Farmers to hold mahapanchayat to protest land acquisition

Gurgaon: Hundreds of farmers who have been protesting against the acquisition of 1,810 acres of land for the expansion of IMT-Manesar are going to organise a mahapanchayat in Panchgaon on October 9. Farmers from several villages have demanded that the state government withdraw its planned acquisition. Their main contention is that of compensation, with the farmers saying that they were being offered an amount far lower than the market rate. While the government is offering around Rs 91 lakh, including interest per acre, the farmers are demanding Rs 8-10 crore per acres. Two days back, the group of farmers who were planning to stage a protest in Delhi were detained by the Gurgaon police.
The Last mahapanchayat was conducted on September 17 when the administration had assured to arrange a meeting with the senior government officials to resolve the issue. Subsequently, a group of farmers held a meeting with the senior government officials but failed to reach a consensus. According to the farmers, they had demanded a 1,000 square yard residential plot along with the compensation. The government is willing to give them a 1,000 square yard residential plot at the rate of Rs 16,500 per square yard. Till now, there is no consensus on giving residential plots for free.
Satyadev Sarpanch, one of the leading members of the farmer group, said there are hundreds of houses on the land in question. The state government has already acquired 8,000 acres of land in this area in six phases.