JOIN USAccusing the BJP-led State Government of looting the land of farmers in the name of ‘Land Bank’ Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS) State president K S Puttanaiah warned of undertaking intensified agitations soon.
Addressing mediapersons here on Saturday, he said that an interaction on ‘Land-agriculture, land-industry and land-food security’ would be organised in Kalamandira to discuss issues faced by farmers. He said that plans to fight the measures of the government will be decided during the interaction.
Disclosing that 5,000 acres each in Bijapur and Gadag, 9,000 acres in Mysore and 23,000 acres for NICE Road was acquired by the State Government, he said that more than 1.5 lakh acres had been acquired across the State. The agitation would begin from Mysore, he added.
“Land Bank has become a business for land grabbers. Precious land on which agriculture was being practised for thousands of years is being taken over by the government. By snatching agricultural land, the BJP government is ruling as the British did,” he said.
Continuing his tirade against the State Government, he said that it had failed to fix a proper compensation for acquiring land. He said that by paying Rs two lakh per acre, the government is throwing farmers to the streets. He demanded a policy for fixing compensation for the land and wanted the government to let go of denotification.
Instead, it should focus on improving food security, he added.
Taking a dig at Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, Puttanaiah said that the former should stop making promises at temples and instead work towards strengthening Lokayukta. Politicians and IAS officers should be brought under the ambit of Lokayukta, he demanded.
Urging Yeddyurappa to provide efficient administration during the remaining two years of his term, Puttanaiah called upon former prime minister H D Deve Gowda and former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy to stop carrying out protests in the name of farmers.State KRRS general secretary Badagalapura Nagendra was also present.