TUMAKURU: Members of the Gandhi Ashram and School of Natural Farming, at Doddahosuru, who were opposing the proposed establishment of data centres, held a padayatra here on Friday and submitted a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner, Subha Kalyan. The movement was led by agriculture scientist Dr Manjunath.
The three-day satyagraha concluded with experts urging wider public participation in the movement against the proposed data centres. The memorandum, presented during the “Mannu–Neerina Satyagraha”, urges the Centre to halt the establishment of AI data centres, arguing that they pose serious risks to livelihoods, the environment, national security, and data sovereignty.
Expert Remmelt Ellen, at the workshop cum satyagraha explained that extraction of energy would continue, despite the needs and behaviours of humans and machines being “incompatible.”
Dev Jain, AI researcher, explained how production of cheap energy, automation and economy were intrinsically related. “These are future projections, but it is possible that human beings will be removed from the economic cycle if it continues this way.”
Farmers’ leader Badagalapura Nagendra called for a people’s movement on the lines of the CJP that successfully fought the NEET paper leak issue. He alleged that while Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi speaks in support of farmers, Chief Minister DK Shivakumar is promoting multinational companies by facilitating data centre projects. “We fought the land acquisition at Devanahalli and got the farmers’ lands denotified by the government. A similar movement should be launched unitedly against the Bidadi township project”, he suggested.
Key concerns raised
AI data centres require enormous quantities of freshwater and electricity, threatening agriculture, drinking water supplies, and India’s climate commitments
Reliance on foreign cloud providers could compromise India’s data sovereignty, as overseas laws may allow access to data stored in India
AI-driven automation could lead to large-scale job losses, especially in agriculture and the textile sector
Facial recognition, could worsen social divisions
What it recommends
National AI policy restricting AI primarily to defence and national security
Separate policy regulating AI data centres, with govt ownership and oversight of critical infra
Locating data centres in coastal or barren areas instead of fertile agricultural land
Preventing private and multinational control over critical AI infra
Strengthening data protection laws to ensure digital sovereignty