Raj farmers up ante against land acquisition for highways thru state

Farmers have once again upped their ante against the continued acquisition of land by the Rajasthan government and the ongoing construction work under Bharatmala Pariyojna during the lockdown without resolving compensation, resettlement and rehabilitation issues.

A farmers' body recently wrote to state chief secretary to expeditiously arrange a high-level meeting with officials of NHAI, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and the state government to resolve their issues and stop taking possession of their land during coronavirus-driven lockdown.

Under Bharatmala Pariyojna, an express highway from Amritsar to Jamnagar has been proposed to pass through Rajasthan's Ganganagar, Hanumangarh, Bikaner, Jodhpur, Barmer and Jalore districts, while a second highway has been proposed from Delhi to Mumbai, passing through Dausa, Alwar, Kota, Jhalawar and nearby areas.

The NHAI and its contractors are taking forcible possession of land during the lockdown and not allowing farmers to oppose it on the pretext of imposition of section 144 of the CrPc and section 188 of the IPC. The same laws are not being applied on employees of NHAI, its contractors and labourers, Bharat Bhoomi Bachao Sangarsh Samiti president Ramesh Dalal told PTI.

He said the government authorities are misusing their powers and are violating human rights of the affected families amid the coronavirus-led crisis.

The farmers' body has written to the state chief secretary to call a joint meeting to resolve the compensation, resettlement and rehabilitation issues of farmers before carrying out acquisition process. A letter has also been sent to the Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari.

Dalal said the compensation, rehabilitation and resettlement issues have not been resolved as per the mandate of the Land Acquisition Act, 2013 and the guidelines issued by the Supreme Court and high courts in similar cases.

We have already sought revision of the award relating to entire Rajasthan for seeking fair compensation as per the law. In Barmer and Jalore, the government should consider farmers' request for shifting highway alignment to other identified option, he said.

A large number of farmers has been holding sit-in protest since February 28 in Bhagora of Jalore district for their cause but its intensity had reduced after the government raised an alarm over the coronavirus spread. Farmers had also written to President Ram Nath Kovind, seeking permission to embrace death.