Land Rights

Right from its inception, the proposed small car project of Tata Motors in Singur, West Bengal had come under a cloud with even the Calcutta High Court questioning the West Bengal Government’s land acquisition policy. Given that the High Court had slammed the state government for using “fraudulent methods” to acquire land, it was very obvious that the compensation procedure for land acquisition had not been hundred percent transparent. In this fast changing global market of big ticket investments and profiteering, it is very easy to lose sight of those whose voices go unheard, the marginalized section. While most mainstream media has condemned the anti-industry stance of Mamata Banerjee, yet if it was not for her, the powerful and wealthy section of India Inc would have steamrolled the insignificant little men and women—those who have to part with their inherent land rights and worse still getting an unfair bargain. The question that needs to be discussed is not whether one is pro-industry or pro-farmer but how both can co-exist on equal terms.
While the present land acquisition at Singur has become overly politicized, the issue deserves proper political attention because any policy decision in this regard will have ramifications beyond the proposed Tata Motors plant at Singur or Nandigram, the site for the Indonesia-based Salim Group’s Special Economic Zone (SEZ), witness to several rounds of violent protest by the locals since the last six to twelve months. It will be now advisable for policy makers both in the Centre and State to work out a clear cut method of acquiring land needed for development or other big project without in any way exploiting the poor and illiterate whose livelihood in all probability is rooted to their land and the rights they enjoy over it. For those in the periphery of economic development, land is the only means of livelihood and this right cannot be taken away to satisfy the profit motive of big industries. Rather the government should encourage acquisition of barren lands after due consultation with the local community while staying clear off the more productive farmlands. It is precisely because the land at Singur comes under the category of a productive farmland, there is so much opposition to the Tata car plant.
There is a larger debate to the current controversy over Singur and the answer to this is important for the future of India’s wellbeing. Because a majority of people in India still depend on agriculture for their livelihood, the farming sector has to be encouraged and some kind of safety net thrown in. And since land is the economic base, this must be protected from market forces. Industrialization is equally important but it has to be done not by killing the farming sector but in a way that fosters co-existence and to improve the lives of everyone, whether farmers or industrialists. Both industry and agriculture can flourish together. As such, the problem goes much beyond Singur and must take into cognizance the recent apprehensions being raised about Special Economic Zones (SEZ) and how productive farmlands need to be ‘protected’. At the end, the problem itself calls for an informed debate.