By IANS,
New Delhi : Farmers should get adequate compensation for their land, Congress president Sonia Gandhi said Thursday and stressed that the environment should be protected to ensure sustainable development.
“New industry and new infrastructure cannot be built without acquiring land. This is obvious,” she said, adding that land acquisition must be done in a manner that it does not result in the loss of large tracts of fertile and productive agricultural lands indispensable for growing food grains needed to feed the people.
“And if farmers are deprived of their land-based livelihood, they must be provided with adequate compensation and alternative occupations,” Gandhi said here while speaking as a chief guest at a function to dedicate “National Capital Thermal Power Project, Dadri” to the nation.
The Congress president pointed out that states like Haryana have progressive legislation in this regard.
“Other states would do well to emulate it,” she added.
Noting that the environment must be protected to ensure sustainable development, she said: “In whatever we do, we must not forget that our lush forests and mountains, majestic rivers and all other water sources and clean air have sustained and nurtured us for millennia.”
“We have a responsibility to preserve them for the coming generations,” Gandhi said
Sushilkumar Shinde, union power minister, presided over the function.