Land acquisition anomalies fuelling Naxalism, says Jairam Ramesh

Says state govt must find alternative bauxite mine for Vedanta

Union Rural Development minister Jairam Ramesh today slammed the Odisha government for fuelling Naxal movement in the state by adopting a ‘very lopsided land acquisition policy’.

Emphasising that the new land acquisition act proposed by the Centre would remove the anomalies in the 119-year old act now being enforced, he said, "I believe that the old law was anti-democratic as governments used to buy land from people at lower price and sell it to business houses at a premium rate. The Maoists have taken advantage of this situation and that is why 18 out of 30 districts in Odisha are Maoist-affected,” said Ramesh at a press meet organised at the office of Pradesh Congress Committee here.

The old act has created public anger nationwide and is the reason behind mass movements on land issues in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat along with Odisha, he added.

The new bill will empower land owners to take a decision over sell of land and ensure fair compensation to original title owners.

The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2012, which has been passed by both houses of the Parliament, proposes that farmers and landowners will be paid up to four times the market value for land acquired in rural areas, and two times the market value in urban areas.

The other significant aspect of the bill is that consent of 80 per cent of land owners is needed for acquiring land for private projects and of 70 per cent landowners in case of public-private projects. Public purpose as per the bill includes sectors like mining, infrastructure, defence, manufacturing zones, ports, roads, and railways built by the government and public sector enterprises.

Elaborating on importance of Gram Sabha in acquisition of land, he said, ignoring public opinion would lead to Niyamgiri like situation.

"These days, we cannot ignore the opinion of Gram Sabhas. Whenever Gram Sabha opinion is ignored, Niyamgiri like situations would emerge,” he said.

Referring to refusal of tribals residing in Niymagiri hill to allow mining in the area, the Union minister said, he was right in his decision to cancel forest clearance in favour of Vedanta Aluminium Limited (VAL) back in August 2010.

"My decision was upheld in the Supreme Court and subsequently all the 12 tribal villages have said 'no' to mining at Niyamgiri. Had the state government heard the views of the tribals, this situation would not have arrived,” he said.

Niyamgiri hill, anyway can cater to less than 7 per cent bauxite requirement of the company, and hence, the state government must find a non-forest area with bauxite deposit for VAL, the minister said. Ramesh also discarded Biju Janata Dal's (BJD) allegation that the newly enacted Food Security act will result in lower foodgrains allotment to the state and said, the state would receive increased food subsidy as per the new law.

"As of now, Odisha is getting Rs 4100 crore per year as food subsidy from the Centre.  Under the new law, the state government would get Rs  4800 crore as subsidy. Naveen Patnaik keeps talking about discrimination by the Centre, but these are facts,” he said.