 "Delhi Cong meets LG, seeks uniform circle rate for all agricultural lands")
A delegation of Delhi Congress leaders Thursday met Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena and demanded the implementation of a uniform circle rate for all agricultural lands in the national capital.
The party also alleged that there is a "conspiracy" behind the new circle rates.
On August 7, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal approved an increase in circle rates of agricultural land and those adjacent to the Yamuna barrage. Previously, agricultural lands across Delhi had a uniform circle rate and they have now been delineated on a district basis.
Handing a letter to the LG, a four-member Congress delegation, including Devendra Yadav and Anil Bharadwaj, alleged that the proposal for different circle rates has caused "dissatisfaction among the farmers of Delhi".
"This proposed circle rate has become the subject of discussion and there is great dissatisfaction among the farmers of Delhi. We believe that the circle rate of agricultural lands should be uniform," the letter read.
The Delhi government has categorised the agricultural lands into three village categories -- green belt, urbanised and rural.
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In South Delhi and New Delhi districts, the circle rate of agricultural land will peak at Rs 5 crore per acre. However, the proposal still awaits LG's approval.
In their letter, the Delhi Congress further alleged that the policy has been crafted keeping in mind the "interest of AAP's politics, instead of farmers".
Stressing that the "inequality" in rates be addressed, the letter added, "This is the first time there is a disparity in circle rates of agricultural land... Circle rate should be same in whole Delhi and should be at least 6 crore rupees per acre."
Delhi Congress president Anil Chaudhary alleged that there is a "conspiracy" behind the new circle rates, saying the "AAP government wants to promote corruption by benefiting its own people".
"With the new circle rates, the AAP government is trying to divide Delhi. There is a small portion of agricultural land in Delhi anyway and politics shouldn't be done over it," Chaudhary told PTI.
There was no immediate reaction from the Delhi government or AAP to the allegations.
The proposed new circle rates of agricultural land in Delhi are Rs 5 crore per acre for South Delhi and New Delhi, Rs 5 crore per acre for North Delhi, West Delhi, North West, and South West Delhi, Rs 2.5 crore per acre for Central and South East Delhi and Rs 2.25 crore per acre for Shahadra, North East, and East Delhi.
This is the first increase in circle rates of agricultural land since 2008, Revenue Minister Atishi had said while announcing the hike.
The minister added that until now, Delhi farmers had been receiving compensation based on a circle rate of Rs 53 lakh per acre, which significantly falls short of the prevailing market rate.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)