Skip to main content

Call for Jan Sansad of farmers, landless workers on April 9 against new Andhra capital at Vijaywada

Proposed area of new Andhra capital
By Our Representative
The National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM), apex body of tens of rights-based organizations across India, has called for a major struggle against the controversial land acquisition bill around the growing opposition to the proposed new Andhra Padesh capital in Guntur district, next to Vijaywada. Calling farmers and landless workers to flood Vijaywada on April 9 and join the Jan Sansad or People's Parliament, NAPM has given the slogan “Stop Corporate Loot of Land!” for the struggle.
Saying that the struggle would “expose the realities of the new greenfield capital of Andhra Pradesh", the NAPM has demanded that the Andhra government should “stop massive acquisition and ‘pooling’ of prime farming land” to build Amravati, the name given to the new capital.
The NAPM said, “The issue of right over land has once again become the national question. Promulgation of the ordinance to amend Land Acquisition Act, 2013 (now called the new Land Bill) has sharply brought out the conflict between the anti-people government backed by corporates and the toiling people of this country.”
It added, “The attempts to reverse the achievements by people’s movements through years of struggles against unjust land acquisition, some of which were included in the Land Acquisition Act, 2013, are going to not only create situations of crisis among the land-dependent people but will also seriously threaten our food security and environment.”
According to NAPM, “A manifestation of such a crisis can be seen in the Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh. Blatantly flouting the recommendations of the Sivaramakrishna Committee for new Capital, the Andhra government is going ahead with the plans for greenfield capital in a region which has thriving agricultural economy of Rs 1000 crore, 120 different crop varieties, 85 % small and marginal farmers, including women entrepreneurs who earn Rs.200-700 per day.”
“The planned capital development will take 30-50,000 acres of multi-crop farm land from 29 villages, affecting 2 lakh plus population in first phase and is expected to go up to 1,25,000 acres in subsequent phases”, the NAPM said, adding, “The land pooling scheme, meant to be voluntary, is being used to forcefully acquire land. Minimal and insufficient cash compensation is being provided to farmers but the real gains are for the real estate developers and to a Singapore firm which is to get complete transfer of autonomy.”
“This situation in Andhra gets even worse with the new central land bill hanging over the heads of the farmers which is attempting to do away with all pro-farmer safeguards. Clearly, the Make in India campaign is all about unmaking and destroying rural India”, the NAPM said.
Calling upon activists to participate in the Jan Sansad on April 9, the NAPM said, those who will lead to event would include Medha Patkar, M G Devasahayam, Dr. Sunilam and B Ramakrishnam Raju, National Convener, NAPM.

Comments

TRENDING

Insider plot to kill Deendayal Upadhyay? What RSS pracharak Balraj Madhok said

By Shamsul Islam*  Balraj Madhok's died on May 2, 2016 ending an era of old guards of Hindutva politics. A senior RSS pracharak till his death was paid handsome tributes by the RSS leaders including PM Modi, himself a senior pracharak, for being a "stalwart leader of Jan Sangh. Balraj Madhok ji's ideological commitment was strong and clarity of thought immense. He was selflessly devoted to the nation and society. I had the good fortune of interacting with Balraj Madhok ji on many occasions". The RSS also issued a formal condolence message signed by the Supremo Mohan Bhagwat on behalf of all swayamsevaks, referring to his contribution of commitment to nation and society. He was a leading RSS pracharak on whom his organization relied for initiating prominent Hindutva projects. But today nobody in the RSS-BJP top hierarchy remembers/talks about Madhok as he was an insider chronicler of the immense degeneration which was spreading as an epidemic in the high echelons of th

Central pollution watchdog sees red in Union ministry labelling waste to energy green

By Chythenyen Devika Kulasekaran*  “Destructors”, “incinerators” and “waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration” all mean the same thing – indiscriminate burning of garbage! Having a history of about one and a half centuries, WTE incinerators have seen several reboots over the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. 

First-of-its-kind? 'Eco-friendly, low cost' sewage treatment system installed in Gujarat

Counterview Desk Following the installation of the Unconventional Decentralized Multi-Stage Reactor (UDMSR) for sewage treatment, a note on what is claimed to be the  first-of-its-kind technology said, the treated sewage from this system “can be directly utilized for agricultural purposes”, even as proving to be a “saviour in the times of water crisis.”

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah*   The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

Indo-Bangla border: Farmers facing 'illegal obstacles' in harvesting, transporting yields

  Counterview Desk  In a representation to the chairperson, National Human Rights Commission, human rights defender Kirity Roy, who is secretary, Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), has said that Border Security Force (BSF) personnel are creating "illegal obstacles" for farmers seeking to harvest their ripened yields and transport them to the market in village Jhaukuthi of Cooch Behar district.

Wasteland, a colonial legacy, being used to 'give away' vast tracts to Ratnagiri refinery

By Fouziya Tehzeeb* William D’Souza, a 55-year old farmer from Kuthethur, Mangalore, was busy mixing cattle feed when we arrived at his doorsteps. Around 25 km from the bustling city of Mangalore, Kuthethur is a lush green village with thick vegetation. On the way to William’s house the idyllic view gets blocked by the flares and smoke arising from the Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL).

'Flawed' argument: Gandhi had minimal role, naval mutinies alone led to Independence

Counterview Desk Reacting to a Counterview  story , "Rewiring history? Bose, not Gandhi, was real Father of Nation: British PM Attlee 'cited'" (January 26, 2016), an avid reader has forwarded  reaction  in the form of a  link , which carries the article "Did Atlee say Gandhi had minimal role in Independence? #FactCheck", published in the site satyagrahis.in. The satyagraha.in article seeks to debunk the view, reported in the Counterview story, taken by retired army officer GD Bakshi in his book, “Bose: An Indian Samurai”, which claims that Gandhiji had a minimal role to play in India's freedom struggle, and that it was Netaji who played the crucial role. We reproduce the satyagraha.in article here. Text: Nowadays it is said by many MK Gandhi critics that Clement Atlee made a statement in which he said Gandhi has ‘minimal’ role in India's independence and gave credit to naval mutinies and with this statement, they concluded the whole freedom struggle.

CAA disregards India's inclusive plural ethos, 'betrays' ideals of freedom struggle: PUCL

Counterview Desk    "Outraged" at the move of the Central government to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (CAA 2019) weeks before the election, the top rights group, People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), has demanded that the law be repealed. 

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Sections of BSF, BGB personnel 'directly or indirectly' involved in cross border smuggling

By Kirity Roy*  The Border Security Force (BSF) of India and the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) of Bangladesh met for 54th Director General level meeting at Dhaka, Bangladesh, on 5th to 9th March, 2024 to discuss on minimizing killings at border area, illegal intrusion, trafficking of drugs and other narcotics, smuggling of arms and ammunitions and other crimes at bordering areas. Further, the summit had an agenda to discuss on overall development in 150 yards area at both sides of the border and design an activity plan for the same.