Ratify Land Acquisition Act: BAJKU

Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Feb 28: Bawa Jitto Kissan Union (BAJKU) has appealed the State Government to hold a special session of Assembly and ratify the recently passed Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act commonly known as Land Acquisition Act, which has been made operational across all the States of India from January1, 2014 by Government of India except J&K State.
In a press release issued here, BAJKU said it has been noted with concern that Government is on spree to acquire the land of people forcibly and arbitrarily with meager compensation (price), which has so horribly affected the poor people that they feel helpless to request the Government to legalize assisted suicide in their cases.
Therefore it is imperative for the Government to stop or defer acquisition of agricultural land till it determines the value of land in all 22 districts of the State and notify the same, BAJKU provincial president for Jammu, SK Sharma said, adding that there is huge gap between the rates notified by the Government in 2012 and the actual rates on the ground.
However in the extreme circumstances land required for public purpose may be acquired through negotiations and there must be no forced land acquisition, he asserted.