Farmers from the nine villages of the district here today lodged a protest against the Punjab government's notices, seeking acquisition of their land under the Land Acquisition Act of 1894.
The farmers claimed that the Act already stands repealed after the enactment of new Land Acquisition Act which has come into effect retrospectively from 2011.
Meanwhile, the Union Information and Broadcasting Minister and local MP Manish Tewari spoke to the Additional Administrator of the Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority (GLADA) and told him that the state government could not issue acquisition notices under the old act which was already repealed.
Tewari made it clear to the GLADA official that he will not allow the farmers' land to be acquired forcibly and under no circumstances under the archaic 1894 Act.
He said, if at all the state government has to acquire the land it must be with due consent of the farmers and under the new act, which is farmer friendly.
