Mr. MODI IS FRIEND OF CORPORATES OR COMMON PEOPLE? Generosity for Corporates: But for corporates the Gujarat model is generosity personified. If India’s top industrialists sing Modi’s praises it is not for nothing. Huge tracts of land which should have been distributed to the landless, have been given over to corporates at throw away prices — an example of robbing the common people of Gujarat to help the corporates. This includes forest land. But at the same time the Forest Rights Act is blatantly violated. Gujarat has the worst record in implementation of the Act. As many as 1.20 lakh claims of tribals for land pattas was rejected arbitrarily by the Government. On May 3, the Gujarat High Court accepted a petition and ordered that all these cases should be reconsidered. Currently there is a big kisan movement against the forcible acquisition of 55,000 acres of land in the Bahucharaji area for the 16 Special Investment Region to help corporates get land at low prices. In spite of opposition, Maruti Suzuki has already been given 750 hectares. The compensation package is shamefully against the interests of the farmers and people of the area and much worse than even that suggested in the UPA government’s pending Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill. For example there is no consent taken from farmers, leave alone the 80 per cent consent required under the proposed law. It may be recalled that in Singur there was over 90 per cent consent for the project. Also there is no compensation at all for tenants and agricultural workers, unlike the packages suggested by the then Left Front Government in West Bengal. In all these cases, for the Gujarat Government the issue of consent or fair compensation does not at all arise. The land is acquired forcibly for corporates. Here are some examples: According to the CAG, Modi’s Govt. has bestowed around Rs 1275 crore rupees in dubious ways to benefit the corporate sector for the fiscal 2011-2012. The CAG report, which was recently submitted to the state assembly, says the chief gainers of Modi’s generosity are the Adani, Essar, Reliance, Larson & Toubro among others. It is the double standards of the BJP that it has used its majority to virtually suppress the report. According to the CAG report, the Adani group violated the agreement that was arrived at between the Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam and the Adani Power Limited Company. The Adanis were required to pay Rs 240.08 crore as fine. However, the Adanis paid Rs 80.82 crore only and were exempted from paying the rest about Rs 160 crore. This is the same company which was given huge amount of land along the coast at paltry rates ranging from Re. 1 to Rs. 32 a square metre when the market rate was over Rs. 1,500 a square metre. The Adani group got the land for industrial use and port development, but it sold/ leased out a significant portion of it to other corporate groups, flouting norms. Leasing out or selling such acquired land is illegal according to the purchase deed. At Hajira, the Essar Steel Company encroached upon 7,24,687 square metres of land, which was clearly an illegal act. But Modi’s generosity gave that land to the Essar group at a special, concessional rate. The state government lost Rs 238.50 crore. 17 The Modi government allotted land to the Larsen & Toubro company for a nuclear power plant, at a concessional rate, whereby the state exchequer lost a sum of Rs 128.71 crore. As per the rules, it is the evaluation committee of the Revenue Department of Gujarat that should have estimated the value of this land but in actual practice the valuation was done by the district level evaluation committee. The company was, moreover, allotted some land in Baroda district, whereby it benefited to the tune of Rs 79.77 lakh. Similarly Nirma SEZ was allotted 268 hectares to build a cement plant in Mahua. The Modi Government wrongly classified the acquired land as “wasteland” when in fact it was being cultivated as also used as gauchar (grazing) land. 15000 people were deprived of their livelihoods. The Tatas shifted their Nano project to Gujarat. 1100 acres were given at a throwaway price of just 900 rupees a sq metre when the market price was 10,000 rupees a sq metre. A huge loan at the rate of 0.01% has been given from the State exchequer. In economic terms analysts have calculated that each car rolling out from Tata factory will have the subsidy of 60,000 rupees. Modi claims that ‘good compensation’ has been given to the farmers whose land is acquired for industrial purposes. The fact is that in villages near the cities, where real estate prices have shot up, Modi was forced to give the farmers a good deal. But Modi has used force along with emergency powers of the state government to acquire land in the hinterland and in coastal regions to develop big industrial zones.The new industrial policy which was announced in 2003 without any public consultation makes it easier for the government to change the classification of land so that it can be acquired, and also gives unprecedented authority to the District Collector to invoke emergency powers. This kind of industrial development also induces displacement with women, dalits and Adivasis being the major victims of this displacement. It causes joblessness, homelessness, deprivations, marginalization and social fragmentation.
Posted on: Thu, 29 Aug 2013 01:10:13 +0000
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