Akali Dal to protest against Punjab CM over low compensation for lands taken from farmers

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Thursday announced about holding a massive protest against the Punjab government with an aim of securing justice for those farmers impacted by their fields being acquired by the state government for various road projects. As a part of it, a protest march will be carried out on September 29 from Mohali to Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi's residence in Chandigarh. 

The decision was taken after a SAD delegation led by the party president Sukhbir Singh Badal met several representatives of the Punjab Pradesh Road Kisan Sangharsh Committee. 

Further, a statement was also issued by SAD after the party met Punjab Governor over this issue on Friday. During this while, a memorandum demanding fair compensation for the affected farmers was also submitted to the Governor.

Later, taking it to Twitter, the party claimed that the Congress government in Punjab is deliberately giving out the farmlands at a very low price. Talking about the compensation given to the farmers, it said that giving Rs 30-70 lakh per acre is not justified and at least Rs 1 crore per acre for rural and Rs 3-5 crore per acre for urban lands has been demanded.

Punjab Government's road projects

Meanwhile, the various road projects brought by the Punjab government in the state came as a part of the Bharatmala Pariyojana which includes the construction of the Delhi-Jammu-Katra expressway, Jamnagar-Amritsar expressway, Ludhiana-Ropar road, Amritsar-Una road, and the Mohali-Fatehgarh Sahib road. The Shiromani Akali Dal has been protesting against this project for a long time due to the injustice towards the farmer families based on the compensation amount given to them. 

As stated by the party, more than 3,000 houses have been demolished and the villages would lose ponds due to the roads. Also, massive damage to factories, shellers, poultry farmers, brick factories, and dairy farms among others will be witnessed in the coming days. In such a condition, such less compensation is not acceptable. 

Earlier, AAP Punjab Spokesperson Dinesh Chadha alleged the SAD-BJP and Congress Govts of not reducing the collector prices due to which the farmers faced fraud of crores. 

Meanwhile, the new Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi earlier assured of standing with the farmers and further urged the Centre to repeal the farm laws. 

(With PTI inputs, Image: ANI/PTI)