SAD demands 100 pc hike in compensation to farmers for land acquired under Bharatmala Pariyojana

The Shiromani Akali Dal on Friday demanded a 100 per cent hike in compensation to farmers for land being acquired for different highways in Punjab under the Bharatmala Pariyojana, which aims to lay a grid of highways pan-India.SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal, who led a party delegation to submit a memorandum to Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit in this regard, alleged that Punjab farmers had been robbed of over Rs 25,000 crore by the state governments devious and surreptitious decision to substantially lower the collector rates for farmers lands affected by the acquisition.

The Shiromani Akali Dal on Friday demanded a 100 per cent hike in compensation to farmers for land being acquired for different highways in Punjab under the Bharatmala Pariyojana, which aims to lay a grid of highways pan-India.

SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal, who led a party delegation to submit a memorandum to Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit in this regard, alleged that Punjab farmers had been ''robbed'' of over Rs 25,000 crore by the state government's ''devious and surreptitious decision to substantially lower the collector rates for farmers' lands affected by the acquisition''. Badal said the SAD would fight for the justice of farmers till it succeeds in getting the government to withdraw or make suitable changes in its decision. He announced that the party would organise a ''tractor march'' to the residence of Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi on September 29 to put pressure on the government to heed the demands of the farmers. ''Farmers have been agitating against the governmental high-handedness on this issue. We have always stood by the farmers on every issue and we will continue to do so. Farmers and the SAD are integral to each other,'' Badal was quoted as saying in a statement.

The memorandum submitted by the party to the governor decried ''the shabby treatment meted out by the Congress government in the state to the owners of 25,000 acres of land acquired in 19 different districts of Punjab under the Bharatmala project''. ''The portions acquired are for the Delhi-Jammu-Katra Express highway, Jamnagar-Amritsar expressway, Amritsar-Una Highway, Ludhiana-Ropar Highway, Barnala-Batinda-Ganga Nagar Highways, Mohali-Sirhind Highway, Malout, Jalandhar and Patiala bypass and other related road projects,'' he said.

''The Punjab government is doing great injustice with the farmers by acquiring this land on average collector rate, which is below the market rates,'' he said.