Sonia Gandhi pitches for Uttar Pradesh farmers

New Delhi: Throwing her weight behind Uttar Pradesh farmers in land acquisition issue, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on Thursday said fertile land should not be lost to development activities.

?Land acquisition must be done in a manner that does not result in the loss of large tracts of fertile and productive land that is so essential to grow food grains for our people,? Gandhi said here.

Stressing on proper rehabilitation of affected farmers, she said, ?Farmers must be provided with adequate compensation and alternative occupations.?

The UPA chairperson?s support for the farmers? cause come weeks within her son Rahul pitching in for the farmers and urging for a land acquisition policy that supports them.

On Sept 8, the Supreme Court (SC) defended Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on her land acquisition policy for developmental projects along the Yamuna Expressway connecting New Delhi with Agra.

On Aug 19, the Uttar Pradesh government increased the quantum of compensation to farmers to Rs 580 per sq metre for the land it has acquired from them for project.

The additional compensation of Rs 121 per sq meter will be given to the farmers of affected villages in Agra in form of a special relief, said Cabinet secretary Shanhank Shekhar Singh.

With this, “compensation to farmers will be Rs 580 per square metre”, he maintained.

The farmers had been agitating at villages along the Expressway demanding “adequate” compensation.