Farmers threaten fast-unto-death

The farmers’ panel has also sought a CBI inquiry into what it called an “undue favour” to a religious body. It alleged that the government went “out of the way” to allot 200 acres of prime land,costing over Rs 10,000 crore,to the body.

Launching the protest by holding a massive demonstration in front of the PUDA Bhawan in Sector 62 here,committee convener D P S Baidwan threatened to intensify the stir by resorting to a fast-unto-death if their demands were not met within a month.

The committee had earlier resorted to 1,561 days of chain hunger strike in Sohana,adjoining Mohali,from May 2004 to August 2008. It was called off only after the then cooperation minister,the late Capt Kanwaljit Singh,assured to formulate and implement the LPS,besides bringing an end to land acquisition against the wishes of farmers.

On their persistent demand,Baidwan told Newsline,the Punjab Council of Ministers had approved the LPS with a provision to allot 968 square yards of residential and 121 square yards of commercial sites each instead of cash compensation against each acre of the acquired land. “The 121 square yards of commercial site that we are now being offered include the parking area too,which is half of the total area,” he said,adding that this was against the guidelines laid down in the LPS.

Baidwan also demanded that the benefit of LPS should be extended to those farmers whose land were acquired before the scheme was implemented. “Since the land of all those people,protests by whom led to the formulation of LPS,were acquired prior to implementation of the scheme,they were not benefited by it,” he argued,challenging the government’s decision to implement LPS with prospective effect only.