The sleepy Penumaka village in Tadepalle mandal of Guntur district will turn into a hotspot on April 9 as farmers are gearing up to stage a massive demonstration in protest against ‘pooling’ of farming land to build a new capital city.
The ‘Chalo Penumaka’ protest will be staged under the banner of Farmers, Agri Workers’ Jan Sansad. Social activists and members of the National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM) Medha Patkar, former Supreme Court Judge Lakshman Reddy, former IAS officer M.G. Devasahayam, former Minister Vadde Sobhanadreeswara Rao and many others from across the country will participate in the protest.
Upholding slogans of ‘Stop corporate loot of land’ and ‘Take back the draconian Land Bill – 2015’, the NAPM leaders say they are determined to ‘expose the realities of the new green field capital of A.P.’.
“The issue of right over land has become the focal point. Promulgation of the ordinance to amend Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act 2013 (now called the new Land Bill) has brought to the fore the conflict between the anti-people government backed by the corporate and the toiling masses of the country. The government move will not only adversely affect sections dependent on land but will also trigger a serious threat to food security and environment,” said B. Ramakrishnam Raju, national convenor of NAPM.
In blatant violation of the recommendations of Sivaramakrishnan Committee on the new capital, the A.P. Government is going ahead with its plan to build the capital in a region which has a thriving agricultural economy of Rs. 1,000 crore comprising 120 different crop varieties, providing livelihood to 85 per cent of small and marginal farmers.
B. Ramakrishnam Raju
National convenor, NAPM
‘In blatant violation of the recommendations of Sivaramakrishnan Committee on the new capital, the A.P. Government is going ahead with its plan to build the capital in a region which has a thriving agricultural economy of Rs. 1,000 crore comprising 120 different crop varieties, providing livelihood to 85 per cent of small and marginal farmers’
