Land-grabber to protector: NAC proposal puts govts in centre of land issues

It’s a win-win situation for farmers, claimed a National Advisory Council member on the day the Sonia Gandhi-led council unveiled its solution to the vexatious issue of land acquisition. Firtpost on Wednesday had highlighted the centrality of land in rural life and pointed out that the value, and not the price, of land for the farmers should be of paramount importance while working out a compensation package. NAC addresses the issue reasonably well, though some loose ends are expected to surface when Parliament discusses the recommendations threadbare. It seeks to address the portrayal of governments, both at the Centre and the states, as dishonest brokers, a running theme in almost all agitations over land acquisition across the country. In Bhatta-Parsaul in Uttar Pradesh, the state government had acquired land for the Yamuna Expressway cheap and sold it to private developers at high rates. Feeling short-changed, the land losers have been seeking a part of the differential as compensation, a fair demand considering the government made a hefty profit by playing the broker. This has been the case with many Special Economic Zone (SEZ) projects in other states too. The _Firstpost_ repor t had mentioned how the state abdicated its role as a neutral arbiter by mid-wifing land deals for private companies and the situation has created a disconnect between the people and the governments that represent them. NAC’s recommendations, while providing that the farmers be paid six times the registered value of land they sacrifice, also tries to ensure that they get a share of the profit their land generates afterwards. “If the land is resold, the farmer will get 25% of difference for 20 years,” said NAC member NC Saxena in an interview with CNBC-TV18. “Farmers who have so far been cheated in land acquisition should be the primary beneficiaries of the whole process. We will ensure this by increasing their compensation by ensuring that they also get a share in future escalation of that land prices and whenever land is acquired for industry they must be consulted,’’ he added. [caption id=“attachment_15840” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“UPA’s draft Land Acquisition Bill of 2007 sought a 70:30 ratio where the private companies would buy 70 percent of land directly while the government would pitch in for the rest. Reuters”]  [/caption] The land acquisition process followed at present leaves the rural landless — the agricultural workers and to some extent share croppers — in the lurch after the land deal is finalised. While the original owners and the buyer reap monetary and other gains, the workers lose out on their livelihood. NAC’s recommendation provides that they be paid ten times the minimum wages for that area and the amount credited in his bank account in monthly installments. The fine print on this is still a little vague but the council appears to have taken a step to address the original concern. In a brave move, NAC junks the demand from certain sections that the government should stay away from the process of land acquisition and leave it to the firms and the farmers to settle the pricing among themselves. This virtually meant that the government be a silent spectator when the farmers were conned into poor deals by the more resourceful and legally clever companies. UPA’s draft Land Acquisition Bill of 2007 sought a 70:30 ratio where the private companies would buy 70 percent of land directly while the government would pitch in for the rest. Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, deep into the Singur and Nadigram unrest then, had even suggested a 90:10 ratio. NAC’s recommendation advocating a free hand to the firms in small land deals and the government’s involvement where more than 400 families are involved, is an effort to ensure that the government does not abdicate its responsibility to people. Well-intentioned, but it would be interesting to watch how it pans out in a country so sensitive to land matters.