The state government has decided to pay an additional compensation to farmers whose agricultural lands have been acquired by the Karnataka Housing Board in Dharwad district. This was disclosed at a meeting by Dharwad MP Prahlad Joshi in Dharwad.
The government’s decision comes in the wake of complaints by land losers that middlemen and officials of the KHB had cheated them by paying a price far less than what their lands deserved. The matter had been handed over to the Lok Ayukta for probe.
Joshi said the land losers will also be getting a 30x40 residential site for each acre that has been acquired. This decision has been taken during a meeting with housing minister V Somanna. “The farmers need not pay any fee to KHB to get these sites. Measures to this effect will soon be notified at the earliest,” he said. The additional compensation would cost the KHB Rs 20 crore.
It may be recalled here that some middlemen in connivance with the KHB officials had allegedly purchased agricultural lands listed for acquisition by the KHB for a lower price much before the notification was issued.
The farmers did not know that their lands would be acquired by the KHB. They realised they had been cheated when the lands they had sold were acquired within a few months and the middlemen pocketed huge sums that came as compensation. Some middlemen had allegedly secured general power of attorney by paying the money to farmers and avoided payment of stamp duty to the government. Former corporator Iresh Anchatageri and MP Prahlad Joshi had raised this issue and the government had handed over the investigations to Lok Ayukta. The investigations had indicted the KHB officials.
