NOIDA: Farmers protesting over land compensation, developed plots and jobs said they would return to block the Noida Expressway if the govt did not accept their demands by Feb 12.
Police commissioner Laxmi Singh met the protesting group of farmers on Thursday and assured them that a high-power committee would be set up over the next few days to look into their demands. On Thursday, farmers marching to Delhi were stopped at the border, causing a long tailback of vehicles on the Noida Expressway and subsequent traffic jams across the city as a result of the main speedway getting choked.
Farmers from 55 villages have been protesting outside the Greater Noida Authority's office for the past five months and in Noida since December last year. Their two key demands are 10% abadi land as compensation for plots acquired from them by the govt for various projects and a law guaranteeing minimum support price (MSP) for their produce.
The govt's assurance over MSP was one of the conditions that prompted farmers from across the country to end their year-long agitation at Delhi's borders at UP Gate in Ghaziabad and Sirhaul on the other side of the capital.
"The Noida police commissioner has sought time till Feb 12 and assured us that a high-level committee will be formed by then to consider our demands. But if there is any delay, we will be back on the streets and resume our march towards Delhi. Till then, we will continue with our sit-in outside the authorities' offices," said Bharatiya Kisan Parishad leader Sukhvir Khalifa, who is spearheading the stir.
Traffic in Noida went out of gear for several hours from Thursday morning as 4,000 farmers hit the expressway. It gradually started to ease late in the evening when the protesters relented and returned to their sit-in site.
Officials at the Greater Noida Authority said they had already started holding camps in villages to allot farmers 6% developed plots. The first such camp, they said, was held in Dadha village on Feb 1. A second one was held in Sirsa the next day.
The protesting farmers had given land to the govt in the eighties and nineties for various development projects. They were given compensation according to the rate then and were promised 10% developed plots, they claimed. The villagers are now demanding enhanced compensation, developed plots and a govt job for each family.
NG Ravi Kumar, the Greater Noida Authority CEO, said he had asked additional CEOs to expedite the process of allotting 6% abadi plots and hold camps in several other villages.
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