Panel fails to meet three key demands, Noida farmers threaten to restart agitation

Farmers in Noida on Wednesday said they were disappointed with the report submitted by a three-member committee set up by the Uttar Pradesh government seven months ago to address the problems they were facing as the panel has not accepted their three key demands related to older residential plots and also refused to allow them to use their residential plots for commercial purposes.

The committee’s recommendations may lead to more agitation in the coming days, the farmers said, adding that they will call a meeting of all farmer groups to decide the future course of action.

“The committee has refused to accept our key demands: the allocation of 10% of the total acquired land for residential use by our families, an additional compensation of 64.7% against the acquired land and permission to use residential land for commercial purposes, among others. We will meet our fellow farmers and then decide how to fight for our demands,” said Sukhbir Yadav, president of Bharatiya Kisan Parishad, a farmers’ group.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on 20 February 2024 formed a three-member committee to address the grievances of all farmers whose land was acquired for development of the Noida, Greater Noida and Yamuna Expressway areas. The committee published its report on October 22, 2024.

The committee has rejected the three crucial demands of 10% residential land against land acquired since 1997, 64.7% increased additional compensation for all farmers, whose land was acquired between 1997 and 2002 , and permission to use residential plots for commercial purposes.

“The rejection of these three demands means that the state government does not want to do us justice. We gave land for the development of Noida, but the government is not sympathetic to our plight,” said Prempal Chauhan, a farmer leader.

The committee, however, accepted the farmers’ demand that each individual in a farmer’s family could use at least 1,000 square meters of his original abadi (residential) land for his family. Previously, they were allowed to use only 450 square meters. The committee also accepted the demand to allot a residential plot to a farmer if he has encroached on the acquired land in the past, officials said.

The committee comprising Board of Revenue Chairman Rajneesh Dube, Meerut Divisional Commissioner Selva Kumari J and District Magistrate Manish Kumar Verma made six key recommendations after a detailed review of the ongoing issues.

The committee, in its recommendation sent to the state government, also emphasized the need to complete a satellite imagery survey of rural settlement areas, based on the cut-off date of 30 June 2011, in accordance with the respective regulations of the rural site of Abadi.

This survey, which has been delayed, is essential to identify residential areas and regularize them.

Noida and Greater Noida authorities are tasked with completing the survey and boundary demarcation within three months to prevent further encroachments. The move is expected to bring clarity and bring much-needed structure to the region’s residential areas, officials said.

The Noida authority delayed the allotment of 5% of the developed land to farmers due to encroachment disputes. Greater Noida and Yamuna Expressway authorities have resolved these issues, while Noida has 2,482 pending cases.

The committee has recommended delinking encroachment issues from the allotment process, following the example of Greater Noida and Yamuna authorities, to speed up allotment of population plots. This process should be completed in the next two months under the supervision of the director general of the Noida authority.

“We are looking into the problems of the farmers and will take appropriate action,” said Lokesh M, CEO of the Noida authority.

In Greater Noida, about 20% of farmers affected by land acquisition are still waiting to receive their plots from 5% of the population. Although the city is being developed on acquired land, many farmers remain without the plots to which they are entitled.

“We have already addressed the key issues of the farmers and if there is any problem, we will do the needful,” said Arun Vir Singh, chief executive of the Yamuna authority.

The committee recommended setting up camps and forming dedicated teams to allocate the remaining 4,147 population plots within six months.

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