Letters: Beyond compensation

This refers to the article “Posco: Take the land but give life” (July 4) by Sunita Narain. We must consider the social and economic impacts of removing people from forest land. One way of avoiding conflict is to make sure that people give their land out of choice and not compulsion. In this context, people should be provided with economic opportunities that are consistent with the growth planned by companies, in this case Posco. Also, there should be a procedure to determine who can speak for and negotiate on behalf of the affected communities. The essential point is that we must move beyond compensation to ensure that the affected communities have a share in the development that comes with industrialisation.

Sushil Bakliwal, Jaipur

Readers should write to:
The Editor, Business Standard,
Nehru House,
4, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg,
New Delhi 110 002,
Fax: (011) 23720201;
letters@bsmail.in