Farmers’ Mahapanchayat at Jantar Mantar against the policies of the government!
K.P. MALIK, SR. JOURNALIST
Farmers demand amendment in the Land Reform Act! Farmers from 360 villages of Delhi are seen uniting over their problems. There is a lot of enthusiasm among the farmers regarding the Mahapanchayat to be held at Jantar Mantar on 15th September. Because for the last several years, the people of Delhi villages are facing a lot of problems. Regarding the preparations for this Maha Panchayat of farmers being held at Jantar Mantar, Delhi, Chaudhary Surendra Solanki, Pradhan of Palam Village 360, says that the condition of Delhi’s villages is going from bad to worse. The government is not ready to listen, the villages of Delhi have contributed a lot in keeping Delhi safe and in its development, today the situation has become like this. The villages of Delhi have become slums. He believes that if people do not raise their voice unitedly, then the day is not far when the villages of Delhi will not be liveable. Every citizen of Delhi’s villages will now have to fight for their rights and on the coming 15th September, the Maha Panchayat will take a huge form which will be remembered in the history of Delhi. Chaudhary Solanki of 360 villages further said that the representatives and Pradhans of the villages have taken an oath today to make the Mahapanchayat a success in a more effective way than last year so that eleven major issues related to the rural area can be strongly raised before the government. Solanki said that after their Mahapanchayat last year, the government and the Lieutenant Governor had considered three to four issues, but nothing has been done on the rest of the issues yet. Giving a message to the residents and natives of the villages, the Khap leader said that they should join the Mahapanchayat and raise their voice and raise the burning issues that have been affecting the rural population for a long time. Chaudhary Solanki said that such a law is in force in Delhi which is not there anywhere else in the country. Chaudhary demanded amendment in the Delhi Land Reforms (DLR) Act, saying that it has become old and obsolete. He also claimed that the land of the city’s villages has been acquired at a very low price and in return the villages have not been given basic civic amenities, due to which the natives are forced to live in miserable conditions. According to the khap chief, the major demands include starting mutation of land, implementing Master Plan 2041, allotment of plots and agricultural land to poor farmers under Section 74/4, which is pending for a very long time, affecting the lives of landless farmers. These issues include allotment of alternative plots in lieu of agricultural land acquired by the Delhi government and several other civic problems due to lack of infrastructure development in the city’s villages, leaving the city’s rural sector in a serious crisis. The khap leaders have also demanded stopping the ongoing sealing in villages and giving ownership rights under the ownership scheme. Solanki has said that in the name of urbanisation, these villages are no longer villages and are away from development work, due to which their condition has become like slums. Solanki also raised the issue of neglect of water bodies in the city and referring to the Sahibi river, said that the river which used to be a small river has now turned into a drain and nothing is being done to improve its condition.
