed to leaseback 3,000 square metres of abadi land to each farmer.
Farmers of Greater Noida west have expressed their anger and repeatedly staged protests outside the authority’s office as it is yet to leaseback the residential (abadi) land to eligible farmers. Also, it has been found that plots have been leased back to non-farmers in some instances, which the authority is currently probing.
The authority chairman Prabhat Kumar directed his staff to listen to farmers’ issues and address their grievances. “We will address concerns pertaining to leaseback on a priority basis,” said Prabhat Kumar, chairman of the Greater Noida authority.
The authority officials said that they do not want the farmers to stage protests because it disturbs their functioning.
However, farmers threatened to hold protests if their issues and concerns are not addressed.
“We have made it clear to the Greater Noida authority officials that if they fail to address issues pertaining to abadi land, we will have to resort to protests. After hearing our issues, the authority has decided to organise a meeting on June 30. Let us see if they are serious about addressing our issues,” said Manveer Bhati, a farmer leader.
“Around 1,000 farmers are yet to get the leaseback of residential land. If the authority does not address our issues, we plan to launch a series of protests,” said Ajay Pradhan, a farmer.
