| The Bharathiya Janata Party (BJP) has demanded a white paper on the SEZ policy from the Centre.
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| Addressing the media in Trichy, BJP vice-president M Venkaiah Naidu alleged that the party was not allowed to discuss various controversies surrounding the SEZ policy in the Parliament.
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| He noted that there were many irregularities in granting approval to SEZs. The government should present a white paper on its SEZ policy, detailing the receipt and processing of of applications and granting of approvals, among others, he said.
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| Naidu claimed that while there were only 367 SEZs across the world, the Indian government was rather liberal in creating more than 470 SEZs.
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| The party has formed a committee, headed by Naidu himself, which has set certain conditions for setting up SEZs, in consultation with industry bodies like CII and Assocham, various farmers and experts like Arun Shourie and Arun Jaitley.
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| The party has submitted its recommendations to the PMO, Finance ministry and the Commerce ministry, which, among others, suggest that 60 per cent of the total area in SEZs should be awarded as processing zones, as against the 25 per cent set by the government.
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| Besides, the party has also suggested that SEZs should be meant only for export activities and no fertile/irrigated or farmland should be allocated to create SEZs.
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| Similarly, the party feels that SEZs should not come at the cost of food security or food production. State governments should fix a minimum price of land, which is triple the market price. The affected farmers should have a stake of 15 per cent in the SEZs and every developer should submit a total rehabilitation plan ensuring stable livelihood for the affected local population, the party recommends.
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| SEZs should be set up not near metro cities, but in tier II towns like Madurai and Trichy. Similarly, any amenities like housing, medical and food joints created within SEZs should be beneficial only to those employees located inside SEZs, Naidu added.
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| The IT sector should be excluded from SEZ activity, he said. He reiterated that the BJP was not against development.
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| The party has also sent its recommendations to all non-Congress chief ministers across the country and expects the Centre to be more transparent and proactive, taking into consideration the interests of the common man and the farmers. It alleged that the Centre was being nepotistic and biased in favour of influential industrialists while awarding SEZ approvals.
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| Commenting on the Singur issue in West Bengal, Naidu reiterated that the BJP was not against the Tatas. He warned the West Bengal government against betraying farmers over the small car project.
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| He deplored the communal riots and suicides in Nandigram village, where police shooting and harassment had taken place over fertile lands being passed on to the Tatas for their car manufacturing facility. |
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