Despite the Allahabad High Court quashing land acquisition in Patwari village last week, residents of the village claim that the touts of the Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority (GNIDA) are circulating a settlement letter among the villagers since Monday morning, which states that the farmers are open to the acquisition if a couple of demands are met by the GNIDA.
A copy of the said letter in possession with FE says that the farmer has no objection to GNIDA acquiring his land provided the authority pays him additional compensation of R500 per sq metre along with returning a plot measuring 7% of the acquired land.
The letter is formatted as a representation from the farmer addressed to the CEO of GNIDA agreeing to the land acquisition if the above mentioned conditions are met. Reshpal Yadav, gram pradhan of Patwari village, when contacted by FE, said, ?Some peoplehave been distributing these letters among the villagers since morning, asking them to sign it in favour of the authority. However, now that we have seen the letter, we plan to convene a meeting of the gram sabha to discuss the matter.?
Other villagers also confirmed receiving the letter. 42-year-old Jatan Singh Yadav, whose 4 acres was acquired by the authority, said, ?Some people representing the authority have come to us circulating this letter, wanting us to sign it without even understanding the implications of it.?
However, when FE contacted CEO of GNIDA, Rama Raman, he said that he was unaware of any such settlement letter and shrugged off talking further on it.
