Title - Dedicated freight corridor to blame for farmers’ discontent

Chandigarh : A dedicated freight corridor passing through Rewari, a logistics hub and an industrial belt - that’s what the farmers in Rewari are up against in opposing acquisition of 3,700 acres of farmland.While they seem reluctant to part with their land for now, their main grouse is that the Haryana Government acted in haste by issuing notices under Section 6 despite repeated assurances to stall proceedings till Parliament’s nod to the Land Acquisition Bill.Contrary to this, just before the one-year period after the issuance of Section 4 on July 14, 2011, was to lapse, Section 6 notices were slapped on the farmers on July 11, causing considerable resentment.Sources in Rewari said the farmers graduated from seeking the release of their residences to the complete stalling of land acquisition proceedings in a few days, claiming their objections against acquisition had not even been considered.Reviving a full-throttle agitation against the land acquisition, matter came to a boil when the farmers gave an ultimatum to the government to either stall this process and drop land acquisition proceedings or face the music.While the Chief Minister’s office and the Industries Department were informed of the simmering discontentment, sources said the protest was fuelled further by opposition parties. They lent active support following “disenchantment” of the protesters with local Congressmen who, they felt, had failed in protecting their interest despite being from the ruling party.While the farmers were unwilling partners, political representatives of the area, gauging the mood of the protesters of 21 villages, were of the considered opinion to drop proceedings for the time being. Also, there was a growing feeling that since “enough land” has been already acquired in the name of industrialisation in south Haryana, the farmers should not be “forced” to give up their lands against their wishes and Rewari’s choice for the project was also questioned.However, sources in the Industries Department said these were “unfounded” allegations and that Rewari was especially zeroed in by a consultancy consortium appointed to identify the “best location” for the hub which was one of the three early-bird projects the state had staked its claim for.