The State government is siding with corporate companies at the expense of people who have been displaced by the Greenko Hybrid Integrated Energy plant in Pinnapuram village of Kurnool district, alleged leaders of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) who were arrested while they were planning to visit the village.
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CPI(M) State Secretary V. Srinivasa Rao alleged that the State government and the company had violated the 2013 Land Acquisition Act of the Central Government by giving meagre compensation to only a few people, and that many people were forcibly evicted.
“It is undemocratic to take away farmers’ rights and not compensate them as per the law of the land. The Greenko Group, on its website, says it follows ethical corporate practices. Is it ethical to snatch land from people by not giving them compensation as per rules?” Mr. Srinivasa Rao said.
The party’s district secretary K. Prabhakar Reddy pointed out that 6,000 acres in Pinnapuram village, and an additional 2,000 acres of forest land — on which many people were dependent for their livelhood — were acquired by the company. In villages adjoining Pinnapuram, compensation of ₹15 lakh was given while in Pinnapuram, only a compensation of ₹6 lakh was given, he said.
Mr. Srinivasa Rao urged all political parties to join the CPI(M) in its fight to demand proper compensation for the farmers in Pinnapuram. The TDP too had launched an agitation and extended support to the people last week.