The Hindu Business Line : Landing in trouble

Various parts of Rural India are in a ferment that the country could do well without. As States rev up their industrialisation plans, land acquisition has become such a contentious issue that farmers across the country, furious at the perceived threat of usurpation of their livelihood, have resorted to violence. In Maharashtra, Orissa and earlier in West Bengal, major plans for industry clusters, either in the form of Special Economic Zones or specialty hubs, may be in jeopardy as farmers collectively resist land acquisition. Last weekend's violent clashes in Kalinganagar in Orissa, and Raigad and Pune in Maharashtra were of a piece with the events in Nandigram and Singur earlier in West Bengal even if the modes of resistance varied. The unfortunate aspect would be if there is a ripple effect in other States.

The ideal course for the Government would be to walk away from the mess, abandoning its role as a land broker, and letting industries deal directly with the landowners. But when it comes to public works such as building new roads and irrigation infrastructure, land acquisition would still be a task for Government, and no less a problem. There is a danger of the Centre and the States especially viewing the protests and random violence, such as the abduction of POSCO executives in Orissa, as problems of "law and order". Mercifully, the Centre has seized the bull by the horns if the two draft Bills prepared by the Ministry of Rural Development for discussion by the Cabinet are any indication. The Resettlement and Rehabilitation (RR) Policy and Bill, and the Land Acquisition (LA) Amendment Bill appear to address some of the issues of compensation and the role of government in the land transfer process. The RR Policy has been in the public domain since late last year. While it envisages compensation for even "involuntary displacements" and considers equity in buyer-companies as a form of compensation, the amendment to the LA Bill enlarges the notion of "public purpose" from strategic needs to all manner of infrastructure and public facilities. Since details are as yet unavailable, one can only hazard a guess that the idea is to protect "general public purpose" over the interests of the immediate stakeholders.

While these developments are welcome, incidents such as the ones last weekend leave one in doubt if policymakers have realised the momentous nature of the violence or the historic burden that it imposes on them to find durable solutions. Displacement and land acquisition have been contentious issues for long but could now become major roadblocks to the growth momentum itself. In a dramatic reversal of the past, capital is no longer scarce; skilled labour and land are. And New Delhi seems to be sleeping over one and just waking up to the other.

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