Farmers will not be forced to give up lands: Pulla Rao

Farmers who are not willing to part with their lands will be convinced by holding a series of meetings in villages. An action plan for the development of the capital city will be prepared only after the land acquisition is over.

Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh Agriculture Minister, Prathipati Pulla Rao, on Monday said the land acquisition for the establishment of the capital city proposed between Vijayawada- Guntur would be taken up with the consent of the farmers only. Talking to newsmen in the Assembly lobbies, he disapproved the allegations that the government was acquiring lands forcefully from the farmers. The Minister also made it clear that farmers have been advised to lodge complaints if any government official or other individuals harassed them in the land acquisition process.

Since the government was committed to award the best ever package to the displaced, he hoped the farmers would cooperate with the government in its endeavour towards building a world-class capital city. Farmers who were not willing to part away with their lands would be convinced by holding series of meetings in the villages, he said.

Rao added the action plan for the development of the capital city would be prepared only after the land acquisition was over. Depending on the land availability, the design of the capital city would be finalised. Stating that Singapore government came forward to prepare the master plan for the capital city free of cost, the Minister said the government would not provide any concessions to Singapore with the building of the capital city. Tenders would be called and would be finalised in a transparent manner.