Sept. 9: The Congress president and UPA chairperson, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, on Thursday said that the acquisition of agriculture land should be avoided for industrial development and farmers should be given adequate compensation in case their land is being acquired.
“The new industry and infrastructure can’t be built without acquiring land. This is obvious and there is no argument on this. But land acquisition must be done in a manner that does not result in loss of large tracts of fertile and productive agriculture land which is so indispensable to grow foodgrain needed to feed our people,” said Mrs Gandhi, after dedicating to the nation second stage of 980 MW-NTPC power plant in Dadri in UP.
She said that in case the land is acquired, farmers must be provided adequate compensation and an alternative occupation. Mrs Gandhi said Haryana has adopted a progressive legislation in this regard and other states should follow that example.
Haryana offers the highest market rates in the country for land acquired from farmers for development projects. Apart from the compensation, farmers in Haryana get Rs 15,000 per acre annuity for 33 years. The annuity will increase by Rs 500 per acre every year for 33 years. On top of this, the farmers can avail residential and commercial plots from government agencies through direct allotment.
Acquiring the land from the farmers has become a controversial issue in recent times. In 2008, Tatas were forced to shift their Nano factory from Singur due to protest by some local people. Many of the SEZs including that of Reliance Industries have faced stiff resistance from the farmers. Recently thousands of farmers from western Uttar Pradesh protested against the government demanding higher compensation for the land acquired for the Yamuna Expressway.
The Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill, which seeks to give compensation rights to tribal and forest dwellers is being withheld due to opposition from the railway minister, Ms Mamata Banerjee.