Land Pooling Scheme in Amaravati clear violation of laws: Sarma
Former Union Finance Secretary E A S Sarma said acquiring lands under Land Pooling Scheme (LPS) in Amaravati, the new capital of Andhra Pradesh, was a clear violation of laws and scams would take place wherever the scheme was initiated. He charged the government with misguiding farmers for acquiring lands by making them to forgo their right voluntarily.
Vijayawada: Former Union Finance Secretary E A S Sarma said acquiring lands under Land Pooling Scheme (LPS) in Amaravati, the new capital of Andhra Pradesh, was a clear violation of laws and scams would take place wherever the scheme was initiated. He charged the government with misguiding farmers for acquiring lands by making them to forgo their right voluntarily.
The act of government would threaten food security, environment and economic system as the economy of the State was based on farming.
Addresing a press conference here along with former minister Vadde Sobhanadreeswara Rao, Sarma said that in the last two years, under the LPS, D-Form patta lands of the poor had been forcefully grabbed by some influential people with the help of manipulated records for getting compensation from the government.
HIGHLIGHTS:
- Former bureaucrat says the scheme spawns scams
- Accuses State government of hoodwinking people into forgo their rights on their own
- Alleges D-Form lands of the poor are being grabbed by influential people in other parts of the State under
- LPS scheme
“This type of practice is spreading from Amaravati to other parts of the State where the State government is initiating development and industrial projects. It is a clear violation of laws being resorted with the support of the government. Besides, the government is denying compensation to the poor on par with patta lands,” he said.
As per a judgment of High Court in 2012, food security, environmental impact, social impact, livelihood of people and some other important issues have to be taken into consideration before converting agricultural land into non-agricultural land, Sarma said.
“Besides, precautions should be taken to ensure sufficient multi-crop and irrigation land in the area on the lines of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu which is being ignored by the AP government,” he added.
Moreover, the State government was contemplating to weaken the Land Acquisition Act 2013 by following Gujarat State model through minimising the norms on social impact survey, Sarma charged. He said people did not have enough awareness on the benefits being provided under Land Acquisition Act 2013.
The former bureaucrat said the State government was turning the State a dumping yard of hazardous material by inviting second-hand industries and the industries which were rejected by the people in other countries and other States in India.
“Ironically, Westinghouse shifts its proposed nuclear power project from Fukushima to Kovvada village in Andhra Pradesh due to opposition from people in Gujarat where it first proposed it. The Russian nuclear power project proposed to be set up in Haripur in West Bengal is also being moved to AP. Are lives of people of Andhra Pradesh are less valuable than people those places?” Sarma said.
Vadde Sobhanadreewara Rao said the State government was doing business with lands acquired in Amaravati by giving hundreds of acres to some organisations despite mp need to do so.
