With government and its sponsoring organization National Advisory Council (NAC) drafting a new law to deal with land acquisition, members of civil society have demanded that the government incorporate into the law a provision to acquire tracts of highways – built on lands acquired from farmers – and give it back to farmers after converting them to arable areas. As usual, these members have threatened to go on huger strikes and launch jail-bharo agitations if their demands are not met by 10:30 AM of July 17th.
Anti-farmer highways
“Large portions of highways are built on what was once the food bowls of India – agricultural land – prized possession of farmers. The farmers ploughed the lands, sowed the seeds awaited the rains despite being drenched in poverty. The capitalistic governments of the decades gave money to these farmers and acquired the lands. This made some farmers rich and forget about agriculture. And the roads meant they were ensnared by crass consumerism buying two wheelers and such other harmful things. We need to get back the idyllic village where the farmer was inseparable from his farmland”, said the bespectacled, bearded social activist, advocate and famous anti-rich Ram Bhushan. “I think the best way to get the farmer back to agriculture is to reconvert highways to agricultural land and give them back to farmers”, concluded Mr. Bhushan.
A farmer and his bullock cart
Noted out of the box thinker and citizen journalist Hrishikesh said this demand has the potential of generating farmland tourism in the country. “See, what will happen is, the government will identify those tracts of highways which previously belonged to farmers since not all land would have been acquired from farmers. So these pieces of ex-farmlands would be reconverted and given back to farmers where they will grow varieties of crops. And between these lands you will have what remains of the highways. So people can move on the highways and see various farmers growing different crops on plots that are connected by good roads. I think this is an excellent idea to boost agro-tourism”, explained Hrishikesh.
Farmers who have moved on from agriculture to other less-poverty-prone occupations are afraid of getting back to vicious dependence on rains, bullock carts and eventual suicides. “I am afraid the government will also bring a law which would make us compulsorily go back to agriculture after this highway reconversion. I am somehow trying to lead a better life for myself and my kids by getting a more stable job and sending my kids to English medium schools”, said Anwarth, a former farmer from coastal Karnataka.
But civil society members obviously know better on what is good for farmers. So they have threatened to go on hunger strike at Jantar Mantar if the government fails to induct their members to the law drafting committee and incorporate their suggestions. July 17th, 10:30 AM is the given deadline. The agitation would also then include jail-bharo which is very worrying for the government since so many people are quickly filling up the jails already. This has only added to the fears of government scared of hunger strikes.
