Cong team to visit the SEZ-hit

MUMBAI: In a move aimed at averting a “Nandigram in Maharashtra”, the ruling Congress has decided to send a fact finding committee to talk to the SEZ-affected people in Raigad district. Appointed at the behest of the Congress high command, the committee has been given a three-point agenda to find out the ground realities. It is expected get the feedback on the Maharashtra government’s role in land-acquisition — whether it is coercive’ — and the compensation being offered.

According to Prabha Rau, the state Congress chief, there is a need to take steps to prevent the party from being portrayed as ‘anti-farmer’. “The decision to form this committee is one such step. We want to avoid a repeat of Nandigram,” Ms Rau said referring to the West Bengal village where violence erupted over a proposed SEZ, taking over a dozen lives.

In Maharashtra, the Congress committee will visit Raigad district, where Reliance is setting up the country’s largest SEZ. Proposed to be set up over 35,000 acres, the SEZ has generated enough heat for the ruling party’s discomfort. A couple of farmers’ organisations have been opposing the government’s decision to throw open land under cultivation for industrial use.

“Sonia Gandhi has made it clear time and again that agricultural land should not be used for the SEZs. We will find out what’s the ground reality in Raigad,” said Sanjay Nirupam, one of the three members of the committee. The other two members are Ramsheth Thakur and Sanjay Patil. The committee has been given a week’s time to submit its report to MPCC chief Prabha Rau, who will forward it to Ms Gandhi with her comments.

Interestingly, the Congress party’s’ sense of urgency stems from two facts. One, it lost miserably in Raigad district in the recent Zilla Parishad elections, to Peasants and Workers’ Party, which went to people on the anti-SEZ plank. In the 64-member Zilla Parishad the Congress could win only five seats as against over 30 by PWP and its alliance partner Shiv Sena. Two, the opposition’s aggressive posturing over the issue, which is trying to portray the party as being anti-farmer.

On the Opposition side, Shiv Sena working president Uddhav Thackeray had stepped up his anti-SEZ tirade last week. He, too, is planning to undertake a visit to SEZ-affected areas this month. Sainiks in the state legislature have been making an issue of the government’s ‘role’ in the land acquisition there. The Congress doesn’t want to be seen politically incorrect on the issue, a party veteran said.