Under pressure over farmers' agitation, the Mayawati government in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh on Thursday announced a new land acquisition policy under which its role in acquiring land for private developers would only be that of a facilitator. <br />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. <br />Facing flak over acquiring land for private companies, the government has decided that from now on, the developers would be acquiring land directly from the farmers. <br />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.
