No farmers' land will be acquired at throwaway rates: Shah

Countering the opposition charge that NDA government was "pro-corporate", BJP chief Amit Shah today assured that farmers' land will not be acquired at throwaway rates for corporate houses.
He also took on the drug menace in Punjab and asked party workers to carry out a major awareness drive to reach out to every youth affected by it and help convince them shun it.
He said the BJP government at the Centre was in favour of farmers and the poor and has taken a number of initiatives to help them in their hour of crisis after they suffered crop damage due to unseasonal rains and hailstorm.

Seeking to reach out to farmers on the land Bill, he said, "Farmers will be given adequate compensation so that they can buy better alternative agriculture land for further cultivation..."
"It will be wrong to say that farmers would be deprived of their land and that it would be purchased at a throw-away price for corporate houses," he said seeking to allay fears of peasants.
Talking about the plight of farmers, Shah said they would get adequate compensation for their agriculture yield damaged in unseasonal rains and hailstorm. He listed out the enhanced compensation to farmers, insurance cover to them and easy credit through Mudra bank as some measures in farmers aid.

He also sought to counter the opposition charge that theirs was a "Government of corporates" and said it was the UPA government that was "pro-corporate" as it had allotted coal mines to corporate and their own party members for peanuts.

"Our government belongs to every poor citizen of the nation," he said, adding the Modi Government had opened the bank account of 14 crore people while UPA Government was unable to extend such an enormous benefit to economically poor class.
Shah, who was on a visit to the state to strengthen the organisation, asked party leaders to reach out to every village and expand the party base in the border state. The party has 23 lakh members in the state.

Taking on the drug menace, he said "Youth in Punjab is badly perturbed due to drug menace but BJP workers will eradicate it from the grass-roots."
Shah was to earlier sit on a 'dharna' against the menace in the state, but postponed his plans saying he would chalk out a yatra against it and will chalk out plans later.