‘Amaravathi’ means ‘Abode of the immortal’. But it could well turn out to be the road to an uncertain future and doom for the farmers residing in the area. The CM says that the whole world is looking at Amaravathi and it is the moment for everyone including farmers to make sacrifices for the new capital.
Well, sacrifices are quite easy when it is the other person who has to make them. So why are the farmers so opposed to the land pooling policy of the government? And what is the social angle to the resentment among the farmers in the area? Let us look at the social angle first. The farmers who have volunteered for the land pooling in the area are Kammas and those who or opposed to it belong to the Kapu and Reddy communities.
Traditionally, these social groups have been rivals and the Kapu and Reddy farmers feel that it is a deliberate ploy to weaken them. And coming to the land pooling policy of the government, here is what it offers farmers. Under this policy, farmers in the designated capital region, around 20 kilometers from Vijayawada and Guntur, who willingly donate their lands to the state government for construction of the capital, would get in return, roughly one quarter of the original size of their land holdings as developed plots, part residential and part commercial.
For ten years after giving up their land for pooling, farmers would be entitled to an annuity of Rs 30,000 per acre for dry land and Rs 50,000 per acre for ‘jareebu’ or fertile land. Apart from this, skill development training would be provided by the government to teach these farmers new vocations, since the pooled land would not be allowed to be cultivated again. How can 50 and 60 year old farmers learn new skills at this stage in their life and make themselves eligible for employment? But that is not the major cause of resentment.
In a village like Undavalli, in the new capital region for example, an acre of land is now worth Rs 8 crore according to the going rate. And a farmer makes nearly Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh per acre per month here. If a farmer owns 5 acres, he makes anything around Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 5 lakh per month. If he agrees to land pooling, he cannot cultivate his lands anymore and he would get Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 2.5 lakh per anum. Why would they agree to land pooling then?
If Naidu invokes the ‘Land Acquisition Act’, he would have to pay four times the market value and also get approval from 80% of the land owners. In the meanwhile, those who have already given their lands are sitting idle in their villages waiting for the Singaporeans to descend. If work doesn’t start soon and they don’t get their developed plots, Amaravathi will turn into a nightmare for them soon.
