Faced with protests by farmers demanding higher compensation for land acquired for a township along the Taj Expressway, the Mayawati government on Tuesday decided to hike the price offered to them by 20 per cent at Rs 570 per square metre. A team of top state officials led by state cabinet secretary Sashankh Sekhar Singh and some senior ministers of the Mayawati government held parleys with farmer leaderRam Babu Kateria...
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Parliament grinds to a halt over firing on farmers
Parliament on Monday came to a standstill over the firing on protesting Aligarh farmers when anti-BSP outfits joined hands to corner the Mayawati regime over land acquisition for Yamuna Expressway. The Sunday firing saw Congress, SP, BJP and RLD block proceedings in the two Houses of Parliament as they demanded a discussion on the issue. BSP opposed the demand saying it was a state subject. While the provocation for blockade...
More »Fault Lines in the 2010 Seeds Bill by S Bala Ravi
The 2010 Seeds Bill that has been introduced in Parliament does address some of the major concerns in the aborted 2004 version, but strangely a number of important correctives – on regulation, consistency and punishment – that had been incorporated in the 2008 version (which lapsed in 2009) have now been modified or dropped altogether. What forces are pushing the government to act against the interests of India’s farmers? The third...
More »Probe ordered into Aligarh farmers' clashes
As India was celebrating 63 years of Independence, the village of Tappal around 80 kilometers from Aligarh resembled a battleground - the epicentre of violence between farmers and the police since Saturday. There were protests in Mathura as well. Hundreds of farmers were demanding higher compensation for their land that has been acquired for the Yamuna expressway, a 165-km road corridor between Noida and Agra. The agitation turned violent after police allegedly...
More »Rumours triggered farmers' violence
Trouble erupted at Jikarpur, near Aligarh, on Saturday night after rumours spread that a farmer leader had been arrested near the village. Police opened fire to disperse the violent protesters and bring the situation under control, said SSP (Aligarh) Vijay Prakash, who was transferred on Sunday. B.D. Palson, SSP of Mathura, which too was hit by the violence, was also shifted. Two persons and a PAC jawan were killed and nine injured in...
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