RJD MP seeks PM intervention in Bihta land acquisition for IIT

Senior RJD MP Ramkripal Yadav has demanded intervention of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to end the agitation of farmers at Bihta in Patna district for not getting adequate compensation against their land acquired for construction of an IIT.
In a letter to the PM, Yadav, Rajya Sabha member and a close confidante of RJD chief Lalu Prasad, complained that the state government has not paid adequate compensation to farmers who gave their land for setting up an IIT.
These marginal and small farmers were on indefinite agitation at Bihta since August 26, the letter said.
Yadav said Parliament had passed Land Acquisition Bill promising handsome compensation to farmers in the event of acquisition of their land but the Bihar government has 'deprived' cultivators of proper compensation.

The RJD MP, who had sat with the agitating farmers at Bihta, alleged that the Nitish Kumar government which has acquired 500 acre of land at Bihta has not followed norms for payment to farmers for purchase of their land.
The state government has violated even its own 2007 land acquisition policy and paid three types of rates to the farmers, he alleged in his letter written yesterday.
He urged the PM to ensure adequate compensation to farmers and fulfil their demand of employment to one member of the family of such farmers in the IIT.