Milk Plant Inauguration by PM Modi in Varanasi; Farmers Still not Compensated for Their Land

Lucknow: Ten days after unveiling the Kashi Vishwanath Dham Corridor project, Prime Minister Narendra Modi landed in his parliamentary constituency Varanasi again on Thursday. This time PM laid the foundation stone of Rs 475-crore dairy plant, named 'Banas Dairy Kashi Sankul' at UP State Industrial Development Authority Food Park at Karkhiyaon, 35 km from district headquarter, just months ahead of the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh.

While addressing the rally after inaugurating and laying foundation stones of 27 projects worth Rs 2,095 crore in Varanasi, PM Modi dedicated the welfare projects to the people of his parliamentary constituency.

PM Modi hit out at the opposition parties in the stare, saying their dictionary contains "mafiavad" and "parivarvad", but "for us, the priority is 'sabka saath, sabka vikas'."

He also digitally transferred Rs 35-crore bonuses to the bank accounts of more than 1.7 lakh milk producers associated with Banas Dairy Sankul and laid the foundation stone for a biogas-based electricity generation plant for the Milk Producers Cooperative Union Plant in Ramnagar.

However, former chief minister and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav took a jibe at PM Modi. Yadav accused him of taking credit for the government's work he had initiated.

"The decision to set up Amul plants in Lucknow, Kanpur and Varanasi was taken during Samajwadi Party tenure. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government spent its entire tenure implementing the decision to set up the plant. The ribbon-cutting BJP will hide this truth, but if someone asks Amul company, it will tell 'the white truth like milk'," the SP leader said in his tweet.

Meanwhile, according to Banas Dairy chairman Shankarbhai Chaudhary, the dairy plant in the Karkhiyaon area is being built on 30 acres of land for an estimated cost of Rs 475 crore. "The dairy project will not only benefit the local farmers, but thousands of farmers from adjoining districts including Jaunpur, Machhlishahr, Chandauli, Bhadohi, Ghazipur, Mirzapur, and Azamgarh will get the benefits of the dairy plant."

"Apart from increasing the capacity of milk production five-six lakh/day, the plant will also produce ice cream, paneer buttermilk, curd, lassi, Amul sweets and several other bakery products. This will certainly boost the economy of farmers," he told the media.

FARMERS DIDN'T RECEIVE COMPENSATION FOR THEIR LAND

It's been more than a decade since farmers were forced to surrender their land for the Amul dairy plant project in Varanasi, but compensation remains a mirage for many till today. They are frustrated and now angry and blame the BJP government for their plight.

Farmers said that due to a lack of support from public representatives, they are battling for survival after the government forcefully acquired their land. Even after making several farmers landless and homeless, the government has not paid them compensation; very few received fair compensation.

Sumit Kumar (name changed), a farmer from Karkhiyaon whose land was acquired for the Amul plant, said, "We are not against the dairy or any development. We only want our compensation. Since 2002, we have been fighting for this. It is our right. However, after BJP came to power, we were sent in custody. Our females were beaten up for raising their voices. We have been waiting for appropriate compensation for the past ten years."

Like Sumit, several other farmers in Karkhiyaon, Binda, Kusawan Thari lost their sole source of livelihood after Uttar Pradesh Industrial Development Authority (UPIDA) acquired 30 acres of land from these villages.

60-year-old Usha Devi (name changed), who had protested to save her land, said, "The government is taking our expensive land for developing a dairy project which will have very little utility. Also, the government is not providing any compensation. We will boycott the leaders in upcoming Assembly elections as no leader came forward to hear our plight," she said.

Ajay Rai, district head of Mazdoor Kisan Manch, who is working with the farmers whose lands were acquired by the UPIDA, told NewsClick that most farmers of Karkhiyaon and adjoining villages hadn't received a single penny of compensation till now.

"The process of land acquisition was started in 2000, and since then, the farmers have been struggling for the compensation of their land. A series of demonstrations were held in the villages and outside police stations, but instead of listening to their grievances, they were lathicharged, many of them severely injured. Despite the brutal lathicharge, they haven't received any compensation for their acquired land," said Rai.

According to Rai, soon after the land acquisition process, hundreds of farmers approached district and session courts due to the low rate of compensation to the land. They also filed Land Reference (LR) in court. While giving a verdict in favour of the farmers, the court directed the UPIDA to pay compensation to the farmers at the increased rates. But Satharia Industrial Development Authority (SIDA) was not ready to pay the compensation. Later the matter reached the High Court.

The Allahabad High Court, while ruling in favour of the farmers on April 16, 2018, directed to pay compensation to the farmers at the rate of Rs 5,100 and Rs 4,760/dismil, respectively.

"Despite Allahabad High Court ruling, the farmers did not receive any amount. Ironically, the compensation rate was fixed as per the circle rate of the year 2000, and the dairy plant is being built in 2021. Therefore, the compensation rate should be fixed as per today's circle rate since the inflation rate has also increased in eleven years," Rai told NewsClick.

The Mazdoor Kisan Manch also raised eyebrows regarding providing jobs to local/villagers whose lands were acquired. The union said Amul is an apex organisation of Banas Dairy, also known as Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation.

"No villagers have been given any job in the dairy factor so far as the government promised it. Only Gujarati people were seen in the factory. Is it justice that our lands were snatched away, and we were not given compensation for it or jobs?"

Dhananjay Singh, district president of Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) Lokshakti, who was booked under the Goonda Act in the past for leading the protest against administration for compensation to the farmers, said, "The government has betrayed the farmers of Karkhiyaon. The land was acquired without paying compensation to the farmers. Even the government violated the honourable court judgment."

A group of farmers led by Singh on September 11 held a demonstration in the village, demanding compensation for their land but the administration and the government turned it down. They claimed that they met chief minister Yogi Adityanath on September 8 in Lucknow, and he has ensured to look into the matter, but it was a mere "hollow promise",