Gujarat govt rejects farmers' plea to return 566 sq km land "reserved" for Ahmedabad urbanization, to protest on Sept 8

Nitin Patel

By Our Representative
The Gujarat government has rejected the demand of the agitating farmers of 68 villages, seeking to cancel the crucial 2009 notification, which has allegedly reserved 566.35 sq km of agricultural area in the outskirts of Ahmedabad for urban development.
Gujarat's deputy chief minister Nitin Patel, rejecting the demand, told their representatives that they were being instigated by the Congress for electoral gains in view of the upcoming Gujarat state assembly elections scheduled for December.
Farmers' representatives belonging to several non-political organizations, including the Khedut Samaj Gujarat and the OBC-Dalit Ekta Manch, met Patel, who had called them to Sachivalaya on Tuesday.
Deepsinh Thakore, who was one of the leading participants, said, "The deputy chief minister used abusive language for our leaders, telling us that we were being misguided by them, calling them all Congress agents. He went so far as to use casteist language."
While top leaders of the two organizations, Sagar Rabari and Alpesh Thakore, did not go to meet the deputy chief minister, representatives of farmers belonging to individual villages, including sarpanches, some of them belonging to the BJP, were called to discuss the tangled issue, agitating them for the last few years.
A letter handed over by the farmers' representatives to the deputy chief minister, addressed to chief minister Vijay Rupani, said that despite the lapse of eight years, the Gujarat government has done "nothing" for the urban development of the region, even as taking away the farmers' right over their land.
"Even the Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority (AUDA) has recognised that till 2021, looking to the density of population of the area, just about 84 sq km area would be needed for urban development. Hence it is difficult to understand as to why the state government wants to transfer 566.35 sq km of farmers' land for urban development", the letter reads.
Talking with newsperons, Sagar Rabari said, "Under the 2009 notification, the farmers would have to part with 40% of their agricultural land for urban development. Further, 90% of the common village land would would be reserved for AUDA."
He added, "Worse, farmers have been deprived of freely selling their land for non-agricultural purposes. These restrictions have made farmers angry. They have decided to take out a tractor rally to Gandhinagar on September 8 starting from the outskirts of Ahmedabad. We have sought permission, but the rally will be held, even if the permission is not given."
Alpesh Thakore, about whom rumours have been floating around that he may join BJP, said, "We will not tolerate the abusive language used by the deputy chief minister. He must apologize for this. It seems he is frustrated, he wouldn't win from his constituency during the coming polls. We hope the chief minister takes a more balanced view."
Asked whether he was planning to join BJP, Thakore, who claims to have considerable following among the numerically strong OBC Thakore community, said, "Lots of rumours are floating around. My doors are open. You will get an answer to this question shortly."

Comments

Whistle-blowing IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt's wife suspects foul play after truck hits her car

By Nachiketa Desai*
Paranoia has seized Shweta Bhatt, wife of suspended Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Sanjiv Bhatt, after the car she was driving was rammed in broad day light. According to Shweta Bhatt, it was beacon light-flashing truck without registration number plate. The incident took place on January 7, just a day ahead of the Gujarat High Court was scheduled to take up the bail application of Sanjiv Bhatt, arrested last year for "involvement" in a 23-year-old case.

Call to support IIM-Bangalore professor, censured for seeking action against Uniliver

Counterview Desk
Sections of the Indian Institute of Managements (IIMs) across India have strongly reacted to the decision to censure Dr Deepak Malghan, a faulty at IIM-Bangalore. Prabhir Vishnu Poruthiyil, who is faculty at IIM-Tiruchirapalli, has sought wider solidarity with Dr Malghan, saying, "The administration has censured Deepak for merely suggesting a meaningful action against Hindustan Unilever for their abysmal environmental record" by “disinviting” it for campus placement.

Morari Bapu, who has installed new statues of Ram, Laxman, Hanuman without weapons

By Sandeep Pandey*
A saint is one who can give some inner peace by his/her voice. This will happen only when s(he) will talk about love and harmony. Morari Bapu is one saint who has been conveying the message of love, peace, harmony, fraternity, etc. Today when a number of saffron clad figures with aggressive posture, spewing venom, fanning hatred to polarise voters are at the forefront of politics of Hindutva it is a relief to see Morari Bapu in a different mould.

99% MGNREGA funds "exhausted", Govt of India makes no additional sanctions: Study

Counterview Desk
A letter, addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and prepared by senior activists led by Aruna Roy on behalf of the Peoples’ Action for Employment Guarantee (PAEG), and signed, among others, by 80 members of Parliament, has regretted that, despite repeated public statements by his government promising employment and job creation that will boost the country’s growth, the country’s only employment guarantee programme, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), “is being systematically undermined.”

Nuclear reactors sought from French giant "not safe": Letter to Modi on Jaitapur project

Counterview Desk
Amidst reports that the French nuclear giant EDF has submitted a “techno-commercial offer” for the world’s largest nuclear power park proposed in Maharashtra’s Jaitapur nuclear power park in Jaitapur on the Maharashtra coast, Dr EAS Sarma, India’s former Union Secretary in the Minister of Power, and an eminent voice in the civil society, has written an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who also heads Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), protesting the move.

World Bank clarifies: Its 26th rank to India not for universal access to power but for ease of doing business

By Our Representative
In a major embarrassment to the Government of India, the World Bank has reportedly clarified that it has not ranked India 26th out of 130 countries for providing power to its population. The top international banker’s clarification comes following Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal’s claim that India has “improved to 26 position from 99” in access to electricity in just one year.

Kerala land being acquired using "draconian, anti-people" National Highway Act, 1956

Counterview Desk
In a letter Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan, senior activists and politicians have insisted that the Kerala government should not agree to "inhuman displacement and buid-operate-transfer (BOT) Toll system", imposed by the Government of India and the National Highway Authority of India, for widening the current National Highway (NH) 66.

Kaiga NPP expansion: Karnataka to get just 400 MW, but lose thick forest, fresh water

Counterview Desk
In an open letter to the chairman and members of the Atomic energy Commission (AEC) on the issue of Kaiga nuclear power plant (NPP) expansion plan in Karnataka, Shankar Sharma, well-known power policy analyst, has argued that that in case of expansion, the site will face “exponential increase in radiation emission risks”, underlining, “Nuclear safety experts identify such a scenario as enhanced risk for NPPs with multiple reactors and shared technical facilities."
Sharma says the questions that also be asked whether Karnataka should lose more than 54 hectares of thick forests and about 152,304 cubic meters of fresh water per day from Kali river for a meager benefit of 400 MW from the Kaiga NPP, for which “there are many benign alternative options available for the state at much lower overall costs to the state.”
Text of the letter: This has reference to the public hearing under the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Rule 2006 of Ministry of Environment, Fore…

Uttarakhand High Court: Biodiversity boards can impose fees on Ramdev's Divya Pharmacy

By Mridhu Tandon
In a significant decision, the Uttarakhand High Court on December 21, 2018 has dismissed the writ petition filed by Divya Pharmacy founded by Baba Ramdev and Acharya Balakrishnan, challenging the demand of the Uttarakhand Biodiversity Board (UBB) imposing fees under the provisions of the Fair and Equitable Benefit Sharing (FEBS).

Modi becoming Prime Minister now appears to be an "accident" to the people of India

By Sandeep Pandey*
Anupam Kher's film 'Accidental Prime Minister' has targeted Dr Manmohan Singh who served for two terms and may be again acceptable for the job if his party regains power. But his tormentor Narendra Modi seems to be out of breath even before his first term is over. Disillusionment with him is so widespread and deep that people of India may not bear with him for another term. As the general elections approach again the difference between the two needs to be examined.

Counterview

Search This Blog