Scores of activists of Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) on Thursday kept officials of Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) hostage and locked them inside YEIDA office in Greater Noida.
The activists were demanding a 64 per cent increased compensation and 10 per cent part of developed land for those farmers whose lands have been acquired by the authority.
Presently, the authority is giving an increased compensation and 7 per cent development land to only those farmers whose lands were taken before 2002 as per Allahabad High Court’s order.
The drama ended two hours later when officials stepped in assuring their demands would be met within a week. On Thursday morning, more than a 1,000 farmers held a meet at the YEIDA office in Omega Sector in which they took the decision to capture the office premises. Initially, the officials at work were asked to vacate the premises. When they refused to do so, angry protesters closed the gates and locked them in. The police took over after the officials failed to normalise the situation.
The farmers agreed to stop their agitation when senior officials intervened and pledged to accept their demands. They said they would discuss the matter with the State Government and ensured announcement of acceptance by the UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav in a week.
“As these are long pending demands of farmers of Yamuna Authority region, we have decided to take the matter to a higher level and solve them as early as possible,” a YEIDA senior official said.
Ajaypal Sharma, a senior BKU member who was leading the protest, said they have given a charter of demands to officials concerned and have decided to continue their two-week long dharna at the authority office. If the authorities slip up on their promises, they will face the wrath of farmers in the future.