As many as 21 land acquisition affected farmers' organizations today staged a protest march from Dari Maidan in Dharamsala to Tapovan and had a sit-in for hours after the police stopped them near the premises of the Himachal Vidhan Sabha complex where the last day of the session was in progress.
They demand the government should implement all the provisions of Land Acquisition Act 2013 in Himachal and cancel the notification issued on April 1, 2015 immediately to give suitable compensation for their land acquired for the national highways and other projects in the state. The farmers bodies staged a sit-in for hours shouting slogans in their support.
BJP Government is under pressure from the farmers' protest as it has burnt its finger in the recent debacle of the BJP in Mandi, Kangra, Solan and Shimla bypolls as the estranged farmers had played active role in that elections.
Addressing the farmers, President of the forum Beli Ram Kondal said the Parwanoo-Shimla, Kiratpur-Manali, Matore-Shimla, Pathankot-Mandi, Pinjore-Nalagarh, Hamirpur-Kotli-Mandi, Bhanupali-Bilaspur Rail Line projects have hit the livelihoods of the farmers badly.
The Jai Ram Thakur government should implement all the provisions of Land Acquisition Act 2013 in Himachal and cancel the notification dated April 1, 2015 immediately to give justice to the project-hit farmers, he said.
Coordinator of the Visthapit Manch Joginder Walia said in October 2018, a sub-committee was constituted at the ministerial level which has decided to implement Factor-2 (four times compensation) as per the Resettlement, Rehabilitation and Land Acquisition, 2013. But after 4 years down the line, the state government has failed to take its decision on this.
Recently another committee has been constituted at the ministerial level, which has not even bothered to meet that speaks volumes who the farmers are getting raw deal in the state, he charged.
Due the lackadaisical attitude of the government, the livelihood of farmers, shopkeepers and other citizens badly affected by these projects in Shimla, Solan, Bilaspur, Kullu, Mandi and Kangra districts continue to get the raw deal, Walia said.
The large number of the project-affected farmers converged in Dharamshala in front of the HP Vidhan Sabha and lodged their protest seeking immediate redressal of their grievances. The Manch warned if issues are not resolved quickly they would launch a statewide protest against the government till their demands were not met.
President of the Joint Kisan Manch, Harish Chauhan said after assessing the loss of livelihoods of people who are dependent on the acquired land, they should also be given proper compensation and the government should resolve the issues of the farmers quickly.
Kullu's co-convenor Naresh Kuku said that local panchayats should get free entry and roads in the panchayat areas should be made Toll Free and shopkeepers should be compensated for rehabilitation.
Madan Sharma from Bilaspur said land should be acquired as per the road plan and no changes should be made in it, the place of dumping of debris should be fixed and step-step cutting should be done on the hillside to save it from erosion. The land acquired by the competent authority should be marked, he said.
President of Himachal Kisan Sabha, Dr. Kuldeep Tanwar said all the land acquisition cases pending in the High Court and Divisional Court should be heard and disposed off within the stipulated time-frame. The 70% employment should be given to local people in all the projects as per policy, he demanded.
Rajesh Pathania, the co-convenor of Manch from Kangra while thanking all the farmers from the state said, “We have to maintain our unity and mobilize the farmers of the entire state and force the Jai Ram Thakur government to implement the land acquisition law. For which the farmers are ready to make any sacrifice, he asserted.
After the sit-in, 17-member committee met the senior minister of the government, Mohinder Thakur, in the Vidhan Sabha and put forward its 14-point demands. After discussing in detail, the Minister gave assurance that Land Acquisition Act of 2013 would be implemented.
He told the members that to cancel the April 1, 2015 notification, a three-member committee will submit its report to the government by January 30. The committee will meet the affected farmers in every district to listen to their problems related to land acquisition and will take quick steps to settle all the problems”, Thakur assured them.
The 17 member committee members who met Mahinder Sinh Thakur included BR Kondal, Joginder Walia, Naresh Kumar from Kullu, Krishanpal Sharma. Bansi Lal Thakur, Prem Chand, Jai Shiv from Shimla, Rajesh Pathania from Kangra, Rana Karan Singh, Madan Sharma from Bilaspur, Bal Kishan Sharma, Satyawan Pundir from Solan, Rajkumar Verma from Mandi, Kamal Sharma, Ismail Mohammed, Amrit Lal, Himachal Kisan sabha president Dr. Kuldip Tanwar and Harish Chauhan from Joint Kisan Manch.
