V. Gopala Gowda, the retired judge of the Supreme Court, said the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana governments have attempted to get their own Land Acquisition Acts framed in violation of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act of 2013 to suit their needs and that it was in violation of the spirit of Constitution. This appears to be the case of pooling of nearly 33,000 acres of fertile lands in Amaravati for the construction of a grand capital city, he observed.
Speaking at a farmers’ meet as part of the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee’s Kisan Mukti Yatra here on Sunday, he said those who filed petitions against A.P.’s much-hyped capital city project should strongly present their views on the impact of subverting the due processes of law and promised to extend his support.
He said the people wanted health, education, water and other basic requirements to be met by the government. But, as the farmers complained, multi-cropped lands are being given away to foreign companies, and buildings are coming up in the riverbed.
Former bureaucrat E.A.S. Sarma said Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu should understand the sentiments of farmers in the capital region at least now and take them into confidence if he wanted to survive in politics.
