The Jagan Mohan Reddy government on Wednesday released Rs 195 crore towards payment of annuity to farmers of Amaravati who parted their lands under Land Pooling Scheme for the construction of the capital city.
The annuity was supposed to be paid in May every year as per the agreement between the farmers and erstwhile Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority (APCRDA).
This year, however, the payment was not done till the second week of June, as a result of which the farmers approached the high court on Monday.
As the issue came up for hearing on Wednesday, the government quickly issued the GO and informed the same to the court.
As per the GO issued by special chief secretary (municipal administration and urban development) Y Srilakshmi, the government had given the approval for the release of Rs 195 crore to Amaravati Metropolitan Region Development Authority (AMRDA) for payment of annuity to the farmers in lumpsum.
Last year, too, the annuity payment was not done till August and the farmers had to move the high court to get their payment, besides staging dharna at the APCRDA office.
As per the agreement signed with the APCRDA in 2015, each farmer has to be paid yearly amount of Rs 30,000 per acre for drylands to Rs 50,000 per acre for wetlands for a period of 10 years.
Besides, landless poor who were working as agriculture labourer in the surrendered lands have to be paid Rs 2,500 per month.
