Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Friday scrapped the development of a hi-tech township in the Yamuna Expressway project in Aligarh. “If the farmers don't want, the township will not be developed,” Cabinet Secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh announced here on Friday. He, however, claimed that the compensation-related issues of the farmers in Aligarh and Agra districts had been resolved and they had agreed to the terms of the compensation.
It was reiterated that the government and the ruling Bahujan Samaj Party were against the forcible acquisition of land. With the agitation serving as a backdrop, a new rehabilitation policy was also announced by the government. It is said to have been inspired by Haryana's rehabilitation policy. But the Cabinet Secretary said the State's policy offered better facilities to the growers whose land had been acquired.
Approximately 500 hectares was to be acquired for the development of a modern township along the 165-km Yamuna Expressway, but the scheme hit a roadblock with the Aligarh and Agra farmers demanding compensation equivalent to the amount given in Noida.
Ms. Mayawati had blamed the Opposition parties for using the agitation for political gains and creating a law and order problem.
Describing the new policy as “progressive,” the Cabinet Secretary told journalists here on Friday that henceforth annuity at the rate of Rs. 20,000 an acre a year for the next 33 years would be offered to farmers whose land was acquired. The farmers would also be entitled to a fixed raise of Rs. 600 an acre a year on the annuity amount with the payment made in July, Mr. Singh said. The annuity would be in addition to the compensation.
