Protesting farmers lock up Noida authority office gates

All farmers returned to their homes and threatened to continue with their protest daily if their demands are not met

Farmers in Noida, who are on a protest since December 18 demanding hiked land compensation and better rehabilitation facilities, on Thursday locked one of the gates of the Noida authority’s main administrative building, thereby disrupting the movement on the internal road in Sector 6 and also partially affecting official work.

Police try to dissuade the protesters from locking the gates on Thursday afternoon. (Sunil GHosh/HT Photo)

Around 1,000 farmers reached the Sector 6 office around noon Thursday and continued to stage protest till 5pm even as the police and the Noida authority officials negotiated with the protesters.

After sloganeering and speeches against the authority and the state government, around 3.30pm, farmers led by a woman‘s group tried to enter gate number 2 but were dissuaded by the heavy police presence there. But they somehow managed to put two locks on one of the gates, to give the message that unless the authority heeds their demands, they will strengthen their protest.

Finally around 5pm, all farmers returned to their homes and threatened to continue with their protest daily if their demands are not met.

Noida police assistant commissioner of police Rajnish Verma said, “We have informed the farmers that they have the right to protest but it should not be done in such a manner that it disturbs the law and order.”

On September 20, 2023, farmers had ended their protest after the authority assured them that their demands will be accepted in the next few months. But they resumed their protest on December 18 after the government and the Noida authority failed to address their demands.

“Our agitation is justified, and it will continue till the authority or the state government gives us 64.7% hiked compensation, residential plots on 10% of the total land acquired, and permission to use residential plots for commercial purposes, among other demands,” said Sukhbir Yadav, farmer leader helming the protest under the banner of Bharatiya Kisan Ekta Sangh.

Yadav and others sustained minor injuries as when they were locking the gates, after breaching the police barricades, they slipped and fell off the barricades in the scuffle.

The farmers demanded that the authority should give them 10% (instead of 5%) of the total land acquired for the development of the city for their residential use.

“In September, 2023 when we ended our agitation after senior officials assured us that the UP government will decide on our demands soon. But even after a long wait, our demands have not been met. The Noida authority must do justice to farmers on whose land this city has been developed,” said Rinku Singh, a farmer of Nagli Wazidpur village.

Noida authority additional CEO Sanjay Kumar Khatri said, “The farmers’ demands have been referred to the state government for a decision.”