Land given, jobs pending: Jewar youths disillusioned as Noida airport nears launch

When land acquisition for Noida International Airport began in 2019, Saurav Kumar envisioned a future in Jewar rather than joining the rat race in Delhi or another big city. A BTech student at the time, he later pursued an MTech in automobile engineering, hoping to be qualified for jobs the airport project would bring to town.

His family, like many others, gave up land for the project with assurances of compensation and employment. While the compensation arrived, the promised jobs did not. For youths like Saurav, disillusionment has grown as the airport nears inauguration, says Ashni Dhaor's Times of India report.

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“It’s not that jobs haven’t been offered, but they came from third-party contractors. For job security, we’ve been demanding direct employment under YIAPL,” says Saurav to TOI, referring to the Zurich AG subsidiary building the airport.

“I did not sit for placements in my college, assuming I would get a job at the airport. I thought I should not start a job that I would have to leave,” he adds. “After waiting for the job till 2022, I decided to take up teaching positions till the time I got a job with the airport.”

Today, Saurav’s only work is teaching local youths for entrance exams. “We were told our degrees would matter. But the jobs being offered don’t match that promise,” he laments.

This frustration echoes across six villages near the airport—Rohi, Parohi, Banwaribas, Kishorpur, Ranhera, and Dayanatpur—where land acquisition impacted residents. Locals were offered a choice: a one-time extra compensation of around Rs 5 lakh or assured employment for one family member. Around 335 youths opted for the jobs, expecting direct employment with Yamuna International Airport Pvt Ltd (YIAPL).

Hansraj Singh, a farmer from Dayanatpur who gave up nearly 25 acres, says, “My elder son was working in Gurgaon as a deputy general manager. He left that job in 2020 and came back, hoping to work at the airport.” Singh refers to the R&R draft, which promised priority employment for one member of each affected family after training, or compensation if employment was not possible.

“It was not just a verbal assurance. It was given to us in writing,” says Nitish Bhardwaj from Banwaribas to TOI, who also waited in Jewar for the airport job. “We chose long-term security over immediate extra cash.” Now, Nitish works in Greater Noida. “If I was not waiting for the airport job, my career graph would have been very different,” he admits.

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Interview calls finally began in September 2025. “Initially, there was excitement,” says Chand Saifi from Dayanatpur. “But when we reached, we found the jobs were not under YIAPL but from contractors.” The positions offered were largely for security and janitorial roles.

“Youths protested at the site and were assured by officials their concerns would be addressed. On Dec 2, we were called again. The same thing happened. We sat on protest till senior officials assured us the issue would be looked into,” Saifi recounts.

Protests continued through February and March, with six demonstrations in total. “Every time, we are asked to wait,” says Saurav.

Those without college degrees are also dissatisfied. “The R&R draft stated youths in project-affected families will be given skill training under CSR. It has been seven years. No training programmes have been conducted for us. But now, we are being told that since we don’t have the required skills, we should take whatever is offered,” says Priyanka from Kishorpur, who travels over 100km from Palwal to demand her rights.

On Wednesday, the youths staged a sit-in at the airport gate, prompting officials from YEIDA and the district administration to intervene. “All of the youth will be provided on-roll jobs with YIAPL according to their skills. The joining letter will be of YIAPL, job location will be Jewar, and the letter will have signatures from NIAL and YIAPL,” a YEIDA official told TOI.

Still, Saurav says the assurances are not enough. “We feel the local administration cannot resolve this. But the chief minister and Prime Minister Modi will understand our situation,” he says, as the airport’s inauguration approaches.(With TOI inputs)