Land pooling: Swami Agnivesh slams AP Govt

Vijayawada, Feb 28: Arya Samaj leader and social activist Swami Agnivesh here on Friday criticised Andhra Pradesh Government’s land pooling process saying it is an act of fooling farmers. Swami Agnivesh said 5,000 acres of land will be enough to build a capital city. He said, in the name of building a capital, the AP Government was snatching away lands from farmers and in turn it was selling them to corporate companies. Agnivesh said the TDP government has hatched the conspiracy with the corporates. He said this should be opposed. The Arya Samaj leader was addressing a CPI (ML-New Democracy) State Council meeting here on Friday. Speaking on the occasion, he asked, “When Chandigarh, the capital city of two States, has been constructed in about 5,000 acres, why does Andhra Pradesh need 30,000 acres?” He then went on to say that usage of such a huge quantum of fertile lands for constructing high-rise structures and roads will threaten food security, farmers livelihood, environment, pollution and agriculture farm labours livelihood in the future. He then told the TDP government to reconsider its decision on land pooling.