Compensation

Kanpur / New Delhi: The ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH) has taken a strong view of the delay in the release of compensation to the land owners, whose land has been acquired for the construction of the outer Kanpur Ring Road, the first phase of which is to be completed before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari had promised that the first phase of the road will be completed before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls but its construction has still not been started and is set for further delay as compensation awarded to the owners has still not been released due to alleged lack of coordination between the local National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) and Kanpur district officials. Sources said that Union Minister of state for road transport and highways General (Retd) VK Singh has expressed strong objection to the unwarranted delay in the release of the compensation even though it had been finalised by the district and the NHAI officials in their joint meeting on May 4.
While the minister, sources said, is contemplating strong action against NHAI officials, he has spoken to state administration top brass to take action against officials responsible for the inordinate delay. Sources said that the minister, after approached by one of the landowners, has instructed senior functionaries at MoRTH to take stringent action against the NHAI officials, who have been accused of delaying the fund release even as it had been sanctioned by Vijeta Singh, ADM (land acquisition), Kanpur.
Following the May 4 meeting at the Kanpur Collectorate, Vijeta Singh finalised the quantum of compensation of Rs 331 crore to 77 landowners as per the government circle rates. She sent the award sheet to NHAI project director

When contacted, Kanpur FN Vishak G Iyer said: “There are four packages of NHAI with regard to Kanpur’s Outer Ring road project. So far, we have awarded compensation in 13 gram panchayats. An amount of 128 crore is to be awarded. Out of which 52 crore have been disbursed, remaining would be awarded latest by July this year.”
Interestingly, a day after Vijeta Singh finalised the quantum of the compensation package and sent it to the NHAI project Director, Lucknow, Prashant Dubey, she was transferred.
While no one from the NHAI was willing to speak on record, its senior official, said on the condition of anonymity: “There is no delay as far as disbursement of compensation with regard to Kanpur’s Outer Ring Road project. Yes it takes some time because every case has to be understood deeply and then expedited. Whatever time it takes is in the land conversion process.Otherwise the land acquisition process is the simplest and smoothest in our country.”
Meanwhile, one of the aggrieved land-owners told TOI: “We have already approached the transport ministry and soon a delegation will call on Chief Minister Yogi Aditynanath to look into the matter and see that the compensation is released and also action is taken against officials responsible for the delay.”
The construction of the 32.2-km outer Kanpur ring road from Mandhana to Sachendi, which will connect the city with the Lucknow road, had to be started from March this year. The acquisition of 32.56 hectares of the land, whose compensation is yet to be paid, had been completed on December 9, 2022, and the same was published in the gazette as well.
The delay in the release of the compensation is also causing a huge loss to the government as a penalty at the rate of of 12% per annum will be paid additionally to the landowners.

New York taxpayers are on the hook to pay government pension benefits for teachers union boss Randi Weingarten — one of the most powerful political operatives in the country — even though she hasn’t stepped into a classroom to teach for a quarter-century.

The culprit is a corrupt, unconstitutional practice that many taxpayers haven’t even heard about. It’s called union release time — and it benefits the government’s favored special interests at the taxpayers’ expense.

Weingarten is the head of the American Federation of Teachers, a private labor union with annual revenue of $200 million a year. The AFT is one of the most politically active special interests in America, giving tens of millions of dollars to political candidates, parties, and political action committees — more than 98% of which is directed to benefit Democrats, some estimates show.

NH LAWMAKER RIPS PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT IN EDUCATION: ‘LET THE TEACHERS TEACH, AND SHUT UP’

Weingarten claims to have once been a full-time teacher , but that appears to be true only for a tiny portion of her long career, and she hasn’t taught a single student since at least 1997. Since that time, she has worked full-time as a union boss, advocating for the private interests and political causes of the AFT and its affiliates.

In a recent report, the Freedom Foundation unearthed documents showing that even though Weingarten hasn’t been a public teacher for decades, she is nonetheless going to receive a taxpayer-funded pension because of release time.

This pernicious practice “releases” government employees from the jobs they were originally hired to do, to instead work full-time for private labor unions — all while still receiving their full taxpayer-funded salaries and benefits, including pension benefits.

Release time flouts state constitutional anti-subsidy provisions intended to protect taxpayers against special interest abuse. It may also violate the First Amendment rights of government employees who do not want to support private union activities, as the Goldwater Institute, the free-market think tank where I work, has pointed out in challenging the legality of this practice.

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Yet Goldwater Institute research shows that release time exists across the country at all levels of government, costing taxpayers millions of dollars.

Weingarten, for her part, has been on release time for 25 years, meaning she has worked full-time for a private union rather than discharging any public responsibilities. The AFT picks up the tab for her substantial $543,562 in annual compensation, but under an odd provision of the contract between her union and the school district, the district is still on the hook for her government pension benefits.

That means taxpayers in New York are going to pay for Weingarten’s retirement even though she hasn’t performed public service for a quarter-century.

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Just like Weingarten, release time employees throughout the country receive government pension benefits for working full-time for private labor unions. That’s wrong: after all, tax dollars should be spent to advance the public interest, not pad the retirement of private, political activists.

The Freedom Foundation has done a valuable service in unearthing this outrageous taxpayer abuse. Now citizens should demand that their tax dollars stop funding special interests and the operatives who are getting rich representing them—and fund the public interest instead.

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The plea was mentioned before the vacation bench headed by Judge Uma Maheswari, who has ordered a hearing after eight weeks.

Speaking to a local news channel, public prosecutor G Devarajan, who filed the complaint on behalf of Stalin, said: “During the press briefing on April 14, Tamil Nadu BJP President K Annamalai made several complaints against Chief Minister MK Stalin who is delivering good governance. Those allegations have no proof, and in a way, it damages the reputation of the chief minister. Hence, as per the G.O. (Government Order) issued by the government, today, on behalf of the chief minister, I have filed a defamation case.”

Annamalai on April 14 released ‘DMK Files’, making graft allegations against ruling DMK leaders including Chief Minister Stalin and their family members. Soon, the DMK sent a legal notice to the BJP state president asking him to tender an unconditional apology for his remarks and corruption allegations against DMK president and Chief Minister Stalin.

Annamalai was asked to pay damages to the tune of Rs 500 crore within 48 hours. The state BJP chief hit back at the ruling dispensation, asking for a compensation of Rs 500 crore and one rupee for levelling ‘baseless allegations’ and said he will submit to the CBI all the details related to the corruption that allegedly took place in awarding a contract for metro work during the previous DMK regime. He added that he was ready to face legal action.

DMK minister Udhayanidhi Stalin and MP Kanimozhi also served legal notices to the BJP leader.

NOIDA: Work on the Noida section of the 32.5-km road linking the upcoming Noida International Airport in Jewar to the DND-Faridabad-KMP expressway near the Ballabhgarh bypass began on Thursday with district magistrate Manish Kumar Verma laying its foundation.
Once ready, the road will provide seamless connectivity between Noida, Greater Noida, Delhi and Faridabad by directly linking Jewar to the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway — which connects with the DND-Faridabad Expressway near Sohna. It will also connect

National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) officials said 8.5 km of the link road will come up in Gautam Budh Nagar and the rest in Haryana. The entire stretch is set to be developed in two years.

In GB Nagar, the link road will cross villages Dayanatpur, Ballabhnagar, Karolli Bangar, Falonda Bangar, Amarpur and Jhuppa. In Haryana, it will cut through 15 villages, including Bahpur Kala, Mohiyapur, Mohna, Hirapur, Mohammadpur, Panhera Khurd, Chanawali, Shahupura, etc.
On July 6, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari announced that the Centre has approved a budget of Rs 2,414.7 crore for the greenfield connectivity project.
While the government has announced compensation at Rs 3,640 per square metre of land acquired, a section of farmers have demanded a higher payout of Rs 5,500 per square metre.
A group of project-affected farmers staged a protest at Dayanatpur village on Thursday demanding better compensation.
SDM Jewar Abhay Singh told TOI there are around 400 farmers in six villages whose land, about 65 hectares, has been acquired for the link road project.
“The NHAI announced the compensation rate and some farmers are satisfied. However, a section wants higher compensation and approached the district magistrate for arbitration. The matter will be decided soon,” he said.