Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Feb 23: Lambasting the ruling dispensation for depriving the land owners of their due share of compensation for lands acquired from them for PMGSY roads, JKNPP Chairman and former Minister Harshdev Singh warned to launch a farmers agitation in case the Govt failed to act in this regard.
He said that during his three days tour of various villages of Ramnagar and Chenani-Ghordi constituencies, the people of affected areas complained about forcible expropriation of their proprietary lands by the Govt for construction of roads without paying them even a single penny as compensation. “The lands were acquired from the farmers as far back as in 2012, 2013-14 and thereafter in the succeeding years as well without compensating the poor cultivators who were solely dependent upon the said lands for their livelihood,’ he said.
Making a mention of some of the PMGSY roads constructed around ten years back by the Govt by expropriating lands of farmers without compensation, Mr Singh said that these included Marta-Rassail road, Chakaal-Sia Marri-Baltota Chigla road, Sanot-Garh Samnabhanj road, Tagan-Sattian road, Panjian-Motto road, Pathwar-Thati road, Barmeen-Dharnoo road, upper Chanunta-Pharka road, Majua-Rassain road, Nala Mallian-Palal road, Ghordi-Panjgrain road besides several others. “Despite the compensation element being a component of the PMGSY roads, its denial to poor farmers is a scam of huge magnitude which further needed to be exposed and the guilty punished under law”, asserted Mr Singh.
“While the LARR Act of 2013 had become applicable all over the country including J&K envisaging four times the payment of compensation to poor land owners for lands acquired from them, It was distressing to note that farmers in rural areas especially in District Udhampur had been deprived of even the actual value of such lands causing insurmountable hardships for the affected class. Not only were the lands of farmers acquired for roads but for other public utility works including PDD, PHE projects etc without compensating the poor, un-influential farmers,” he added.
Seeking immediate release of all such kind of compensation, Mr Singh warned a full fledged farmers stir if the Government persisted with its contemptuous treatment of the poor farming community.
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