Farmers call off protest as Gehlot govt assures to resolve issues

Farmers, who had been protesting in Rajasthan's Nindar village demanding that their land be acquired as per the revised Land Acquisition Act and compensation given accordingly, have called off their strike till dialogue with the state government concludes.

Jaipur: Farmers protesting in Rajasthan's Nindar village for the past four days against the acquisition of their land for a housing project by the Jaipur Development Authority, with a few burying themselves neck-deep in the ground, called off their agitation on Friday after getting assurance from the state government.

Demanding that their land be acquired as per the revised Land Acquisition Act and compensation given accordingly, around 20 people from the village located on the outskirts of Jaipur started the ''Zameen Samadhi Satyagrah'' on Tuesday.

As part of the protest, around five of them buried themselves neck-deep in the ground to protest against the land acquisition.

The Congress' chief whip in Rajasthan Assembly, Mahesh Joshi, met the agitating farmers and assured them that the state government was sensitive towards their problems.

Joshi told ETV Bharat here that a committee will hold talks with the protesters to resolve their issues and expressed hope that a positive outcome will come after the dialogue with farmers.

He said that it may take some time but the issue would be resolved.

"It may take time of 10 to 15 days," he said, adding he would have not come to meet the agitating farmers if Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot had not asked him to.

"It's a fact. He wanted to me to be here, so I'm here," he said and assured the farmers that the state government would certainly look into their demands and resolve the issue.

Meanwhile, the farmers said they have called off the protest as the government assured them that the matter will be resolved through talks and the Jaipur Development Authority (JDA) will stop land acquisition in Nindar village area till their dialogue with the government concludes.