Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday refused to join issue with the Janasena leader Pawan Kalyan on land taken from farmers for the capital saying he was not aware of the context in which the actor made those remarks.
Talking to reporters here he defended the acquisition of 33,000 acres of land from farmers under the land pooling scheme . He said that land value would not increase if capital was constructed in 1,000 acres or 5,000 acres. The land value would increase when you build a world-class city and generate employment as well as economic activity.
“If you create hurdles to build a world class city even the present land value would dip”, he added. Mr. Naidu said that the land pooling was done in a systematic manner and not with any selfish motive. He maintained that all the farmers handed over their lands voluntarily realising that it would be beneficial for them. Nowhere in the world or India such a huge chunk of land was taken under land pooling on a voluntary basis, said Mr. Naidu.
He said that the master plan for the core capital region would be given by the Singapore Government agency in June. The capital was being built for the people and it was `People's Capital'. He criticised the Left Parties and YSR Congress Party for objecting to the quantum of land being pooled for the purpose.
