Andhra Pradesh Farmers to Join Protest against Andhra Pradesh Land Pooling
On 23rd February 2015, farmers from riverbank villages in Andhra Pradesh joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Anna Hazare to protest against the amendments to the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013. There were 5,000 and more Krishna riverside farmers who wanted more compensation for their land, as they felt that their land was more fertile than the lands belonging to the upland farmers.
The BJP’s ordinances to the Land Acquisition Bill have been protested by AAP and other political parties. The farmers in Andhra Pradesh have been opposing it as it strikes close to home. The formation of the new capital in Guntur district in Andhra Pradesh has resulted in opposition from the local farmers and village groups in the area. They are particularly upset about the land pooling policy in the 29 villages in AP, especially from the National Alliance for People’s Movements (NAPM). The TDP government in the state, headed by Chandrababu Naidu, is creating a new capital and has decided to share ownership of land to make sure that the farmers and tenants in the area reap some benefits.
Opposition from riverside farmers
The land pooling initiative stipulates that patta land owners in the areas where there was arid land would be given 1,000 square yards of developed residential plots and 200 square yards of commercial plot per acre. Owners of land assigned by the government will receive 800 square yards of residential plots and 100 square yards of commercial plots. Patta owners closer to the river bed will receive 1,000 square yards of residential plots and 300 square yards of commercial plots. The TDP government has promised yearly appreciating cash benefits, legally valid receipts, simultaneous infrastructure development and land pooling ownership certificate.
The farmers from AP are against their agricultural lands being used to build the new capital city, which is why they are protesting the Land Acquisition Bill, as the previous form of the Bill categorically banned acquisition of green fields. Their notion is that the bill will only help realtors, corporates and the land mafia.
The ordinance to amend the land acquisition act has eased the ‘consent clause’ that many were seeing as a hurdle for infrastructure projects in power, defense, housing and highway. The dilution of the consent clause has invoked the ire of many farmers.
The biggest controversy in the act is the dismissal of the consent clause when it comes to land that is meant for defence and defence production, rural infrastructure, housing in the rural areas, affordable housing, multi-crop lands, industrial corridors and infrastructure projects that come under the purview of the Public-Private Partnership model. The consent clause waiver is a tricky area, as it could lead to forcible land acquisition and could negatively impact farmers while benefitting the industrialists.
Chandrababu Naidu offers more sops
The TDP government has responded to the riverside farmers by offering an extra 150 sq. yards of commercial plot for every acre that they surrender to the constitution for the creation of the new capital. The farmers’ protest has threatened the government to fall short of the 25,000 acres of land that they need to create the capital.
Andhra Pradesh has now been forced to come up with a heftier compensation package, by increasing the area of the commercial plot from 300 sq. yards to 450 sq. yards. Also, the limit for waiver of loan for farmers cultivating horticulture crops has been increased from Rs.10, 000 per acre to Rs.1.5 lakh per acre. It remains to be seen whether the farmers will reach a consensus with the TDP government.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Affordable Housing, industrial corridors, land acquisition, land pooling policy, multi-crop lands, N Chandrababu Naidu, NAPM, National Alliance for People's Movements, public-private partnership model, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, Rural areas
