Jammu, Aug 19: Over two dozen farmers in Chatha Pind area on the outskirts of state’s winter capital are facing gross injustice at the hands of the authorities of Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agriculture Science and Technology (SKUAST) Jammu. For past five years these hapless farmers are being deprived the compensation for the land that the Varsity acquired for expanding its campus farm.
 Sources informed that SKUAST-J needed 1200 Acres of farming land to expand its campus and for this it started the acquisition in 2007. They said that the government and University authorities had promised the owner farmers to provide employment to one person of each family along with compensation at present market rates.
 Meanwhile the University took the possession of 175 Acres land of Husbandry Department, while the rest of the land was acquired from the farmers who had their land in the vicinity of the University campus.
 Rattan Lal a farmer maintained that despite clear directions form the Varsity Chancellor - the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir to SKUAST to appoint one member of the farm family who gave its land, the SKUAST authorities failed to comply the directions so far.
 He said that as the landholding was the lone source of their livelihood they had made the employment as a prior condition to give away the land. “We are mostly illiterate and cannot switch over to other job. I have three acre of agricultural land which has come under SKUAST,” he said. 
  “One year ago 20 posts of class-IV were created by the SKUAST-J but no one from the families whose land came under it was absorbed, while contrary to it the Varsity authorities are forcibly trying to take the possession of the land,” he said.
  He alleged that a few weeks ago university authorities came with a huge contingent of police and tried to take the possession without informing the Revenue Department.
 “How can it  take the possession of the land without Revenue Department as only this department can identify land and give spotter” he lamented .
  “We are being forced to give away our land but our demand of giving us reasonable price and employment is not being taken seriously,” he rued.
 He said the farmers are being forced to give away their land at a meager price of  Rs 55 thousand per Kanal of which 15 percent Jabrana had to be paid by the DC Jammu.
 Initially three persons of the affected families were absorbed but later they were thrown out without any reason, he said.
 Despite repeated attempts the SKUAST authorities could not be contacted. 

Lastupdate on : Sun, 19 Aug 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sun, 19 Aug 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Mon, 20 Aug 2012 00:00:00 IST