UP Farmers Protest: Yogi Adityanath Govt Forms Panel To Address Grievances Amid Agitation

Farmers and Kisan Ekta Sangh members break police barricades during their protest march demanding for the expansion of minimum support prices (MSP) and other benefits, in Noida, Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (PTI Photo)

UP Farmers Protest: Amid the ongoing farmers agitation in Uttar Pradesh’s Noida and Greater Noida, the Yogi Adityanath-led government has formed a five-member committee to find a solution and submit the report and recommendations to the government in a month. The committee has been formed under the chairmanship of IAS Anil Kumar Sagar, Principal Secretary, Infrastructure and Industrial Development.

Uttar Pradesh government forms a 5-member committee to find a solution for the farmers' agitation going on in Noida and Greater Noida.

The Committee has been formed under the chairmanship of IAS Anil Kumar Sagar, Principal Secretary, Infrastructure and Industrial Development.… pic.twitter.com/aJu8tkO8A5

— ANI (@ANI) December 4, 2024

The directive was issued by Secretary of the Industrial Development Department Abhishek Prakash on Tuesday. On Tuesday, police detained more than a hundred protesters, including leaders of farmers' groups, in Gautam Buddh Nagar, as reported by Police Commissioner Laxmi Singh. The protestors were seeking compensation for land previously acquired by the government. During the protest, women and elderly participants were also detained. They were later released. 

The committee's primary task is to examine complaints from farmers about land acquisition and compensation disputes. It will also review matters from earlier government orders dated February 21, 2024, and August 27, 2024. The panel includes the Special Secretary Revenue, the Additional Chief Executive Officer of UPEIDA, the Deputy Secretary of Industrial Development, a district administration representative from the affected area, and a local authority representative.

This group will conduct hearings with stakeholders and verify past decisions to create a plan for resolving the farmers' concerns. The committee aims to address grievances by engaging with stakeholders and reviewing previous decisions.

Its goal is to develop a strategy that resolves the issues raised by the protesting farmers effectively. The government hopes this initiative will lead to a peaceful resolution of the ongoing protests.

The focus remains on ensuring fair compensation for affected farmers while addressing their concerns comprehensively. The committee's findings will be crucial in shaping future policies related to land acquisition and compensation in Uttar Pradesh.

Farmers from different parts of Uttar Pradesh demanding adequate compensation for their lands acquired by the government marched towards Delhi on Monday but were stopped at the Noida-Delhi border, where they sat on a dharna. The farmers said if their demands were not met within seven days, they would again march towards Delhi.

Massive traffic snarls caused inconvenience to commuters crossing the Delhi-Noida borders as police set up multiple layers of barricades and deployed heavy security to stop the march, which coincided with Parliament's Winter Session.

In a statement, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM)—an umbrella organization of 12 farmers' bodies—said the farmers had decided to stay at Dalit Prerana Sthal for the time being following assurances from the authorities that the chief secretary would meet to "discuss and settle their demands." It said the agitation would continue till their demands were met.

"The Yogi Adityanath government has failed to ensure justice for the farmers. The BJP-led Uttar Pradesh government has not revised the land circle rate since 2017, and landowners have been denied adequate, lawful compensation and other benefits assured by the Land Acquisition Act, 2013," it said, as quoted by news agency IANS.

Meanwhile, the SKM said in a release that it would hold protests all over Uttar Pradesh against the "privatization of electricity" on Wednesday. Due to the march and checking by police, commuters travelling via the Chilla border, DND Flyway, Delhi Gate, and Kalindi Kunj faced heavy traffic for hours.

A group of farmers from Punjab, led by Samyukta Kisan Morcha (non-political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM), has called for a march towards the national capital on December 6. The group has been camping at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana since February 13.

(With agencies inputs)