The Government of India, it seems, is applying the brakes on the creation of Special Economic Zones. There is now a realization among the policymakers and supporters of the ‘kill agriculture to promote industrial estates’ that the policy is not acceptable to the bulk of the Indian population. Public spirited economists, development experts, and civil society leaders have highlighted the fact that killing agriculture for the development of industrial empires, Treasure Islands, for the elite among the corporates is the wrong policy. It is anti-people. Those who have suffered because of the policy have termed it as anti-India.
In its mindless desire to stand up to the Chinese, the Government has unleashed a campaign to create Special Economic Zones all over the country. Devinder Sharma and Bhaskar Goswami in an article titled The New Maharajas have said “It took nearly 15 years for India’s first Home Minister Sardar Patel to ensure that the 554 princely estates scattered throughout the country finally integrate with the new nation. Some 45 years later, in the 60th year of India’s Independence, almost an equal number of princely estates are once again being carved out. The only difference being that the new princely estates come within the gambit of a strange-sounding acronym - SEZs, which stands for Special Economic Zones.”
By early-October 2006, the Board of Approvals(BoA) had “formally approved” 181 SEZ projects and given “in-principle approval” to another 128. The finance ministry’s observations that the promotion of SEZs would cause revenue losses amounting to Rs 160,000 crore by 2010 was ignored. The commerce ministry claimed that the projections of loss were “paper calculations”. It was claimed that in addition to world-class infrastructure, SEZs will bring in investments of up to Rs 100,000 crore and create 5 lakh jobs by the end of 2007.
Agricultural land, which is a scarce commodity, is suddenly available in abundance for industrialization. Per capita landholding in India is already very low at 0.25 acre. The government is using the draconian Land Acquisition Act 1854 to acquire any land that it sets its eyes on. In the first phase of clearances accorded by the government, a total of 1.25 lakh hectares of prime agricultural land are in the process of being acquired. In the second phase too, almost an equal area would be obtained
State governments are leaving no stone unturned to acquire agricultural land and offer it on a platter. With promises of ‘the right kind of environment’ many chief ministers are waiting with garlands in hand inviting domestic and foreign investors to come and exploit the wealth of the state and its people. Governments in tribal populated areas, including Orissa, are seeking an amendment to the Scheduled Area Tribal Immovable Property Act, thereby allowing outsiders to buy tribal land. The central and state governments seem willing to hand over the prime agricultural land to industrialists - Tatas, Ambanis, Mittals, and the like. .
In almost all states governments are laying out the red carpet for investors inviting them to come in and set up SEZs. In the competition to attract investments, massive juicy concessions are being offered. In-state after state farmers are being evicted from their productive land to make way for these Treasure Islands. In many states established rules of land ownership have been ignored and land belonging to the farmers have been acquired and handed over to the industrial houses.
In every place where land is being acquired to create these islands of luxury and lawlessness, land wars have erupted. From Kalinganagar to Dadri, from Singur to Nandigarm the force of arms in the hands of the police force is being used to assault and kill innocent farmers and tribals defending their land rights, guaranteed by the Constitution, through democratic means, also guaranteed by the Constitution.
The farmers are exerting themselves. They are determined to fight against the anti-farmer policies of the government. All over the country, the farmers have taken to the streets defying the massive might of the state. As many as 172 districts across the country are in the grip of violence related to land. Shouting slogans “We will fight We will Win We will not rest till we get our Rights” farmers are facing police brutality and even death.
Innocents have died in police firing. Riot charges have been filed against children. Police jeeps and other vehicles have been set on fire. Women farmers have been seen on national TV networks being beaten into submission after bloodletting by policemen. A train has been hijacked… There is justifiable fear that the internal security and territorial integrity of India will be endangered in the long run by the fast-track implementation of the SEZ policy. Recalcitrant ruling elites refuse to compromise and concede, and justifiably defiant groups of indignant farmers and protesters stand in the way of police and corporate vehicles.
The large scale uprooting of millions of farmers is breaking the sacred bond between peasants and the land, which supports them. It is also breaking the contract between citizens and the state which is based on the state being bound by the Constitution, and the fundamental rights of citizens that the Constitution guarantees.
The new princely estates are being justified on the premise is that it will create 5 lakh job opportunities. Past experience shows that the real jobs that are added by the industries are only a minuscule of what they promise. A recent example is the case of Pepsico’s entry into Punjab in the 1980s. The multinational giant promised to create 50,000 jobs. In reply to a 1991 parliamentary question, the Ministry of Food Processing acknowledged that the company had created only 482 jobs, of which 210 were unskilled workers.
According to Sharma and Goswami “The foremost impact of this large-scale diversion of land will cause massive displacements. About 1.14 lakh farming households (each household on an average comprising five members) and an additional 82,000 farmworker families who are dependent upon these farms for their livelihoods, will be displaced. At least 10 lakh people (twice the number of jobs that SEZ promise to create) who primarily depend upon agriculture for their survival will face eviction.
‘The annual loss in income for those displaced is likely to enormous. The latest report of the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO 2005) reveals that the average income of a farming household stands at Rs. 2,115 per month. Of these, income from the first two sources (Rs. 1,060) will be immediately lost. Each farming household will lose Rs. 12,720 every year. The total loss of annual income for the 1.14 lakh displaced farm families work out to Rs.145 crores.
“As per the National Rural Labour Commission, an average agricultural worker gets 159 days of work in a year; and as per NSSO (2005), the average daily wage of agricultural labor in rural areas is around Rs.51. Considering this, the estimated 82,000 agricultural laborers’ households will lose Rs.67-crore in wages. And put together, the total loss of income to the farming and the farmworker families is to the tune of Rs.212-crore a year. For the marginalized, the loss of income - even if it hovers around the poverty line - has disastrous implications. After all, the small piece of land is their only economic security.
“Food security no longer seems to be a national priority. No sensible government would have tinkered with the country’s dwindling ability to produce food for its own population. Conservative estimate reveals that the nation will suffer a loss of Rs. 250 to 400 crores from the reduction in area under cultivation of food grains alone. Foodgrain production is expected to drop by at least 4 to 5 lakh tonnes a year.”
The SEZs will not create economic magic The reason for setting them up is to create a series of affluent islands amidst the cesspool of poverty, hunger, and deprivation. Oasis, or pockets of affluence for the rich and elite, who find the poor an eyesore. These estates will help the corporates to use facilities created by public money to reap increased profits. There can be no other reason for the state to encourage the creation of SEZs in areas that have a fairly good infrastructure at present.
Asks Aseem Shrivastava in his article printed in this issue ( page 18 ) “Why has the government not asked industry to develop the more than 20 percent (68 million hectares) of the country’s land area officially classified as “wasteland”, instead focussing on stealing away an area almost the size of the National Capital Region from the country’s farmers? If SEZs are about infrastructure creation” as the commerce ministry has it, then how come they are gravitating precisely to those parts of the country – prime agricultural land close to cities – which already have the substantial infrastructure? Could it be to “piggy-back” off the already existing rural infrastructure created assiduously for agricultural activity over the decades after independence? “ CRBiz March 2007)
In its mindless desire to stand up to the Chinese, the Government has unleashed a campaign to create Special Economic Zones all over the country. Devinder Sharma and Bhaskar Goswami in an article titled The New Maharajas have said “It took nearly 15 years for India’s first Home Minister Sardar Patel to ensure that the 554 princely estates scattered throughout the country finally integrate with the new nation. Some 45 years later, in the 60th year of India’s Independence, almost an equal number of princely estates are once again being carved out. The only difference being that the new princely estates come within the gambit of a strange-sounding acronym - SEZs, which stands for Special Economic Zones.”
By early-October 2006, the Board of Approvals(BoA) had “formally approved” 181 SEZ projects and given “in-principle approval” to another 128. The finance ministry’s observations that the promotion of SEZs would cause revenue losses amounting to Rs 160,000 crore by 2010 was ignored. The commerce ministry claimed that the projections of loss were “paper calculations”. It was claimed that in addition to world-class infrastructure, SEZs will bring in investments of up to Rs 100,000 crore and create 5 lakh jobs by the end of 2007.
Agricultural land, which is a scarce commodity, is suddenly available in abundance for industrialization. Per capita landholding in India is already very low at 0.25 acre. The government is using the draconian Land Acquisition Act 1854 to acquire any land that it sets its eyes on. In the first phase of clearances accorded by the government, a total of 1.25 lakh hectares of prime agricultural land are in the process of being acquired. In the second phase too, almost an equal area would be obtained
State governments are leaving no stone unturned to acquire agricultural land and offer it on a platter. With promises of ‘the right kind of environment’ many chief ministers are waiting with garlands in hand inviting domestic and foreign investors to come and exploit the wealth of the state and its people. Governments in tribal populated areas, including Orissa, are seeking an amendment to the Scheduled Area Tribal Immovable Property Act, thereby allowing outsiders to buy tribal land. The central and state governments seem willing to hand over the prime agricultural land to industrialists - Tatas, Ambanis, Mittals, and the like. .
In almost all states governments are laying out the red carpet for investors inviting them to come in and set up SEZs. In the competition to attract investments, massive juicy concessions are being offered. In-state after state farmers are being evicted from their productive land to make way for these Treasure Islands. In many states established rules of land ownership have been ignored and land belonging to the farmers have been acquired and handed over to the industrial houses.
In every place where land is being acquired to create these islands of luxury and lawlessness, land wars have erupted. From Kalinganagar to Dadri, from Singur to Nandigarm the force of arms in the hands of the police force is being used to assault and kill innocent farmers and tribals defending their land rights, guaranteed by the Constitution, through democratic means, also guaranteed by the Constitution.
The farmers are exerting themselves. They are determined to fight against the anti-farmer policies of the government. All over the country, the farmers have taken to the streets defying the massive might of the state. As many as 172 districts across the country are in the grip of violence related to land. Shouting slogans “We will fight We will Win We will not rest till we get our Rights” farmers are facing police brutality and even death.
Innocents have died in police firing. Riot charges have been filed against children. Police jeeps and other vehicles have been set on fire. Women farmers have been seen on national TV networks being beaten into submission after bloodletting by policemen. A train has been hijacked… There is justifiable fear that the internal security and territorial integrity of India will be endangered in the long run by the fast-track implementation of the SEZ policy. Recalcitrant ruling elites refuse to compromise and concede, and justifiably defiant groups of indignant farmers and protesters stand in the way of police and corporate vehicles.
The large scale uprooting of millions of farmers is breaking the sacred bond between peasants and the land, which supports them. It is also breaking the contract between citizens and the state which is based on the state being bound by the Constitution, and the fundamental rights of citizens that the Constitution guarantees.
The new princely estates are being justified on the premise is that it will create 5 lakh job opportunities. Past experience shows that the real jobs that are added by the industries are only a minuscule of what they promise. A recent example is the case of Pepsico’s entry into Punjab in the 1980s. The multinational giant promised to create 50,000 jobs. In reply to a 1991 parliamentary question, the Ministry of Food Processing acknowledged that the company had created only 482 jobs, of which 210 were unskilled workers.
According to Sharma and Goswami “The foremost impact of this large-scale diversion of land will cause massive displacements. About 1.14 lakh farming households (each household on an average comprising five members) and an additional 82,000 farmworker families who are dependent upon these farms for their livelihoods, will be displaced. At least 10 lakh people (twice the number of jobs that SEZ promise to create) who primarily depend upon agriculture for their survival will face eviction.
‘The annual loss in income for those displaced is likely to enormous. The latest report of the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO 2005) reveals that the average income of a farming household stands at Rs. 2,115 per month. Of these, income from the first two sources (Rs. 1,060) will be immediately lost. Each farming household will lose Rs. 12,720 every year. The total loss of annual income for the 1.14 lakh displaced farm families work out to Rs.145 crores.
“As per the National Rural Labour Commission, an average agricultural worker gets 159 days of work in a year; and as per NSSO (2005), the average daily wage of agricultural labor in rural areas is around Rs.51. Considering this, the estimated 82,000 agricultural laborers’ households will lose Rs.67-crore in wages. And put together, the total loss of income to the farming and the farmworker families is to the tune of Rs.212-crore a year. For the marginalized, the loss of income - even if it hovers around the poverty line - has disastrous implications. After all, the small piece of land is their only economic security.
“Food security no longer seems to be a national priority. No sensible government would have tinkered with the country’s dwindling ability to produce food for its own population. Conservative estimate reveals that the nation will suffer a loss of Rs. 250 to 400 crores from the reduction in area under cultivation of food grains alone. Foodgrain production is expected to drop by at least 4 to 5 lakh tonnes a year.”
The SEZs will not create economic magic The reason for setting them up is to create a series of affluent islands amidst the cesspool of poverty, hunger, and deprivation. Oasis, or pockets of affluence for the rich and elite, who find the poor an eyesore. These estates will help the corporates to use facilities created by public money to reap increased profits. There can be no other reason for the state to encourage the creation of SEZs in areas that have a fairly good infrastructure at present.
Asks Aseem Shrivastava in his article printed in this issue ( page 18 ) “Why has the government not asked industry to develop the more than 20 percent (68 million hectares) of the country’s land area officially classified as “wasteland”, instead focussing on stealing away an area almost the size of the National Capital Region from the country’s farmers? If SEZs are about infrastructure creation” as the commerce ministry has it, then how come they are gravitating precisely to those parts of the country – prime agricultural land close to cities – which already have the substantial infrastructure? Could it be to “piggy-back” off the already existing rural infrastructure created assiduously for agricultural activity over the decades after independence? “ CRBiz March 2007)
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