The Hindu Business Line : To the poor, alcoholism can be more dangerous than killer waves

Story so far: Official work takes me to Kolkata. Before returning, I hire a taxi to visit Singur, the focus of land controversy. I meet Kashinath, a farmer there, who is in a dilemma whether to sell his land for the new factory. "Without land we don't know how to survive," wails his wife. "Whatever we know is to sow and reap... " Is the price of growth displacement of people, I wonder.

Episode 154

Is the argument of greater good, good enough? To this poignant poser of last week, Krithivasan responds: "Unfortunately, the issue has taken political overtones and battle-lines drawn, from which both sides will find it difficult to withdraw/compromise. But the issue is genuine and rather serious." He explains how, over the decades, all over India, fertile lands have been vanishing to give place to industries and house sites. "It takes millions of years for nature to develop farm lands to the present state. We are not capable of turning barren lands/deserts into farmable shape and position. In the long-term interest of the country, a policy stand has to be taken in this regard. Though there are many rules and provisions, unfortunately in India the standard is that rules are made only to be broken. That is the cause for urban decay and rural degeneration."

The next mail is from S Bhargavan of Coimbatore. "Dear Swati, I am unable to understand as to what is so sacrosanct about Singur. If it is creating social problems now (on real or instigated terms) the project will have problems while being under construction and also during production." I too fear so. "There are other places, as for example Coimbatore. The place has good weather, both climatically and industrially; it is nearer to the port of Kochi, well connected by good highways, and abundant with workforce trained in engineering workshops. Why stick to an unwilling area with all the socio-economic problems? I am sure the Government of Tamil Nadu will welcome with open arms if Tata has an inclination to manufacture its car here." Good pitch, I must say, Bhargavan.

SEZ vs land grabbing

"Dear Swati, I enjoy reading your column. I am an MBA student of NIT, Tiruchi," writes Sowmya. "After reading numerous articles on the SEZ-farmers' dispute, I feel that the government has to seriously rethink its decision to give approval to 250 odd SEZ (special economic zone) units. There are only around 400 SEZs in the world!" If the numbers are true, then we may be creating a skew. "Infrastructure development is necessary, but it also requires adequate long range planning, and a rigorous analysis on how many SEZs would survive the test of time. What matters at the end of the day is whether grabbing the land from the farmers is really worth it. Yet another thought I would like to share is that the farmlands should be considered as the last resort for SEZs. After all we still continue to say that India is an agrarian economy. Keep up the good work." Thanks Sowmya.

"Dear Swati, one of Albert Einstein's quotes reads, `Great spirits have often encountered violent opposition from weak minds.' I am confident that spirit and sense would prevail over politics in this case," writes Sriram Kannan. "It is astounding that while the ruling party has no issues in sanctioning the land for the project after being voted to power successfully for almost three decades, the Opposition parties are bent upon making the project a non-starter. Before supporting the Ruling party's stand or opposing the Opposition's unimaginable stand, it must be noted that industrial prosperity that is being seen by people of all Indian states should also be enjoyed by West Bengal. The only way forward for the State would be welcoming investment whole-heartedly without any red tape."

While conceding that agricultural growth benefits the rural population better than any other development project, Sriram draws our attention to the agrarian crisis witnessed by States such as Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and so on. "It is surprising that even though the project is promoted by India-based home-grown auto giant, political parties are using the financial weakness of rural people to gain undue political mileage. It would be better if the naysayers understood the direct and indirect benefits that an investment of Rs 1,000 crore would bring to the State. When every State in India is leaving no stone unturned in wooing new investments, it is a pity that scenarios like these would result in corporates giving a second thought about any investments in the State."

Necessary evil

V. Nadanasabapathy, a former Deputy GM of Syndicate Bank, from Chennai writes, "Dear Swati, you have indirectly asked as to whether the establishment of industries amounts to destruction for construction. It is quite natural that whenever a new project comes up, we may have to sacrifice some fertile area. West Bengal has lost its position in industrial development thanks to the presence of strong workers union. Fortunately the present Chief Minister wants to bring back the State to the original position. He has taken a lot of pains to convince the industrialists at home and abroad to invest in the State." Kudos to Buddha!

"If the project at Singur is stopped it will send wrong signal to other industrialists and the State may not progress. But at the same time the Government should see that the displaced farmers are relocated and rehabilitated. Government should allot developed land and houses to farmers instead of giving them compensation and also arrange to get employment in the factory for the eligible persons from the displaced families. Otherwise there will be opposition from the affected persons and the opposition parties may try to utilise the opportunity. Therefore, for your question, `Is displacing people, the price of growth?' the answer is, `It is a necessary evil.'" Thanks Nadanasabapathy.

Compensate adequately

"The question that you have raised is very pertinent in this era of rapid development where we are finding it hard to strike a balance between sustained development and ecological/economic balance," begins a mail from C. Prahalad, Consulting and Enterprise Solutions, Satyam Computer Services. "Protagonists of SEZ/ industrialisation would argue that it brings in sweeping changes to the economy and that it is a part of `inclusive' development. So, according to them converting an agricultural land not only creates new job opportunities for people but also adequately compensates the displaced. Antagonists claim that when there is such a vast spread of non-arable land available, why create the need for compensation and displacement?" The debate, in short, that is. "Now, I tend to side with the antagonists for the very fact that any plan of development should not only adequately compensate the displaced people for the present but also take care of their future. The adage says, `Catch a fish for a man, feed him for a day. Teach a man how to catch a fish and feed him for a lifetime.' Are we adequately compensating the poor farmer and really insuring his future by just monetary payment? The argument that the government has already promised land to the corporate and back-tracking on it would create adverse impact on future investments in the State does not hold enough water, for the simple fact that it is not the corporate that demanded agricultural land. There have also been articles stating that the arable land that is being allotted is miniscule compared to the total area under cultivation and hence food security is not under threat. In a country where food security and cultivation are closely tied to looking up to the sky for monsoons most of the time, every bit of arable land should count. The bottom line is that no one is against industrialization, but should it come at the expense of another sector where the farmer has no adequate skillsets other than cultivation, including the fact that he is not educated enough on how to invest the compensation guaranteed to him for a secure future? It would be better if the corporate and the government are at least concerned about it and come up with schemes that `really' compensate the displaced." Forceful argument.

"Dear Swati, land acquisition should be based on trust," says Anil Kumar Pillai of SCMS, Kochi. "It is not easy to ask somebody to vacate their land for a project howsoever beneficial it is for the society. There is an emotional connect with the ancestral land. But the success of Konkan Rail Project and Delhi Metro clearly shows that it is possible provided one is able to understand the difficulties of relocation. Are there any instances of a political bigwig vacating his ancestral property for a project? Corporates promise jobs for the displaced. It is essential that the promise is honoured." I agree, Anil.

To where the tsunami had hit

Last week, one evening, Anil, Geeta, Ghani, Suku and I met over coffee at the Woodlands. You may remember how we had teamed up two years ago (Episode 100, `It is a disaster when we refuse to meet calamity head-on', January 3, 2005). "We have received an invitation from Federer's foundation," announced Suku. "He is coming to Cuddalore as Unicef's Goodwill Ambassador, to see how the relief operations have panned out. The foundation wants us to participate in the interactions. They found our work in 2004 to be quick and effective. One of us can go... " I readily volunteered to go.

Thus, I was, in Cuddalore, on a short visit, meeting my old friends, even as all media attention was understandably on the tennis icon. "Akka, look at Selvam," said Kamalam, tugging at my elbow, when I was watching Federer wield a willow.

Selvam had run errands during our operations, but there he was, lying intoxicated, with alcohol at hand. "Too much relief money," said Kamalam. "And there are many like Selvam."

Perhaps, Federer heard our conversation, so he came by, with a curious look. Before his entourage could whisk him away, I explained to him how, for the poor, alcoholism can be more dangerous than the killer waves. "Alcoholism can be worse than tsunami for the havoc it wreaks on families," I said, and he nodded.

May be, we need as much awareness of and attention given to battling alcoholism too, I wondered, while returning home. Send in your thoughts by Friday.

Blog at: http://Swati-CA.blogspot.com

SWATI_CA@HOTMAIL.COM

More Stories on : Economy | Infrastructure | Real Estate & Construction | Swati CA

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Limited Liability Partnership Bill introduced

Casual Vacancy of auditor — Nothing casual about it

To the poor, alcoholism can be more dangerous than killer waves

Tax on input services

In the land of deferred taxes

Dealing with differences

Kalam Speak

Number Crunch

Just Do IT

FBT on security service

Fortunate to be working with the differently-abled

Get out of the `dog' quadrant

A sniff test