Sanjeev Shekhar
Ranchi-
With the draft on National Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill 2011 (NLAR&R) open for discussion and inviting opinions on the rural department website, the Jharkhand government apparently too has realized that the land acquisition cannot be left in the hands of the companies operating here.
The recent announcement of the Chief Minister Arjun Munda that the companies would not be allowed to purchase land from farmers is an indication that the government here too is concerned of the disenchantment and people’s movement at various places of the state.
The Jharkhand Rehabilitation and Resettlement Policy 2008 talks about acquisition in the backdrop of Land Acquisition Act 1894. The new draft bill available for discussion talks about compensation and rehabilitation of landowners or raiyyats. Private investors willing to pump money in Jharkhand will no longer will be able to acquire land for industrial purpose.
Arjun Munda discards decision during President’s rule-
“The decision taken by the government during President's Rule is against the law of the land. No one can purchase land for industrial investment as most parts of the state falls under Schedule V area. At the same time, direct purchase by investors will make them owner of the land and the government will not be able to protect the farmers if the company fails to protect their interest later," the Chief Minister Arjun Munda said.
The industries in Jharkhand were asked to purchase 70 percent of land on their own while the government would provide the rest 30 percent. On the basis of this the several companies began their ground work and even managed to acquire land in few acres amidst protest by the villagers and ‘raiyyats’. During President's Rule, the state government had asked private investors to purchase land from farmers for setting up industries.
Government accountable for any acquisition-
Noted Human Right Activist, writer and a member of Assessment and Monitoring Authority under the Planning Commission of India, Gladson Dungdung, pointed out that the new Bill once becomes law will lessen incidents of violence and protests, as the government could be made accountable for any acquisition.
“If the government acquire land it’s accountability will be ensured and the ‘raiyyats’ too would be sure of the benefits. Earlier, the companies were told to acquire land on its own which was not right as it encouraged flimsy deal and growing network of brokers (dalaals) who were more interested to serve their vested interest than anyone’s else,” Dungdung claimed.
According to Gladson the act prepared during the British time in 1894 did not talk about rehabilitation. Any land could be acquired on the pretext of government need and requirement. Over the time, things have changed. People movement against such forceful acquisition started gaining ground and Jharkhand was no exception to this rule.
“In Delhi land may be seen as property for earning money but in this state the people are emotionally attached to their land. Farmers here see land as generation sustainability. Hence, the government here should keep in mind while acquiring land that it should guarantee sustainable rehabilitation for generations,” he said.
The thought of Gladson Dungdung finds its reflection in the mindset of some major companies working style. The Steel major like Tata Steel has been here for more than 100 years and it always opposed the idea of acquiring the land by any company directly. The Tata Steel officials in the last meeting with the Industry department a couple of months back had said that it believed the government should acquire land for industries, an official in the industry department said.
“Undoubtedly the project cost will rise in the wake of proposed draft bill but then it’s good that government would be directly acquiring land for a defined purpose and the willing villagers may or may not give the land. This has saved the companies with credibility to go into such mess of acquisition,” an official of the private company said.
New bills must fuse with CNT-
The social tribal leader and a front ranking leader of Jharkhand Janadikaar Morcha, Ratan Tirkey, welcomed the step of the government and supported development in the state. He said that the big corporate houses should be encouraged but the acquisition of land needs to be done through state. Tirkey believed that the new bill needs to seen as to how it fuse with the Chotanagpur Tenancy Act (CNT)-1949 and 1971 in the larger interest of the people here.
“The government is delaying the process of rehabilitation and resettlement. We have already given our suggestions pertaining to land acquisition and safeguard of farmers’ interest. The government has not moved a bit on this issue,” Tirkey said.
Several major proposed steel units like Arcelor-Mittal, South Korea's POSCO, Tata Steel, Monnet Ispat and Energy have been delayed by more than five years, due to the failure by the companies to secure land as well as mining rights.Delay in these projects is creating loss to the country. Despite the incredible efforts to raise the annual steel production of the country to increase the global market share by 2012, several proposed projects by steel giant Arcelor Mittal and POSCO failed to kick-start. The steel majors face multiple problems like delays in land acquisition and protests.The companies, which had proposed projects in the state include Tata Steel, JSW Steel, Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL), Bhushan Steel, Ispat Industries, Essar Steel, Abhijeet Group, Rungta Mines, Hindalco Industries, Welspun Energy, UltraTech Cement - Aditya Birla Group including many more. Tatas are moving ahead with their expansion programme but the new project at Seraikella-Kharsawan is yet to make any headway.Official sources informed that Jharkhand signed 71 MOU's (actually the government had signed 74 MOUs till date, but three MOU's got cancelled as the signatories were not interested) with an investment of Rs 3,95,000 crore, with the private players to set up industrial projects in the state. "Of these 52 MOU's signed during the tenure of Chief Minister Arjun Munda and when CM Madhu Koda was Mines Minister while 14 MOU's (3 got extension) signed during the tenure of Madhu Koda as Chief Minister, and 8 MOU's signed during the tenure of Shibu Soren when he was CM of the state", added the sources.Sadly only 13 among those have seen the light of the day amounting to just fewer than 900 crore of investment as against the estimated investment of tens of thousands of crores, while another 10 would tentatively launch during the next financial year.Such projects would definitely have put the State on the world map but unfortunately, it got entrapped in never ending controversies regarding allotment of mines and acquisition of land.
Proposed land acquisition in the state:-
· Knowledge City-Khunti-2500 acre
· Jindal Steel and Power Plant-1230 acre
· Arcelor-Mittal-Petarwar-5000 acre
· Solar Power Plant-Deoghar-1400 acre
· Bhushan Steel-Potka-1000 acre
· Ispat Industry-West Singhbhum-800 acre
· Monnet Ispat-Hazaribag-1000 acre
· Ballabh Steel-Bokaro-1000 acre
· Tata Steel Greenfield-Seraikella-Kharsawan-2400-acre
· SAIL expansion project-4000-acre
· Reliance Power Plant-Koderma-2200 acre
· NTPC-Tandwa project-1000 acre
Law of the State:-
In Jharkhand the law for land acquisition is different in various areas which included Chotanagpur Tenancy Act, Santhal Pargana Act and Panchayat Extension Scheduled Area Act (PESA)
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