Under pressure over farmers' agitation, the Mayawati government in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh on Thursday announced a new land acquisition policy under which its role in acquiring land for private developers would only be that of a facilitator.
The chief minister, who held a farmers' panchayat earlier in the day to discuss their problems, announced that the new policy will be implemented with immediate effect.
Facing flak over acquiring land for private companies, the government has decided that from now on, the developers would be acquiring land directly from the farmers.
The chief minister also said that such acquisitions could only happen with the agreement of 70 per cent of the farmers in a given area. In case of disagreement, the project would be reviewed, she said.