Under fire from opposition parties over the blatant acquisition of land across the state, the UP chief minister Mayawati announced a new land policy.

Adopting a carrot and stick approach she, one hand, tried to assuage angry farmers by making them participant in the land acquisition, she also warned them of dire consequences if another Bhatta-Prasaul was repeated.

The immediate trigger for the new land policy announced today is the widespread violence in village Bhatta-Parsaual by farmers protecting against land acquisition at throw away prices and the police brutality to quell the violence.

Under the new policy, the land acquisition will be done only after signing an agreement with the affected farmers. In case of acquisition for private projects, the government will act as 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.

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.

In a veiled threat to farmers she warned them of dire consequences in case of a repeat of Bhatta-Parsaul.

“The government will not hesistate from taking strict action against those who disturb  peace and order of the state in the garb of protest over land acquisition,” she said. 

Mayawati said the new policy has been framed to safeguard the interest of farmers, adding that their suggestions during the day-long panchayat here, would be incorporated in the government order.

Terming the new policy a historic one, she said efforts would be made to get it implemented at the national level as the Union government also plans to bring a land acquisition bill during the monsoon session.

She stuck to her threat of protesting outside parliament if the centre failed to bring a new bill in the monsoon session.

This policy is even better than the ones being implemented in Congress-ruled states like Haryana, she claimed.

Blaming the opposition for instigating the recent agitations, she said that instead of putting pressure on the centre to amend the existing policy, they enacted a "drama" in UP and created a law and order problem at some places in the state.

The chief minister said an assurance has been given to representatives from Bhatta-Parsaul that the government would compensate the damages.

(with inputs from PTI)