A meeting between Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Ministers Eshwar Khandre and Rahim Khan and members of the Karanja Dam Displaced Farmers Agitation Committee under way at the Suvarna Soudha in Belagavi on Thursday.
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
The State government will set up a technical committee comprising irrigation, revenue and finance experts to study the demand for higher compensation for farm families that have been displaced by the Karanja Irrigation Project in Bidar district.
Chief Minister Siddharamaiah announced this after a meeting of representatives of the Karanja Displaced Farmers Agitation Committee at the Suvarna Soudha in Belagavi on Thursday.
“The committee will study the problems of the victims who have lost their land for the Karanja project in Bidar district and are fighting for fair compensation,” he said.
Minister Eshwar Khandre said that the government acquired land in the 1970s for the construction of Karanja dam.
It was meant to provide irrigation facilities to 29,227 hectares of land in Bidar district. However, land losers have not been given adequate compensation. They have lost their means of livelihood and are forced to work as farm hands. This problem is pending for five decades and has to be resolved, the Minister said.
Some of the people who lost their land have filed a case in court and in one case, the court has ordered a compensation of ₹88,000 per acre. The Minister said that a one-time compensation package should be announced for them.
Mr. Khandre recalled that a committee formed by the former Chief Minister N. Dharam Singh recommended a special rehabilitation package. But the State Cabinet rejected the recommendation of the committee headed by an Additional Chief Secretary.
The High Court of Karnataka has in the Chandrakanth vs State of Karnataka case said that the government should provide equal compensation to all those whose land have been acquired under a single notification, he said.
The Supreme Court said in Civil Appeal No 1943/2022 that the judgment given in one case in the same nature of cases shall be applicable to others, he recalled.
In the background of such judgments and in the interest of natural justice and equity, the State government should provide a one-time compensation package to the Karanja displaced farmers, Mr. Khandre said.
Minister Rahim Khan, MLAs Shailendra Beldale, Prabhu Chavan, the former Minister Rajashekar Patil and others were present.
Farmers leaders Lakshman Dasti, R.K. Hudgi, Vinay Malge and others were present. All the leaders urged the Chief Minister to consider the demand on humanitarian grounds.
Published – December 19, 2024 09:30 pm IST