land acquisition/sez & displacement â 2011 - Indian Social Institute

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debate on the issue of land acquisition in the presence of media. KBSS president Madhukar Ameen toldreporters here on Saturday that KCCI, which is reluctant to shift traders from Bunder to APMC yard, hasno moral right to request the government for additional land for MSEZ. Let KCCI office bearers hold apublic debate before meeting the minister for large and medium industries Murugesh R Nirani foradditional land for MSEZ, he challenged. (Times of India 16/7/11)Kisan Mazdoor Sabha for ban on forced eviction of farmers (4)The All India Kisan Mazdoor Sabha has demanded that the new law for Land Acquisition being proposedby the Union Rural Development minister should include a complete ban on forced eviction of farmers.Forced acquisition is a colonial concept and in India even erstwhile Kings did not have the right to evict afarmer even if he had not paid his tax and dues, said secretary AIKMS Ashish Mital. Often the kingsaltered the direction of the walls of their forts in order to avoid occupying fertile land. On the other hand todeprive the people of their rights on nature and livelihood and to levy taxes on them, the British enactedthe Land Acquisition Act 1894 and the various Forest Conservation Acts, etc. India is a agrarian countrywith possibility of developing self-sufficiency by having 3 to 4 crops on all fields and developing the localmarkets, he said. (Times of India 19/7/11)HC quashes acquisition of 600 hectares of land in Greater Noida (4)Allahabad, Jul 19 (PTI): In yet another setback to Mayawati government, the Allahabad High Court todayquashed acquisition of nearly 600 hectares of land in two villages in Greater Noida for residentialpurposes. Acting on a batch of petitions by farmers, a division bench comprising Justice Sunil Ambawaniand Justice S S Tiwari set aside the acquisition of 589.13 hectares of land in Patwari and Dewla villages,falling under Dadri tehsil of Gautambuddh Nagar district. The land was acquired by the state governmentthrough notifications in March 2008 and May 2008 for building residential complexes in Greater Noidaarea neighbouring Delhi. The order came barely a fortnight after the Supreme Court had struck downacquisition of 156 hectares of land by the state government in village Shahberi in the area, saying theauthorities were "subserving" private builders in the name of public interest. The apex court had on July 6upheld the Allahabad High Court order which had quashed the land acquisition by the Greater NoidaIndustrial Development Authority under the urgency clause of the Land Acquisition Act and directed thatthe property be returned to the farmers. he Authority and builders had moved the apex court challengingthe High Court decision. (Deccan Herald 20/7/11)WB to withdraw cases against agitators (4)Kolkata, July 21, DHNS: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday announced thewithdrawal of all criminal cases against those who participated in the anti-land acquisition agitation atSingur and Nandigram during the regime of the previous Left Front government headed by BuddhadevBhattacharjee. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee addresses a rally organised to observeMartyrs’ Day in the recent assembly polls, at the Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata on Thursday. PTITheannouncement, coming close on the heels of the decision of the state government to release 52 politicalprisoners including a Maoist, was welcomed with a thunderous applause by a massive crowd thatgathered at the rain-soaked Brigade Parade Ground to observe the Martyrs’ Day. The Brigade rally alsomarked the landslide victory of the Trinamool Congress in the April/May Assembly elections. Stating thatit was part of the TMC poll pledge, Banerjee, however, cautioned the party supporters against indulging inviolence or corruption. “I’ll not tolerate either of the two,” she observed. The chief minister made it clearthat even though the Marxists had indulged in murder to terrorise people, there was no place for reprisalsin a democracy. “People of West Bengal have already handed out a strong punishment to the CPM (bybanishing them from power). There is no need to take the law into your hands as it will thwart progressand developmental initiatives of the government,” she told the crowd that swayed every time shedisclosed one or the other programmes of the TMC-Congress alliance government that was voted topower with a massive mandate couple of months back. The new government, incidentally, has completedtwo months in office on Wednesday. Mamata, after taking oath on May 20 last, had announced that thevictory celebrations would be held on July 21 to coincide with the Martyrs’ Day giving a new dimension tothe struggle and sacrifices which the party had passed through since 1993. Thirteen youth Congresssupporters fell to police bullet on July 21, 1993, during the Writers’ Buildings “blockade” aimed at oustingthe Marxists from power. Braving the inclement weather and downpour in several parts of the city and
elsewhere in the state, a large number of TMC supporters, carrying party flags and cut-outs of the partychief, assembled at the sprawling ground where corporation engineers had to install pumps to drain waterto facilitate the gathering. Several artistes from the Bengal tinsel town and intellectuals includingMagsaysay winner Mahasweta Devi attended the rally. (Deccan Herald 22/7/11)Land acquisition bill in public domain within a week: Jairam Ramesh (4)DHAMTARI/RAIPUR (Chhattisgarh): A quick lunch stop at Gangrel, Chhattisgarh's biggest dam, furtherreaffirmed the views of Jairam Ramesh, who has recently taken over charge as rural developmentminister, tasked with drafting a new law for land acquisition. "For land acquisition to be credible, it must beaccompanied by relief and rehabilitation. This dam is a classic example of how land was acquired, theproject built, but relief and rehabilitation is still to be completed," he said. Ramesh said the draft billintegrates land acquisition with relief and rehabilitation and will be placed in the public domain this week.His predecessor Vilasrao Deshmukh had resisted the clubbing of land acquisition with R&R, and haddiffered from the recommendations of the National Advisory Council (NAC), which was involved in draftingthe bill, but Ramesh appears to have accepted most of its recommendations. The draft bill, said sources,is likely to limit the government's powers of eminent domain to land acquired for strategic and defencepurposes. In the case of land for industry, the consent of 80% of those affected, not just land owners buteven landless people of the village, will be required. The compensation is likely to be six times theregistered value, with Rs 2000 per month annuity for 20 years. If the value of land goes up in futuretransactions for the next ten years, 20% of the increased value would go to the original land owners. Onthe question of whether land acquisition will be done by the government, as NAC has recommended,Ramesh said, "there will be occasions where private parties will buy land directly, but this will be subjectto a certain scale or limit". Sources said the limit is likely to be 100 acres, beyond which the governmentwill be the sole acquirer of land. Land acquisition in India is currently governed by a colonial law formed in1894. The minister emphasised the need for a set of rules that would address the needs of economicgrowth as well as be sensitive to both land owners and livelihood dependers. "The main contributor toNaxal problem is that in central India, tribal communities have been subjected to multiple displacements,"he said, in the context of Chhattisgarh. He added that the land acquisition bill will be compliant with bothForest Rights Act (FRA) and Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas Act (PESA), which offer furthersafeguards to tribal communities. According to one interpretation, PESA makes it mandatory for projectsto seek consent from gram sabhas in tribal areas, while another interpretation limits this to consultationand not consent. However, Ramesh said he interprets PESA as mandating 'consent'. (Times of India24/7/11)NBA alleges scam of Rs 500 crore in rehab of displaced (4)Indore, Jul 24 (PTI): Alleging large scale irregularities in distribution of compensation package for tribalsdisplaced by Sardar Sarovar Project, Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) today said a scam to the tune ofRs 500 crore was perpetuated in connivance with Madhya Pradesh government officials. According toNBA, fake registries were made in the name of fictitious persons for syphoning off huge amount ofcompensation meant for the real beneficiaries. "This scam in the rehabilitation of affected persons of theSardar Sarovar Project involves over Rs 500 crore, which took place due to the close nexus between theofficials and touts," alleged NBA leader Medha Patkar. She alleged the scam took place between 2002-2008 and it mainly involves officials of the rehabilitation, revenue and registry departments of MadhyaPradesh. Patkar also alleged all claims about rehabilitation of the project-affected people turned out to befalse as in many instances the registry papers of the land purchased for them turned out to be fake. TheNBA leaders also presented a tribal Kelya from Barwani district who told reporters that a person namedVijay Jat had arrived in his village and took him along with four others to Khargone for award ofcompensation. Later, he asked us to put thumb-impression on few papers and paid us Rs 50,000 and Rs30,000 respectively and later disappeared, Kelya said. Since then the tribals had not seen him, Kelyasaid, adding, he, along with scores of others were duped in a similar fashion by touts in connivance withthe officials. The cases of forgery are mainly reported from eight districts including Khargone, Barwani,Dhar and Dewas, an NBA activist said, adding over 3,000 such fake entries are under the scanner in thisconnection. Hundreds of tribals from western Madhya Pradesh lost their land under the Sardar SarovarProject. Meanwhile, Narmada Valley Development Minister, Kanhaiyalal Agrawal said the stategovernment on directives of the High Court has constituted Justice S S Jha Commission to probe into theissue and the guilty will be punished once the report is out. (Deccan Herald 24/7/11)
Page 5 and 6: order. Each kit contains a kitchen
Page 7 and 8: Jharkhand Opposition rejects rehabi
Page 9 and 10: the new location shall only be iden
Page 11: Development, Acquisition, Displacem
Page 14 and 15: a plot of land within the schedule
Page 16 and 17: land acquisition was a major challe
Page 20: SEZ land use policy flayed (4)The A
Page 23 and 24: eceive any such complaints. Look at
Page 25 and 26: Singur case: West Bengal to begin a
Page 27 and 28: natural calamities should be brough
Page 29 and 30: Land issues hit road work (4)Thiruv
Page 31 and 32: The government's land acquisition p
Page 33 and 34: the award (compensation) has not be
Page 35 and 36: 2011 it has been mentioned under Cl
Page 37 and 38: Paradip, Sept. 26: A violent clash
Page 39 and 40: Govt cannot change purpose of acqui
Page 41 and 42: new clause bans change of purpose i
Page 43 and 44: Supreme Court would be taken only a
Page 45 and 46: ‘Land acquisition at market price
Page 47 and 48: India Economic Forum on Monday. Rep
Page 49 and 50: decades for massive acquisition of
Page 51 and 52: the apex court, Tamil Nadu alleged
Page 53 and 54: policy," he demanded. The fresh sti
Page 55: overall cost has already increased

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land acquisition/sez & displacement â 2011 - Indian Social Institute