Jagan Special Agri Zone cripples Amaravati farmers?

Farmers in the 29 villages of Amaravati core capital area are agitating for Capital continuation for the protection of value of their plots and properties. To convince them, the Jagan Reddy government is cleverly proposing a Special Agricultural Zone (SAZ) in the 33,000 acres taken under land-pooling. Will SAZ benefit Capital farmers? The SAZ zone provides special facilities like 24-hour power supply, soil testing labs, subsidised farm equipment, cold storages, marketing chains, agronomy training, etc. Will all these create the expected value for Amaravati farmers’ properties? No way. But Jagan Circar says that it will develop plots as per the Capital design and hand them over to farmers. These plots will get value only if Amaravati is Capital. But if Capital is shifted and Amaravati is converted into an SAZ, these plots will be of no value and no use even for cultivation.

Very humiliatingly, the Jagan Regime is considering to use Amaravati Capital buildings for SAZ farmers’ common activities. Is this all viable? SAZ needs no multiple buildings for administering its activities. The maintenance of these buildings will become an additional burden on Capital farmers eventually. There are new fears whether CM Jagan is playing a cruel joke to reduce Amaravati farmers to paupers in the name of SAZ. Interestingly, there is not a single SAZ anywhere in the country that has brought huge prosperity for its farmers. Strangely, SAZ concept first began in migration-dependent Kerala and later taken up in Uttarakhand hill state in order to prevent local farmers from leaving non-remunerative cultivation.