Noida authority to provide land to farmers for their rehabilitation

According to land allotment rules, a farmer is entitled to receive 5% of the total land acquired for residential use. Hundreds of farmers claim that they have not yet received plots for their use

The Noida authority has decided to cancel its plan to allocate a group housing plot to realtors in Sector 146, opting instead to assign the land to farmers for their rehabilitation, officials said on Sunday.

The authority has agreed to allocate land in Sector 146 to farmers (Photo for representation)

These farmers provided their land for the city’s well-planned development and, as per the law, deserve rehabilitation, officials associated with the matter said adding that farmers requested residential plots, but the authority was unable to provide them due to a lack of adequate land.

“We have decided not to allocate 12 hectares of group housing land because we will divide this land into residential plots for eligible farmers. We have instructed the land department to conduct a thorough examination of the applications submitted by the farmers. Once the eligibility of the farmers has been finalised, we will allocate the residential plots in accordance with the established procedure,” said Ritu Maheshwari, CEO of the Noida authority.

According to land allotment rules, a farmer is entitled to receive 5% of the total land acquired for residential use. Hundreds of farmers claim that they have not yet received plots for their use.

“Under the policy, the authority allocates 5% residential plots either in the farmer’s village or within a 3km radius of the village. If there is no land available in a particular village or within a 3km radius, we will allocate the plot in a nearby village. If a farmer does not meet these eligibility requirements, the plot will be given to someone who is eligible,” said Maheshwari.

Maheshwari also added that the authority will not allocate residential plots to farmers who have seized government land.

The farmers were also demanding that the authority refrain from assigning the remaining housing land to group housing until their plots are provided. Therefore, under pressure from the farmers, the authority has agreed to allocate this land to farmers in accordance with the policy established for them.

The authority said that there are 225 pending applications for 5% residential plots in the land department and that hundreds of farmers have yet to submit their applications to obtain a 5% residential plot.

“We will first identify the eligibility of these 225 applications of the farmers and then address cases of remaining farmers, who are yet to submit the application in this regard,” said Maheshwari.