TAD NewsDesk, New Delhi: Noida based farmers had to wait for a long nine years to get the residential plots. 644 farmers are eligible to get it whose land was acquired for urbanisation prior to 1997.
According to officials, the selection process has been made on the basis of a lucky draw launched under a scheme in 2011.
The draw event was held at Indira Gandhi Kala Kendra. It began at 9 pm and went on till 1 am, the officials said. Many farmers stayed till late at night.
Santosh Upadhyay, an officer on special duty, Noida authority commented,
“We followed all laid down rules to organise the lucky draw and allotted the plots to those farmers, who were found eligible.”
The officials added that,
The authority could not allot the plots in the past nine years due to objections from farmers with regard to plot rate and a dispute over the eligibility criteria. The authority finally decided to allot the 644 plots (each having an area of 162 square metres) at a rate of ₹29,000 per sqm and there was final consent from the farmers for the same.
Noida authority official, not authorized to speak to media said,
“The Noida authority allotted 5% (of total land acquired) residential plots to those farmers, whose land was acquired after 1997 following an order of the Allahabad high court. Subsequently, those farmers whose land was acquired between 1976 and 1997 started demanding plots. So, the authority had come up with the plot scheme.”
Mr Upadhyay said a total of 3,788 farmers had applied for the plots in 2011. Subsequently, 1,904 farmers were found to be eligible for the scheme. “We organised the lucky draw for 1,904 farmers and selected successful allottees for 644 plots.”
The farmers who did not get the plots are very displeased at the situation and wants plots too. Mr Raghuraj Singh, a farmer leader said,
“We kept demanding a rate less than the market rate but nothing happened. The authority should have provided plots to all the eligible farmers, including their heir after death of an original land owner.”
Source: Hindustan Times
