land has been a bone of contention since primitive times. It is always attached to the emotion of the possessor. Why notIJ It remains close to life and supplies shelter, food, water and liberty.
In recent times, land has been at the root of many controversies and bloody confrontations because of the new industrialisation wave in the country. Be it West Bengal, Odisha, Chhattisgarh or any other State, land acquisition faces stiff opposition and gives rise to controversies. The controversies are associated with the question of displacement and compensation.
Now, it is an exigency to resolve the questions like, how to take the nation forwardIJ How to make proper arrangement of land for industrialisation and how to assure a fair dealIJ If the issue is not properly handled, it may foil the very attempt of a region to attract mega investment
and thereby ensure fast economic growth.
As we know, the service and agriculture sectors have reached their saturation point in contributing to the country’s GDP. As ours is a welfare nation and farming is increasingly becoming unviable, there is less scope in it to boost the economy. It can hardly be denied that we could not achieve significant progress in service and agriculture sectors compared to China and other countries. Hence, our 20th century dream of being a developed nation depends heavily on industrialisation, where we can excel. We have a vast stock of raw material, wasteland, huge man-power and more significantly a big market of enormous potentiality to accelerate the pace of growth.
Prosperity should be meant for everyone. Uneven and lopsided growth widens the gap between the rich and the poor and leads to tension and struggle. Hence, an effective land management policy needs to be planned out. While acquiring land for industrial or any other related projects, preference must be given on barren or wasteland.
In India, when 21 per cent or about 70 million hectares of stretched region is wasteland, one wonders why more often, industrial houses are interested for fertile landIJ Why companies are making mistakes repeatedly by zeroing in on fertile agricultural and homestead land like Tata sticking to Singur and Posco to JagatsinghpurIJ
India occupies only 2.2 per cent of the planet’s land mass, and it caters to almost 16 per cent of the global population. All the land acquisition activities should be implemented keeping this bare truth in mind. The population will increase day by day while the land area will remain unchanged. India’s population by 2050 is likely to be 1.5 - 1.8 billion depending upon family planning. So, it needs a very scientific and fair strategic planning for utilising land mass in future.
In the present context, geo-stationary satellite service can be relevant. Geographical Information System (GIS) should be put to use to analyze land pattern and which land could be utilised for what purpose and the like. After demarcating forest land, the remaining land mass should be divided into cultivated land and non-cultivated land category. A strict monitoring mechanism should be put in place with regard to housing, irrigation, industry, roads and power projects. Further, more scientific survey should be carried out to classify suitability of cultivated land for different crops.
A central committee under a Supreme Court judge, having regional offices in States, should operate to supervise the implementation of projects. It would be working in close coordination with Government departments. The committee should appoint a group of experts from NGOs, Government bodies and academicians to carry out all the survey works for the projects. Since the country’s R&R policy track record is appalling, it needs to be properly looked into.
The committee should decide what per cent of funds must be used for R&R and CSR activities. A strong headed and workable single window system should work to simplify the existing land acquisition process and legal snags.
(The writer is a corporate executive in Bhubaneswar)