FARMERS TERM LAND BILL ‘AN INFRINGEMENT’
Wednesday, 25/03/2015
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CHANDIGARH: A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Punjab, angry farmers from the state termed his government’s land acquisition bill as “infringement” of their property rights, as they joined the Congress protest march in Chandigarh.
“They cannot take away our land and then give us compensation. We will not part with our land,” said Arjun Singh of Raichak village in Gurdaspur district. Their concerns were not limited to the land bill. “The Centre has not given us a good hike in the MSP (minimum support price) of crops; and not it’s saying it will acquire our land and won’t procure our food grains,” said farmer Jagjit Singh from Boparai village in Gurdaspur.
Muktsar farmer Harmanpreet said the bill had exposed the Punjab government’s doublespeak” on the issues concerning farmers. “Chief minister Parkash Singh Badal had opposed forcible acquisition, so why did his party vote in favour of the bill?” he stated.
