Rae Bareli village asks: where are the farms?

They questioned government logic, pointing out that the land was not being cultivated. 8220;It was acquired by the gram sabha way back in 1982 and is mostly barren,8221; said Usma Devi, gram pradhan of Dhekauli village. 8220;Not a single inch of land belongs to any farmer.8221;

At the site where 8216;Bhumi Poojan8217; was scheduled to be performed by Sonia Gandhi on October 14, hundreds of labourers engaged in the preparations refused to leave. 8220;We are hoping for a solution and will try to complete the pending work,8221; said K M Mishra, a contractor.

Railway officers present on the site said they were keeping their fingers crossed.

Lekhpal M B Yadav confirmed that so far only the gram samaj land had been transfered to the Railways. He admitted that more land was needed for the project and that about 110 farmers had been given notices in this regard, but said there had been no protests so far.

Mohd Ameen, a member of the Bannamau gram sabha, said people welcomed the factory plans and many were even ready to give up private land if the need arose.