Govt extends deadline for reluctant farmers over land pooling
HYDERABAD: Before invoking the Land Acquisition Act to take lands for the capital from unwilling farmers, the State government seems to have decided to give some more time to the 'strong-willed ryots' to fall in line.
As a part of this, the State government has decided to extend the deadline for the submission of consent letters by farmers in the capital region for surrendering their lands to the government till Feb 28. The State Cabinet, which is meeting here on Monday, is expected to give its nod for the same.
In fact, the original deadline for the land pooling ended on Saturday. Against the State government's target of procuring an extent of 30,000 acres for the construction of the core capital, the government succeeded in collecting only 22,200 acres by Saturday. Hence, the State government has decided to extend the deadline to complete the process of procuring the required extent of land.
Agriculture Minister P Pulla Rao said the deadline for the land pooling scheme would be extended by a fortnight to give more time for land owners to give consent letters.
'As several farmers are coming forward to surrender their agricultural lands for the construction of the capital, we have decided to extend the deadline till Feb 28,' he said.
Interestingly, not withstanding the government's efforts to make the farmers fall in line by hook or by crook, some of the 'iron-willed farmers' belonging to the nine villages that are right on the bank of River Krishna, have begun undertaking public protests against efforts to take the high-yielding lands.
News Posted: 16 February, 2015
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