NOIDA: Reacting to TOI reports on a large-scale scam relating to land allotment in Noida, the UP government has formed a committee under the chairmanship of its cabinet minister and national spokesperson of Samajwadi Party Rajender Chowdhary.

The minister assured justice to the farmers and said that the corrupt officials will be punished.

The farmers are forced to sell their land before allotment and once the farmers come under agreement, the land gets allotted on prime location. In a similar case, the Noida Authority has freezed the allotment of a prime land that has a cost of Rs 600 crore.

It is pertinent to mention that the farmers have been alleging large scale scams in developed plot allotment to the farmers in lieu of their land acquired. The farmers had raised the issue before the Noida, Greater Noida and Yamuna Expressway Authorities chairman Rama Raman but the official did not pay heed. Following TOI reports and rampant complaints from farmers in developed plot allotment cases, the UP government has ordered a probe in the matter. Late night on Wednesday, the Akhilesh government formed a committee.

Speaking to TOI, Rajender Chowdhary said that the committee will probe the land allotment cases of farmers. “The government had been receiving complaints of land allotment scams. Acting on the complaints, the committee has been formed,” Chowdhary said.

On explaining the further course of action, Chowdhary said, “The committee will start its functioning soon. The committee members will check the facts and filed detailed reports before the government.”

“Justice will be delivered to the farmers and if any official is found guilty, stringent action will be taken against him. We will also raise the issues before UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav,” Chaudhary further said.

The farmers have welcomed the decision and are also demanding a CBI probe into th allotment of plots to developers and farmers.

The farmers have moved court against the Noida and Greater Noida Authorities accusing officials of adopting a biased system in allotting developed plots in lieu of land acquired. Farmers allege that while plots are being allotted to them almost 20-25km away from their native places, those who have good contacts with senior officials are being offered the land in prime locations.

According to Kisan Sangharsh Samiti, some authority officials allegedly were allotting the developed plots at prime locations to favourites, relatives, influential politicians, and friends.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/noida/UP-govt-begins-probe-into-Noida-land-scam/articleshow/22361561.cms