What else did Mamta Banerjee want? Her own political agendas hidden behind the deepest concern she had for the farmers whose land had been taken away by the TATAs...
And now when TATAs have decided to move away from Singur, she tells a rally that she does not want the TATAs to leave !!! If that was the case, why did she not make efforts to ensure that a compromise is reached when there were discussions...
She also wants the 400 acres to be returned to farmers in Singur !!! Well... I am trying to understand how can the land on which an industry is going to be built will go back to the farmers !!!
I am not a fan of how the land acquisition works in India either... because the poor farmer does not really end up anywhere, except with some compensation for the land he had and maybe a job which does not utilize his key skill, "Farming"... I have had major arguments over this with friends who advocated industrialization and modernization of places as the factor that influences growth !!! While I agree to them that its important, the basic needs of a farmer cannot be neglected and his only means of earning taken away !!! Also the land is a resource which will not increase... its a constant value... taking anything away from that constant is only going to reduce the total !!!
What makes the entire thing worse is the involvement of the politicians who seem to be the only ones gaining anything out of the entire sequence of events !!!
The solutions to these can be simplified, I wonder why this cannot be done !!!
1. Identify parts of land that are less productive or are not major sources of earning/living
2. Break the projects down into smaller chunks and build them up on the land which when taken away causes minimum loss to the farmers.
3. When the plans are initiated, identify the people getting effected, and prepare them for the future (Capacity Building, knowledge sharing) ; I know of this being done for a few highway projects and this prepares the one effected much better and well in advance.
4. Hire professionals to do both the acquisition, and capacity building and at the same time have a governance mechanism in place. The governance mechanism should have everything right from the blueprint to the completion of projects along with the capacity building and compensations in its scope.
5. Ensure the local politicians do not cash on the opportunity in the name of caste, creed, function, area or anything !!!
6. Ensure there is minimum administrative interference during the entire project.
This post is not yet over, so please do not draw conclusions about what I think about it... There is much more to what I have been able to write here as of now... I am still thinking !!!
while I do that... please keep the politicians away !!! Someone for the country's sake !!!!
And now when TATAs have decided to move away from Singur, she tells a rally that she does not want the TATAs to leave !!! If that was the case, why did she not make efforts to ensure that a compromise is reached when there were discussions...
She also wants the 400 acres to be returned to farmers in Singur !!! Well... I am trying to understand how can the land on which an industry is going to be built will go back to the farmers !!!
I am not a fan of how the land acquisition works in India either... because the poor farmer does not really end up anywhere, except with some compensation for the land he had and maybe a job which does not utilize his key skill, "Farming"... I have had major arguments over this with friends who advocated industrialization and modernization of places as the factor that influences growth !!! While I agree to them that its important, the basic needs of a farmer cannot be neglected and his only means of earning taken away !!! Also the land is a resource which will not increase... its a constant value... taking anything away from that constant is only going to reduce the total !!!
What makes the entire thing worse is the involvement of the politicians who seem to be the only ones gaining anything out of the entire sequence of events !!!
The solutions to these can be simplified, I wonder why this cannot be done !!!
1. Identify parts of land that are less productive or are not major sources of earning/living
2. Break the projects down into smaller chunks and build them up on the land which when taken away causes minimum loss to the farmers.
3. When the plans are initiated, identify the people getting effected, and prepare them for the future (Capacity Building, knowledge sharing) ; I know of this being done for a few highway projects and this prepares the one effected much better and well in advance.
4. Hire professionals to do both the acquisition, and capacity building and at the same time have a governance mechanism in place. The governance mechanism should have everything right from the blueprint to the completion of projects along with the capacity building and compensations in its scope.
5. Ensure the local politicians do not cash on the opportunity in the name of caste, creed, function, area or anything !!!
6. Ensure there is minimum administrative interference during the entire project.
This post is not yet over, so please do not draw conclusions about what I think about it... There is much more to what I have been able to write here as of now... I am still thinking !!!
while I do that... please keep the politicians away !!! Someone for the country's sake !!!!
saab waste hai yaar..!!!!
ReplyDeleteitna accident hota hai..itne gareeb log martee hain...but yeh saale ..kamine politican's ko kuch kyon nahi hota...
I so much wish that atleast 5 - 6 of them just die or get lost in some natural disaster!!!
whats that saying..snake and danda wala don't remember..ya is it Bamboo and Basuriii..not sure which one fits here best!!
A correction / addendum to your post. The last stand-off was because of Mamata's stand "the 400 acres to be returned to farmers in Singur" from within the Tata project area. The West Bengal government and WBIDC were ready to procure land from nearby areas and return to unwilling farmers. BTW, after this scheme was offered, some previously unwilling farmers accepted the offer.
ReplyDeleteBut this is politics! Here, our collective common sense and simple effective solutions won't work.
I like it that you are thinking on these lines.. good topic. But it’s not so simple as we get to read in the papers… yeh press waaloN ki to mati mar gayi hai – inki to…….. jaane de.. lol Reality kabhi nahi chapega… the news comprises of ads, gossips and 80 percent of the news we read is all PR material..! Andar ki baat kuch aur hi hai…
ReplyDeleteThese issues are much more planned out than we think.. In India, land for industrial development cannot be purchased without the political nexus.. the papers, laws and the final outcome are all different things and independant of each other lol..
Last december tata and essar acquired tribal land in raipur with an "amicable agreement of farmers and tribals" lol... and Raman Singh was patting his back saying that he "convinced" the tribals..! Chhattisgarh has 42% below the poverty line inspite of the state producing about 25% of India's iron ore and coal. Kya kiya Industrial development ne wahan par?
Aur we should understand that some people just don't need anything - i have worked with adivasis in Jharkhand and Orissa - they don't want a job at all - they are peaceful with their jungle life - no point setting up a plant there and taking away their jungles and giving them jobs - India ka economy will NOT go up by giving jobs to tribals; on the contrary, it will make the country poorer in many other ways... and yahi ho raha hai..!
You are right about acquiring lesser productive land – but that land may be in a place where accessibility is a problem – no ports nearby – transport nahi – electricity nahi – kaun lega who land… so give that unproductive land to tribals and villagers and take the productive land yourself… simple solution. Agricultural plots khareedo – show that we will build farms there – don’t build farms – allow village children to play there – make cricket and football pitches there – itna khelo us jagah par – ki that land will become barren – teen saal baad – file papers to show that the land has become barren and cannot be cultivated – agri land ko NA kar do.. simple… Aur bhi tareeke hai… lol
June 2005 mein Salwa Judum was formed. It is largely considered as a people's movement against Naxals. But only a handful of us know that it is a political and police sponsored terrorism that is forcing the evacuation of one tribal village after another.. The politicians have armed the villagers to evacuate other villages.. and you and i know what that land will be used for later... kitne log mar gaye... that mud is red there!!!
Dost, yeh development vs displacement ka issues jo hai na – they are much deeper... chahe woh land acquisition ho ya NBA ho ya SEZ ho..
"6. Ensure the local politicians do not cash on the opportunity in the name of caste, creed, function, area or anything !!!" - are you joking? Who will ensure this? Politicians? :)
yeah - at last, the poli-trics won it :(
ReplyDeleteoddly point 1-6 are the jobs of politicians
ReplyDelete# Tanu...
ReplyDeletenahin yaar waste nahin hai !!! there is a lot of ground work happening for Good in India !!! there are a lot of agencies which work hard to ensure the proper methods are followed...
but then there are there are challenges as well... Challenges that are really non-issues but raised by the so called leaders of this nation !!!
# Subbu...
I kinda knew about that.. guess it did not come out as clear in the way I wrote !!!
Politics !!! yes !!! :(
# Vinod...
To start with, let me thank you for the time you took to comment in detail... it really helped me get some more insight into something that I am not fully aware of...
I am in complete agreement with the planning part and I have friends who are involved in working on the planning and capacity building part of the projects and hence the knowledge of whatever I have is there...
And I have read your comment a couple of times and I do agree to the opinions that you have, and that its much deeper than I know it second hand !!
However my frustration and anger comes from the sole beneficiaries from these things being the politicians and the local administration in many cases too !!! the real people do not get much out of the entire saga !
About point 6... we have something called STF in UP, which is not even bound by the police rules and works directly with the Governor !! If a need be, we can have these projects run by forming such STFs which work neutrally !!!
but then the words that keeps ringing around in my mind !!!
Who will ensure this !!! who will do this !!
I do not know ! makes me want to do something about it and makes me sad too !!!
# Anoop...
you are right.. it did..
# Tushar...
and they do not do it very well do they? I don't think they do anything well anymore !!!
I don't have full details and knowledge about all the developing projects but as far as Singur goes, it was just a politcal move my Mamata for the up coming elections..which has back fired now !!
ReplyDeleteShe has just played with the lives of farmers for her own vested interest!! This is what happens when absolute DUMB people get into politics who have no brains!! ABSOLUTE ZERO BRAINS..she just has a vacuum skull !!
A natural disaster directed towards her is BOUND to happen now, it is so much a MUST, for Bengal!!!!
I gotta agree with you on this one, I agree industrialisation and modernisation is important but why only the fertile area??
ReplyDelete# Tanu...
ReplyDeleteEven I do not have... but whatever I have gathered... it was just to ruin everything which could have done any good to Bengal !!! too bad !!! too bad !!!
# Sam
thats what !!! there has to be a way out !!! There has to be one !!!
what a brutal waste...
ReplyDeleteit would have given hundreds of peple work ...
You bet... there is a lot of good that might have happened, if this issue was handled more responsibly !!!
ReplyDeleteIts a bludy mess.. :(
ReplyDelete