Farmers in the Nindar area of Jaipur have started a protest against the acquisition of their lands through Samadhi Satyagrah. In the biting cold they have buried themselves up to neck in the earth. They started the protest after Jaipur Development Authority (JDA) initiated the process of taking the land into their possession for a proposed residential scheme. The matter is related to an acquisition process that started in 2010 for 327 hectares of land. The JDA has said that farmers would soon be given reservation letters for other land, but at the same time it added that the land belongs to them and has been upheld by court.
The protest is being led by Nagendra Singh Shekhawat of the Nindar Bachao Yuva Sangharsh Samiti and the farmers have declared that the protest will be intensified if their demands are not accepted. “We will not let our lands be acquired under the old law. The scheme was launched in 2010, but notification was taken out in May 2013. The new acquisition law was implemented from January 1, 2014 and till then our lands had not been taken nor had compensation been given – so why should we accept the old law,” said Shekhawat. The new law mandates that 80% farmers should support the acquisition.
The JDA has said that the affected farmers would soon be given reservation letters in lieu of their land. Manish Fozdar, deputy commissioner for zone 12 in a statement said total 327 hectares of land was acquired for the scheme ten years ago on 4 January, 2010. While JDA took 286.47 hectares of land in its possession, it could not take 41.45. Compensation amount for this land has been deposited in the court by JDA.
Farmers filed litigation against the acquisition in Rajasthan High Court but lost. They appealed in Supreme Court but lost there too in 2018. The apex court also held the acquisition as correct. JDA started the development works and acquisition for remaining land on January 1 this year. Farmers have started a protest after that.
What makes the entire situation striking is that political blame for the matter cannot be passed on. The land was acquired during when Congress was in power in Rajasthan, the new acquisition law was brought by Congress when it was in power in the Centre and presently there is a Congress government in Rajasthan.
