A tough road lies ahead for Union rural development minister Jairam Ramesh to impress Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi with the draft Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation and Resettlement (LARR) Bill, 2011. Western UP farmers, who swear by the name of the scion of the Gandhi family, want much more than what has been offered in the draft LARR Bill, 2011.
In a clear case that drafting a copy of the law by sitting in the comforts of the national capital is easy but to convince those affected by it is much more difficult, Mr Ramesh had his hands full with memoranda given by the UP farmers who were brought in by UPCC chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi this week.
Dhiren Singh, who led a delegation of 34 farmers from western UP to the minister, said that in the time of price rise, a monthly compensation of `3,000 per family is not enough and it should be `20,000. He went on to demand that the annual increase in compensation should be `12,000 in place of proposed `2,000. While Mr Ramesh was seen glancing through the written submission, Ms Joshi told him that the farmers’ demands are justified.
If this was not enough, the farmers also told Mr Ramesh very bluntly that annuity should be for a period of 33 years and not just for 20 years as proposed in the draft LARR Bill, 2011. While Ms Joshi nodded for this too, Mr Ramesh was seen concerned as no bonds are there in the market for more than 20 years.
The farmers went on to tell the minister very bluntly that the draft LARR Bill, 2011 could wreak havoc with the family system in the rural areas, as job is proposed only for one son. “Land owners have about six sons each having family of their own. If one gets job, he will separate out, leaving the other five high and dry,” said Mr Singh. An amused Mr Ramesh asked whether they wanted jobs for all and prompt reply came in affirmative with long explanation about joint family system. Ms Joshi told the minister that the family units in the draft LARR, 2011 needs to be defined clearly.