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Buddhadeb's Land Acquisition Policy Takes The BeatingBy siddharth22, Section News
In the aftermath of CPM's twin disasters in Singur and Nandigram in the state panchayat elections, the first victim could well be the Left Front government's land acquisition policy in West Bengal. With farmers in Singur and Nandigram giving a resounding mandate against the CPM, the party has decided to toe a more restrained line on the ultra-sensitive issue of farmland acquisition for mega industrial ventures.
After all, times got rough for the CPM ever since the Buddhadeb government acquired some 997 acres in Singur for the showcase Tata Nano venture. And matters came to a head when the state government's bid to acquire land in Nandigram for a mega chemical venture ignited a land war in the East Midnapore village that culminated in the famous carnage of March 14, 2007 which left 14 dead. A state cabinet minister actively linked to the Buddhadeb government's industrialisation process, said: "The state government plans to take a relook at its land acquisition policy and will consult the Centre in this regard. The Union government has already formulated a relief and rehabilitation policy for farmers and land losers and the proposal is pending before Parliament. We have to go through the proposal and see how much of it can be incorporated in the context of West Bengal. Undoubtedly, panchayat results have indicated that a uniform rehabilitation policy is necessary for a state like West Bengal, where only 22,412.761 acres of vested non-agricultural land is available with the government, but the demand is pegged at much more." The state minister added: "SEZs these days tend to run into thousands of acres. Atleast almost every second industrialist seems to come up with a demand that runs into untold thousands of acres at one go. With just 22,000 acres of vested non-agricultural land available for disposal, the state government is in no position to accommodate bulk of those prospective investors who want land as a prelude to setting up their industries."
Hence the necessity for a law, which would provide more teeth to the state government to enforce the rehabilitation policy being formulated by the union rural development ministry. The new resettlement and rehabilitation act will not only give legislative backing to the policy, but will be an overriding law on both the land acquisition act and the SEZ act.
According to sources in the commerce and industries ministry, the draft rehabilitation policy aims to formulate a blueprint for states, which is to be followed for all projects, wherein "involuntary displacement" of people can be challenged in court, if violated. The law assumes significance given the present furore over SEZs and land acquisition for big infrastructure projects. Under the new policy, a set of terms and conditions kick in once there is a project which involves physical displacement of 400 or more families in the plains to 200 or more families in tribal or hilly areas. The principle guidelines are: a) It introduces the concept of social impact assessment (SIA) along with the current norm of environmental impact assessment. SIA would involve public hearings on displacement related issues, loss of livelihood, compensation, effects on family etc. Source:The Economic Times,22-05-08
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