Farmer Death Over Land Acquisition Leads to Fresh Tension in Bihar

Patna, Bihar:  A 75-year-old farmer died in Bihar on Thursday during a protest against the acquisition of land by the state government for an Indian Institute of Technology. Kaushal Kishore was among some 100 farmers who had gathered at a district office in Bihta, 35 km from Patna, to demand higher compensation for land that had been acquired from them. He is believed to have collapsed because of the scorching heat.

The farmers have been protesting for over a week. The Bihar Government had bought the land to build an IIT and an industrial park. The government has acquired approximately 1,700 acres of land spread across 12 villages since 2005. The protesters have been demanding equal price for their land irrespective of the year when it was acquired.

Farmers want government to follow a policy of same compensation for same project. They allege that those farmers who gave their lands earlier have been paid less money when compared to the others who gave away their land recently. “There was lots of corruption involved. If the government doesn’t listen to us even now, we will go and forcibly occupy the land we gave away to them”, says Tryambak, a local farmer.

A similar agitation had taken place in 2013 which lasted a whole month, Bihar Government had then promised to look into their demands. The Government later said that since land was acquired at different times, so compensation was paid at prevailing market rates and a revision would be very difficult.



 



The farmers say they will not back down, they have blocked traffic in the area. Top officials of the state government are camping in the area trying to convince farmers to call off the protest. Bihar Police has rushed in reinforcements to the area but has so far not taken any action.