Centre SEZ no to controversies
The Government isn't backing away from industrialisation, but it won't be involved with land acquisition for cos.
The Government isn’t backing away from industrialisation, but it won’t be involved with land acquisition for industry and it will make sure it’s not just the landowner but also landless labourers and sharecroppers who will be compensated. That’s the thrust of the compensation and rehabilitation package the Government is busy formulating.
The Government has decided that clashes like the one in Nandigram won’t derail the planned Special Economic Zones (SEZs).
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The Government’s new policy will simply make the process of industrialisation more humane, say officials who are preparing what they call a holistic approach to compensation and rehabilitation.
Says Rural Development Minister, Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, “We are making a national rehabilitation resettlement policy. We are also making a law for land acquisition."
The new rehabilitation policy will introduce amendments to existing laws that will allow the Government to:
Currently, state governments can acquire private property for public purposes. However, now, “public purpose" will be redefined and be restricted and the government will only step in to resolve holdouts.
Holdouts are those people who refuse to sell their land. Imagine a company has bought 500 acres of land from farmers, but two have refused to part with their land which may be about five acres right in the middle of the 500 acre area.
These farmers will be treated as holdout cases and will have to sell their land, but the state governments will make sure they are adequately compensated.
Says Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, “People will be rehabilitated before they are displaced. They will get a rehabilitation package before they are evicted."
The exact formula for compensation is being worked out, but a rough idea is in place right now.
- The state government will conduct a survey to determine how many people are dependent on the land being bought
- Not just landowners, but also others who live off that land will be taken into account
- Sharecroppers, landless labourers and other such people will also be compensated
- Corporates will now have to factor in these compensation costs when planning a new project
Since this compensation formula will apply all over the country, with very little interference from the state government, the Centre hopes it will discourage corporates from hopping from state to state in search of the cheapest deal.
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