Mangal Singh, 56, a marginal farmer in Kasan village, is a regular at the two-month-old protest site on the premises of the Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC) at the Industrial Model Township (IMT) in Manesar.
Hundreds of marginal and small farmers like Mr. Singh are agitating against the Haryana government’s bid to acquire 1,810 acres of land in three villages — Kasan, Kakrola and Sehrawan — for the expansion of the IMT. They fear loss of livelihood and being rendered homeless if the acquisition process goes through.
Mr. Singh says the compensation of ₹55 lakh per acre announced by the State government is far less than the market price. He says the money offered might not be enough to buy even a 50 square yard plot to build a house for his joint family of 16.
‘We will face ruin’
Mr. Singh says his house now stands on just two kanals of land where his family rears cattle. “If the land is acquired at the award announced by the government, hundreds of marginal and small farmers will be ruined,” he says.
The HSIIDC had initiated the land acquisition process in 2011, but it was challenged in court and got entangled in a long legal battle. The process was restarted two years ago after the Punjab and Haryana High Court disposed of the matter in December 2019.
Satyadev, former sarpanch of Kasan, says the court’s ruling came after the State government offered to set up a High Power Committee to resolve the matter. However, the process resumed without the committee being set up.
Change in law
He also points out that though the government had initiated the process under the old land acquisition law, it was now acquiring land under the new law that was enacted in 2013.
Rohtash, Zameen Bachao Kisan Bachao Sangarsh Samiti president, who has been spearheading the protest, says most of the land in Kasan and its surrounding villages have already been acquired in seven phases for the expansion project, leaving hardly any spare land for acquisition.
“More than 1,200 families will be affected due to the acquisition. With the money being offered by the government, we will find it difficult to even buy a 50 square yard plot in Gurugram,” says Mr. Rohtash.
He says the farmers had held three to four rounds of meetings with Chief Minister Manohar Lal over the past two months and categorically rejected his offer to acquire the land under the land pooling policy.
‘Pay ₹11 crore per acre’
“We want the government to release the land. But if the government is bent on acquisition, we demand that the government pay a minimum of ₹11 crore per acre and not acquire ‘abadi’ land used for residential purposes,” he says.
The agitating farmers have also found political support from the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party, with their leaders visiting the protest site last week and addressing the farmers.
Sanyukt Kisan Morcha leaders Rakesh Tikait and Yogendra Yadav have also pledged their support and exhorted the farmers to protest peacefully till their demands are met.
“The present government is anti-farmer and wants to render the poor farmers homeless to help industrialists. We have been fighting against the acquisition for the past decade. We held agitations, submitted memoranda, blocked road and sat on dharnas. Our fight for our land will continue,” says Mr. Satyadev.
