The Hindu Business Line : ‘Give equity to farmers, make them partners’

Hyderabad, Dec. 26 Responding to the public outcry against SEZs (special economic zones), the industry has come out with a set of suggestions to avoid disputes and criticism.

Assocham (Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India) has written to the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, calling for equity participation for the farmers.

Mr Venugopal N. Dhoot, President of Assocham, said that land is a sensitive issue. “It’s not treated as just an economic resource, but more often than not, has a strong emotional connect as well.”

Stating that ‘willing-buyer-willing-seller model is gaining currency, he said that developers could be asked to make the farmers partners in the projects.

This, he said, is not difficult to achieve. “In the large-scale SEZ or industrial projects, 10-12 per cent of land in the developed project should be returned on a commensurate basis to farmers,” he pointed out.

Referring to the argument there should be cap of one per cent on land allotments to industrialisation, Mr Dhoot said the total land area proposed for all the SEZs in various parts of the country was just 1,945 sq km.

“This is just 0.065 per cent of the country’s total land area and just 0.12 per cent of agricultural land. “Even if SEZs form a mere 25 per cent of all industrialisation projects, there is scope for earmarking an additional 4,500 sq km,” he said.

Barren land

The chambers also sought to address the issue of allotting fertile lands. “Respective State Governments should take the onus to ensure that fertile land is not notified for industrialisation projects, and that, these projects should only be limited to barren and waste land,” Mr Dhoot asserted.

He added that encouraging SEZs could well be an answer to growing insurgency. As they created employment and economic activity, they would discourage the youth from joining in insurgency.

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