Farmers threaten self-immolation if compensation for land acquired in '87 is not hiked

MEERUT: Farmers of

Shatabdi Nagar

area in

Meerut

have threatened self-immolation if compensation for their land that has been paid to them is not increased. In 1987, the Meerut Development Authority (

MDA

) had acquired land from farmers in Shatabdi Nagar at the rate of Rs 200 per sq m. In the next few years, the compensation amount was increased to Rs 690 per sq m. On Wednesday, farmers gathered in Shatabdi Nagar for a sit-in protest demanding increased compensation.

After the Land Acquisition Act came into force in 2014, the farmers of Shatabdi Nagar are demanding increased compensation according to the new rules. “The MDA has taken over our land at throwaway prices, and they are now selling it at high prices. Increased compensation is our right and we have been demanding for it for the past many years. Nobody has paid any heed to our demands. We will now immolate ourselves if our demands were not met,” said Sunil Choudhary, a farmer.

“We have been given a raw deal by MDA. Other farmers in other areas were given higher compensation. We kept demanding higher rates, but that did not happen. Now that the new Land Acquisition Act is in force, we should get compensation according to the new law. It is our right. If the MDA doesn’t heed to our demands within a week, farmers have threatened self-immolation,” said Ravinder Dauralia of Bhartiya Kisan Union.

Meanwhile, MDA is in no mood to pay higher compensation. “They have been given Rs 300 crore in compensation. Initially, they were given an amount, which was increased later. They have been given whatever was due to them. The land acquisition happened in 1987. How long can they keep demanding increased compensation? Moreover, these farmers had given an undertaking in 2011 that all the dues have been cleared and that nothing was owed to them,” said Yogendra Yadav, MDA vice-chairman.