Netas rush to toe Sonia's line on SEZ
Kamal Nath and Sharad Pawar have already responded to Sonia Gandhi's view on land acquisition for SEZs.
By TNN |
KOLKATA/DELHI/MUMBAI: The political storm over land acquisition for special economic zones (SEZs) gathered momentum on Monday with agriculture minister Sharad Pawar insisting on “adequate compensation” for farmland and the Left Front-run West Bengal government deciding to limit SEZs to non-productive farmland.
| ALSO READ |
The rapid turn of developments follows Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s strong pitch to protect the interest of farmers whose land is likely to be acquired by SEZ developers. In a bid at damage control in the face of adverse reactions from various sections, commerce and industry minister Kamal Nath acknowledged that the Centre would have to urgently evolve guidelines for acquisition of farmland for SEZs.
The industry is already in discussion with various stakeholders including state governments and representatives of farmers to evolve a series of steps to include displaced people in the development process.
Mr Pawar’s remarks are significant since he holds the agriculture portfolio and is influential in Maharashtra where a number of SEZ projects including the twin zones of Reliance are being planned. The West Bengal government’s decision would also have a major bearing on the Centre’s SEZ policy since it is run by the Left alliance partners of the UPA government.
Various political leaders cutting across party lines have already expressed concern that state governments should not acquire farmland for SEZs. In some states like Haryana, SEZ developers have been asked to negotiate directly with farmers for purchase of their land.
“Use of non-agricultural land has already become a condition for SEZ approval. The Board of Approval (BoA) had taken a decision that not more than 10% of the land acquired for building SEZs can be double-cropping land,” commerce minister Kamal Nath told reporters in the capital on Monday.
ADVERTISEMENT
Taking a cue from Sonia Gandhi, Mr Pawar opposed acquisition of farmland to set up the SEZs. Addressing mediapersons in Pune, he demanded “adequate compensation” for farmers whose land would be taken over by governments for setting up SEZs. He, however, hastened to add that neither he nor his party was averse to the concept of SEZs. “We are in favour of SEZs, but we don’t want them to grow at the cost of farmers,” he said.
Mr Pawar’s statement assumes significance since his party is in alliance with the Peasants and Workers Party (PWP), a politically strong outfit from the Konkan region, which has been opposing the proposed Maha-Mumbai SEZ by Reliance. The PWP last week joined hands with the Left in organising protests against the mega project.
States like West Bengal which have a large bank of fertile farmland have already installed a mechanism to protect farmers. Senior state government officials told ET: “A decision has been taken recently to protect agricultural zones of our state. The state government will only allow SEZs in districts like Bankura, Purulia, West Midnapore, Murshidabad, Malda, East & West Dinajpur and Coochbehar.”
The state government has already agreed to provide land to Indonesia’s Salim Group and Videocon Industries for their proposed SEZs, based on these guidelines.
Download
The Economic Times Business News App for the Latest News in Business, Sensex, Stock Market Updates & More.
The Economic Times Business News App for the Latest News in Business, Sensex, Stock Market Updates & More.
Download
The Economic Times News App for Quarterly Results, Latest News in ITR, Business, Share Market, Live Sensex News & More.
The Economic Times News App for Quarterly Results, Latest News in ITR, Business, Share Market, Live Sensex News & More.
ADVERTISEMENT
