Thaindian News

New Delhi, Aug 16 (IANS) Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) MP Jayant Chaudhary Monday sought the central government’s intervention in the firing on agitating farmers in Uttar Pradesh, saying that the public purpose for which land was being acquired should be clearly spelt out and steps taken to conserve prime agricultural land.
“The government should intervene. The notion of public purpose for acquiring land should be clearly spelt out and prime agricultural land should be conserved,” Chaudhary told reporters.

Chaudhary, who is an MP from Mathura and visited the agitating farmers incognito Sunday, said that the agitation was peaceful and asked Uttar Pradesh’s Mayawati government the reason for opening fire on the farmers, which led to the death of them. One policeman was also killed in the crossfire.

Chaudhary said he had also demanded the dismissal of the state government.

He said the land acquisition notification issued by the state government in July 2009 involved 850 revenue villages and an area of 20 lakh hectare.

Chaudhary, who is son RLD chief Ajit Singh, said that the pace at which fertile land was being acquired not only posed problems of employment for people but also endangered food security.

He said that main bone of contention for farmers agitating in Mathura and Aligarh districts was not the Yamuna Expressway but a proposed hi-tech city.

Calling upon the government to build political consensus on a new bill on land acquisition, he said Uttar Pradesh government should be asked to scrap projects which did not fall within the definition of public purpose.

Both houses of parliament were Monday adjourned after disruptions over the farmers’ killings during demonstrations Saturday night against inadequate compensation for acquisition of land in an area bordering Aligarh and Mathura districts.