The land-acquisition process for the 3,300-km Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) has hit a roadblock. Farmers in parts of Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat are refusing to take compensation money,citing the recently-passed land acquisition Act and claiming that the new law entitles them to more money. In reality,the new Act exempts linear projects such as highways and railways,like the DFC,but local activists in places like Gandhinagar in Gujarat and Etawah in Uttar Pradesh have led farmers to believe that the new law will fetch them more money for their land. A similar problem seems to have cropped up in Bihars Moahania district. Faced with a slowdown in disbursement of cheques,the DFC is planning to issue notices to farmers,saying it may have to enforce the necessary provisions in the Railways Amendment Act,2008,to take control of the land and park the compensation amount in the treasury. As a softer approach,it has also asked local NGOs to communicate to the farmers that they are being misled,and inform them that the land acquisition Act does not apply to the DFC. Efforts are also on to reach out to those fanning the demand. Officials have learnt that in Etawah,an octogenarian and local activist Tuk Ram Singh,who himself has a huge family in the village,started the talks about more compensation. In Uttar Pradesh,3,310 hectares of land is being acquired,while in Gujarat the figure is around 2,400 hectares. The fresh problem impacts about 20 per cent of the land in question,officials said. A farmer can always go for arbitration and we will abide by the decision. Till that time,there is no point in holding up progress, said a senior Railway official.
