21 farmers in Rajasthan bury themselves neck-deep in ground to protest against land acquisition

Twenty-one farmers, including five women, buried themselves neck-deep in the ground in Rajasthan's Nindar village on Sunday to protest against the alleged land acquisition by the Jaipur Development Authority (JDA) for a housing project.

The farmers have been demanding that their lands be acquired as per the amended Land Acquisition Act and compensation awarded accordingly.

They had first held the 'Zameen Samadhi Satyagrah' in January but called off the protest after four days as the state government assured them that it would address their concerns within 50 days.

"Twenty-one farmers, including five women, have taken Zameen Samadhi on Sunday. The protest will escalate on Monday with 51 farmers taking the Samadhi. We will continue to protest till farmers get their rights," Nagendra Singh Shekhawata, a leader of theNindarBachao Yuva Kisan Sangarsh Samiti, said.

The farmers had also held a protest in October 2017 against the acquisition of more than 1,300 bighas of land by the JDA, with some of them even going on a hunger strike.

The JDA has taken possession of 600 bighas of land so far and deposited Rs 60 crore in a local court as compensation. The villagers have refused to accept the amount, claiming that it is not commensurate with the prevailing market rates.

Around 10,000 houses will be built under the housing scheme which was announced in January 2011.