April 5, 2007
SEZs Here to Stay,
But No Forcible Land Acquisition
New Delhi
The Indian government Thursday said special economic zones (SEZs)
that have evoked violent protests in several parts of the country,
particularly from farmers, are here to stay but limited their size
to a maximum of 5,000 hectares.
It also put an end to the compulsory land acquisition by state
governments in the wake of recent spates of violence in the states
of West Bengal, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.
An Empowered Group of Ministers (EGOM) of the government, which met
to clear the pending SEZ proposals, also said that SEZs would be
treated like public utility.
This means that the states need not intervene to acquire land and
leave the decision to sell agricultural land for SEZ to the
discretion of the farmers and owners of the land.
These recommendations, once adopted and implemented, could put to
rest the controversy surrounding the recent acquisition of
agricultural land by several state governments, that tends to
threaten the livelihood of farmers and farmhands.
However, this limitation to size is expected to hamper the business
plans of some of the big companies like Reliance Industries that
proposes to set up SEZs of 10,000 hectares in Maharashtra and
Haryana.
"The decision will be applicable to all SEZs including those which
have already been notified," Minister of Commerce and Industry Kamal
Nath told reporters after the meeting.
The smaller size of the SEZ is something UPA government's Left
supporters like the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) have
been asking for.
The government, however, said nothing on the recommendations made by
rural development ministry to drastically amend the land acquisition
policy formulated by the previous NDA government to make the farmers
as partners in the development.
However, according to Kamal Nath, one member from every displaced
family would be given a job in the project, adding that a relief and
rehabilitation policy in this regard would be finalised soon.
The meeting of the EGoM follows a clearance from the Congress party
last week on SEZs, which were facing uncertainty after violent
protests over land acquisition at Nandigram in West Bengal and
uproar in other states.
The government has so far received a total of 234 SEZ proposals with
formal approvals, of which 63 have been notified and 83 were cleared
Thursday for notification.
The SEZ Act, which was passed by parliament in May 2005, has so far
attracted investment of Rs.134.35 billion and offered employment to
18,457 persons.
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