The Odisha Government has made it clear that it shall be made mandatory for the industries setting up profit-making projects to provide shares to gram panchayats and people from whom land is acquired and to make them shareholders in the projects so as to ensure continuous income for the gram Panchayats and people.
This may be incorporated as a new clause (U) in Section 31 of the proposed The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Bill, 2015.
The State Government in its comment on the above Bill has sent its views to the NITI Aayog. The Department of Revenue & Disaster Management (DoRMD) of the Government has informed the NITI Aayog in this regard.
DoRMD Additional Secretary J lakra has written to NITI Aayog Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sindhushree Khullar on July 14 informing the views of the State Government.
A senior official said it is experienced in Odisha that the system of employing land oustees did not work. Since farmers were mostly illiterate or nominally educated, they did not qualify for important jobs. Nor were they trained for working in factories. Therefore, they end up losing their employment.
The cash component of the compensation could not keep pace with the rising price index. What was considered a fair compensation at a time appeared highly inadequate after a substantial gap.
Therefore, the State Government has favoured a guaranteed partnership as the most suited long-term arrangement for protecting the interests of farmers. It would check the sense of deprivation and alienation among farmers after the acquisition of their lands and prevented social tension from building up, particularly in Adivasi areas