No jobs in hand, Mihan-hit to sell kidneys as protest

Nagpur: The project affected persons (PAPs) of Mihan, living in Shivangaon, have decided to sell their kidneys to protest lack of jobs promised by the state government.

Baba Dawre, leader of these PAPs, told TOI, "The government had promised jobs for farmers' children while acquiring their lands. However, in last 15 years not a single PAP has got a job. The government has destroyed the livelihood of farmers by taking away their agricultural land. Now, with no jobs for their kids, the families are finding it difficult to make their two ends meet."

According to Dawre the farmers had used the compensation amount to educate their children. "They had also taken loans to construct their houses. Now they have nothing left. In any case the compensation was paltry," he said.

The PAP leader further said that the money given by government for constructing the houses had led to quarrels among family members over shares. "These farmers will not commit suicide. They will sell their kidneys instead for their bread and butter. We want the government to permit the same," he added.

According to Shivangaon farmers, they have been trying to get enhanced compensation since last ten years but have been unsuccessful. "We had also demanded 12.5% developed land but this too has been put on the back burner," a farmer said.

The affected farmers led by Dawre are staging agitations in Shivangaon since Friday. So far no government officer has bothered to meet them.

State government had announced that it would give a compensation of Rs1.25 crore per hectare to Shivangaon farmers. However, after paying development charges for their land to Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC) they were left with only Rs5 lakh per acre. The market value of land at that time was in lakhs per acre. The PAPs were thus taken for a ride by Congress-NCP as well as BJP-Shiv Sena governments.