LUCKNOW: Taking a note of the ongoing protest by farmers, chief minister Aditya Nath Yogi has ordered for a review of the ambitious Maitreya project in Kushinagar In a review meeting late on Thursday, the CM said, "The project has failed to take off because of faulty implementation. Local farmers were not taken into confidence. Projects like this should not eat into agricultural land."The Maitreya project includes construction of the world's tallest Buddha statue in Kushinagar. It was announced by then-CM Rajnath Singh in 2000. Subsequent CMs used the project for political benefits while farmers opposed it, saying that fertile land was acquired forcibly.Besides the statue, the project also included a hospital, mini-university, stupas, Buddhist artefacts and smaller statues of Buddha. However, protests delayed the project and in 2012, the Maitreya Trust decided to move the project to Bodhgaya. Though UP government convinced it to stay back, no progress was made.Since the project has not taken off yet, farmers are still tilling on the acquired land adjacent to the main Buddha temple at the Mahaparinirvan Sthal.

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