Don’t mislead businessmen, meet our demands first: Farmers

GREATER NOIDA: Farmers in Gautam Budh Nagar have threatened to halt development and construction work in the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) area, if their long-pending demands, including hiked compensation, are not met.

They alleged that on the one hand, the Authority was trying to mislead the industrialists by announcing lucrative projects like Metro expansion and new bus services while on the other hand, it continues to turn a deaf ear to the farmers’ demands.

Ajaypal Sharma, district president of Bhartiya Kisan Union, said that YEIDA was announcing lucrative projects to lure investment but even industrialists knew that this region has major law and order issues because of the farmers’ agiatation.

“In the past, major players from automobile, mobile manufacturing and cold storage industries have visited this place but after seeing the situation (farmers’ disgruntlement), they did not come back,” Sharma said.

The farmers are planning a big protest to meet their demands. The sources said that the farmers are planning to hold protest on the day when any big company representatives to visit the area.

Farmers from over 50 villages have been agitating to meet their demands. Farmers protest in the region, in past has turned violent. Bhatta-Parsaul, Ghodi Bacheda are some of classic examples and apart from that farmers on several occasssions have even abducted government officials and locked the Yamuna Expressway industrial development authority as well and halted the authority’s staff to work.