Hazare asks Naidu not to touch farmlands

Hyderabad: Social activist Anna Hazare has addressed a letter to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, urging him to follow recommendations of the committee headed by former Urban Development Secretary K Sivaramakrishnan in building new capital city. In his letter dated April 21, Hazare also appealed to Naidu to declare the state as "organic farming zone" to provide support to farmers.

• Quotes farmers as saying they have given consent letters for land pooling under pressure
• Says he will soon visit the capital region and interact with farmers and farmworkers

"I wish to convey that I am not against industrialisation. But, I would advise you to ensure that only non-agricultural lands should be used for this purpose (building capital city). I hope you will agree with me,” he said in the letter."Regarding the building of new capital city, my advice to you is kindly follow the recommendations of Sivaramakrishnan committee appointed by the Central government to ensure maximum support from them (Centre)," he said.

Hazare also said he would be visiting the proposed capital region soon to meet and interact with farmers and farmworkers. Some of the government officials had used "their might and force" on the farmers to make them give away multi-crop land for pooling in Krishna and Guntur districts, he said. "In the process of building new capital city, multi-crop land in Krishna delta should be safeguarded and protected to ensure food security of your state/country," he advised.

He said some prominent social workers such as Medha Patkar and Swamy Agnievsh were told by farmers that they had given consent letters for parting with their lands under pressure. When contacted, AP government's media adviser Parakala Prabhakar said the government would reply to Hazare's letter soon. Hazare also said that farmlands should be reserved only for farming and a law should be brought in to prevent diversion of such land so as to ensure food security.