LAND ACQUISITION/SEZ & DISPLACEMENT – 2010 (January to December 2010)

Compiled By Human Rights Documentation∗

Indian Social Institute, Lodi Road, New Delhi – 110 003, (India) Govt urged to drop land acquisition (4) DHARWAD: Karnataka Pranta Raitha Sangha president Maruti Manapade has threatened that farmers would launch serious agitation against the government which is contemplating acquisition of two lakh acres of fertile land across the state to set up Special Economic Zones (SEZs). Speaking to reporters here on Friday, Manapade urged the government to stop the process immediately. He accused chief minister B S Yeddyurappa of acting as a pawn in the hands of land mafia and selling the farmers' land to the capitalists in the guise of development. He "alleged" that the officials had tampered with land records to claim that the land under acquisition in Bellary and Davanagere were barren, while in reality, the holdings were fertile. He pointed out that the farmers in Gurgaon and Punjab, whose lands have been acquired for industrial purpose, had been paid Rs 1.5 crore per acre. However, what the state government paid is pittance, he claimed. Instead of acquiring the land, the CM should convene a meeting of farmers to discuss and take up pro-farmer schemes, he said. Expressing his displeasure at the quantum of compensation paid to flood victims in the state, Manapade said the total crop loss was to the tune of Rs 30,000 crore, but the government has disbursed only Rs 800 per acre compensation. He urged the government to enhance the compensation amount. Manapade also sought amendments to the norms for payment of compensation under calamity relief fund. Waiver of farmers loans and proper supply of electricity to rural areas were his other demands. The farmers' leader met the members of his fraternity who have been lodged in Dharwad jail after being arrested in Davanagere during jail bharo agitation. (Times of India 2/1/10) Land acquisition to be expedited (4) ALAPPUZHA: The Kerala State IT Infrastructure Limited has handed over Rs 26 lakh to the district administration for acquiring 17 acres of wetland for setting up Infopark at Purackadu in Ambalappuzha. According to Kochi Infopark officials (the promoters of the Ambalappuzha Infopark), land acquisition would start next week and land would be acquired from as many as 15 people. The value fixed for land by the District Level Purchase Committee (DLPC) is Rs 1,500 a cent and the amount would be distributed to the owners, who gave consent letters, from next week. Earlier, the Infopark authorities had awarded tenders worth Rs 3.73 crore to ABC and Sons Company for constructing bund wall and dredging and filling works to reclaim the land at Purackadu for the development of Infopark. In order to set up Infopark, the State Government had identified 100 acres of land at Purackadu. Of this, the State Government had handed over 80 acres of land to Kochi Infopark and over 20 acres land needed to be acquired from private land owners. Over 17 acres of land is ready to be acquired. However, the owners of the remaining land have not given their consent till date. The building construction would start soon after the land development work gets over. The Union Government’s Board of Approval for Special Economic Zone had earlier granted approval for 33 acres of land of the park. “We have already submitted necessary documents to the Centre for issuing SEZ notification and SEZ Development Commissioner will soon visit the land prior to issuing notification”,the Inforpark officials said. (Express Buzz 3/1/10) Despite govt approval, Orissa land acquisition won’ t be easy for Posco (4) Bhubaneswar: Posco-India may have got the approval to clear forest land for its 12 million tonne steel plant in Orissa’s Jagatsinghpur district, and save its special economic zone status but it won’t be easy to get the land in hand. The 2,958.79 acre forest land is now covered with thousands of betel leaf vineyards and the company will have to pay huge amounts of compensation for removal of the vineyards. As per the socio-economic survey conducted by the Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar (XIMB) two years ago, there were 1,973 vineyards in an area of 392.15 acre. Taking the survey into consideration, Posco in its rehabilitation action plan announced that the farmers would be compensated at the rate of Rs 6 lakh per acre of betel farms, besides rehabilitation. Ever since the Posco offer has leaked, villagers in the project site areas have raised betel vines in the forest land in hope of compensation. The Posco Pratirodha Sangrama Samiti (PPSS), which is spearheading a fierce resistance movement against the project, is encouraging villagers to take up betel cultivation in government and forest land. According to a rough estimation, there are now about 5,000 betel vineyards in the forest land that comes under the ∗ This is a collection of previously published news and views from the print as well as the electronic media, whose reference marked at the end of each news items. Department of Documentation and Library (DDL) of the Indian Social Institute, New Delhi neither claims to the veracity of the facts in the news nor subscribes to the views expressed.

Posco project site. The company was earlier supposed to pay Rs 23.52 crore as compensation for the vineyards as per the Special Resettlement and Rehabilitation Policy of the Orissa government. However, it will now have to pay much more to clear the forest. “We have drawn the attention of the district administration towards this phenomenon,” said a Posco spokesperson. As per the norms, the completion of the socio-economic survey would be taken as a cut-off date for the payment of the compensation, he said. The company management and the district administration may be thinking on these lines, but this issue is far from over. While Posco-India has got approval to clear forest land, it can only save the SEZ status after it gets the Centre’s nod to acquire forest land. The company had almost lost the SEZ status because of the delay in land acquisition. Now, with the forest clearances coming in, the process of land acquisition for the project is expected to start soon. Posco-India has proposed to develop a multi-product SEZ with its 12 mt steel project as anchor tenant over an area of 1,620.496 hectare. The ministry of environment and forest last week accorded the stage-II... (Financial Express 6/1/10) Compensation does not figure in pact with Tatas: We st Bengal (4) Kolkata: The West Bengal government today said the issue of compensation which the Tatas had demanded for returning the land at Singur did not figure in the agreement signed by the two parties. "The issue of compensation does not figure in the pact between the Tatas and the West Bengal government," chief secretary AM Chakrabarti said. He said the state government, like the Tatas, had also spent substantial money in developing the land in Singur where the Nano plant of the Tata Motors was to come up, but was abandoned due to political reasons. As the Railway ministry had sought the land, measuring 1000 acre, for setting up of a rail coach factory there, the state government was gearing up to seek return of the land from the Tatas. Chakrabarti said that although no formal communication was sent to the Tatas in this regard. Earlier, industry minister Nirupam Sen had said the state government was yet to formally intimate the Tatas about the return of the land. (DNA 9/1/10) HC wants panchayat to have a say in SEZs (4) AHMEDABAD: Gujarat High Court on Monday raised a critical issue on developing of special economic zones (SEZ). A division bench headed by chief justice SJ Mukhopadhaya was hearing a PIL filed by members of Zarpara gram panchayat opposing allotment of nearly 1,000 hectare land to the Adani group-owned Mundra Special Economic Zone Ltd. During the hearing, the bench raised a wider issue regarding the say of any panchayat body in such developmental activity. The judges sought to know from advocates representing the SEZ, petitioners and state government, "Who will have the powers to decide that SEZ will take place here or not?" The chief justice asked the lawyers to assist the court to settle this larger issue. He noted that anybody - villagers, government or a company may be the owner of the acquired land, but ultimately it falls within the territory of a gram panchayat. The court made an oral observation that the 1993 amendment in constitution had made panchayat a statutory entity and conferred constitutional authority on it. Issuance of circulars and any policy to establish SEZs seemed to curtail powers under the Panchayat Act. The company's counsel Mihir Thakore argued that this SEZ clearance was obtained under the Scheme of SEZ Act and there was a single-window clearance system. However, the court insisted on interpretation of the law. The judges even asked who is empowered to decide for the economic development and social justice of the villagers under the Panchayat Act. Because ultimately, the PIL has claimed that the land acquisition was not for "public purpose". The bench asked the state government to file an affidavit by January 27 clarifying "Will developing SEZ in this manner be amounting to curtailing panchayat's powers granted by the constitution?", the court also said that this issue would have wider ramifications on development. The villagers of Zarpara panchayat and fishermen living in the vicinity have been opposing development of SEZ and registered their protest before various fora. In 2008, they filed a PIL objecting to government's decision to allot land to a private company. The high court had sought from the government the file related to Mundra SEZ, but it has not been placed on record yet. (Times of India 11/1/10) West Bengal seeks early disposal of Singur land cas e (4) New Delhi, Jan 12 : The West Bengal government Tuesday approached the Supreme Court for expeditious disposal of Singur farmers' lawsuit on the land leased to Tata Motors so that future transfer of the land to the Indian Railways for establishing a coach factory is not legally hurdled. With Tata Motors shifting the Nano small car plant to Gujarat, the state government approached the apex court for early ruling on the farmers' plea against the Calcutta High Court verdict that upheld the West Bengal government's acquisition of about 1,000 acres for the Nano car plant there. Appearing before a bench headed by Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation's senior counsel Altaf Ahmed said the railway ministry has approached the West Bengal government, evincing interest in the Singur land for setting up a passenger coach factory. Apprising the bench of the state's interest to transfer the Singur land to the railways, Ahmed said the government cannot outrightly transfer the land to the railways as the farmers' lawsuit against the acquisition was pending with the apex court.

Ahmed told the bench, which also included Justice Deepak Verma and Justice B.S. Chauhan, that the railways sent its query on the Singur land a few days back. Counsel sought an early hearing of the matter. Acceding to his request, the bench decided to hear the matter Feb 5. A division bench of the Calcutta High court on Jan 18, 2008, upheld the legality of the government acquisition of 997.11 acres at Singur for the Tata Motors' small car project. The high court dismissed a bunch of petitions challenging the acquisition of the land for the project. The January 2008 ruling of the Calcutta High Court has been challenged in the apex court by one of the petitioners, Kedar Nath Yadav. (New Kerala 12/1/10) SEZ farmers to move HC challenging on land conversi on (4) Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh, Jan 14 : The farmers affected by the Kakinada Special Economic Zone (KSEZ) has decided to move the High Court against the ''controversial'' Government Orders (GOs) directing conversion of all acquired agricultural lands for industrial purposes waiving the prescribed fee and stoppage of water supply to these lands. The farmers are agitating under the banner of 'KSEZ Vyatireka Porata Samiti'. Samiti Convenor Chinta Suryanarayana Murthy told UNI today that the farmers of all the villages in U Kothapalli Mandal and Thondangi Mandals, at their meeting, decided to challenge the two GOs as they were discriminatory and aimed at benefiting the KSEZ promoters. Since they had already moved the High Court and obtained stay orders restraining the KSEZ promoters from going ahead with the taking possession of the acquired lands, he said, the farmers had decided to wait for the court's verdict. Meanwhile, if the KSEZ promoters resorted to take up work in the acquired lands in violation of the court's order, they would resist it with all their might. The KSEZ promoters secured nearly 8,200 acre till now of which 4,850 acre were by direct negotiations with the farmers and 2,500 acre ''under coercion'' using land acquisition proceedings through the district administration. We had questioned the propriety in government notifying the lands for public purpose much against the wishes of the farmers and KSEZ promoters directly purchasing those lands and getting them registered much against rules. ''Until High court gives its verdict, any attempt on the part of KSEZ promoters to take possession of the lands would not be tolerated. (New Kerala 14/1/10) Singur land-givers back to cultivation (4) Singur (WB). Jan 15: With an industry at the abandoned site of Tata's Nano car project at Singur yet to come up, most of the land-owners who had willingly parted with their fields are now back to what they had been doing - cultivation. For a long time the land-owners had held back switching to their age-old occupation hoping that something positive would turn out after the dramatic October 2, 2008 announcement of Nano's pullout by Tata group chairman Ratan Tata. After the Tatas drove away their Nano to Sanand in Gujarat, the government tried to keep back the ancillary units that had come up adjacent to the project site. But once they realized that they would be starved of orders, they left.Then came the state government's aborted initiative to set up a unit of the BHEL - either a power equipment manufacturing unit or a 1600 MW power generation unit - jointly with the West Bengal Power Development Corporation. On November 12, 2008, BHEL officials had undertaken a survey of the area. However, land was found unfit for the purpose. Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee then broached a proposal to set up a rail coach factory in the 'undisputed' 600 acres of the total 997 acres, provided the Tatas returned the land leased out to them. She, however, insisted the land had to be dispute free. "We cannot wait for eternity. There is an end even to hoping against hope," Bikash Pakira, a marginal landowner of Joymollah village in the Singur bloc, told a news agency. When the project was on, many of the willing land-givers had received industrial training hoping for absorption in the Nano project as promised by the Tatas. He had received technical training at the Ramkrishna Mission Shilpa Mandir, an industrial training institute at Belur in Howrah district. Working for sometime as a day labourer, he now tills a small piece of land not very far from the abandoned car project site. The land was purchased by his family with the money he received as compensation for giving away land from the West Bengal government. "We had one bigha land. After announcement of the Tata project, we willingly gave away our land receiving cheques as compensation. I will never repeat the mistake," Bikash said. Bikash's fate seems way better compared to that of Pintu Saha, son of a willing land-giver, of Berabari village in Singur. Pintu, who had received six-month technical training from an institute in Pune and joined the engine shop at the Nano factory, is now an agricultural day labourer. "I perhaps hoped for too much," he said with a wry smile. Ratan Ghosh, a peasant landowner of Gopalnagar village, who had refused to accept the compensation cheque from the government, is now desperate for a job - any job - to support his family and urged Banerjee to do something. (Central Chronicle 15/1/10) Displaced families of Tata Steel want CTL project a t Gopalpur (4) Kolkata/ Berhampur : At a time when Tata Steel is dithering on the location of its proposed Rs 45,000-crore coal to liquid (CTL) project in Orissa, the displaced persons of the steel maker's Gopalpur project have invited the company to set up the CTL project at Gopalpur. The displaced families including Goplapur MLA, Pradeep Panigrahi want Tata Steel to utilize about 3800 acres of land at Gopalpur for the

CTL project. This land was acquired by the steel major in 1997 to set up a mega steel plant and about 1570 families in three villages were displaced. With the company later shelving the steel project, it proposed to set up a multi-purpose Special Economic Zone (SEZ) on this land. However, no progress has been made so far. “It is the right time for the state government to ask Tata Steel to utilize the land at Gopalpur by setting up its proposed CTL project”, said Panigrahi. Panigrahi who hails from Patrapur village belongs to one of the displaced families of Tata Steel's Gopalpur project. The two other affected villages are Sindhigaon and Badapur. Tata Steel and South Africa-based Sasol Synfuels Private Limited have announced to set up a CTL project in the state. The project needs 3000 acres of land but the location is yet to be finalized. B Muthuraman, vice chairman, Tata Steel and Ernst Oberholster, managing director, Sasol Synfuels International Pvt Ltd had called on the state chief minister on Monday in connection with the project. “Almost all the infrastructure facilities are available at Gopalpur for the proposed CTL project. While road, rail and inland communication facilities are available in the area, the water required for the plant could be drawn from the river Rushikulya or Chheligada by constructing the barrage”, said Ramesh Gouda, one of the displaced persons. Hemant Kumar Rath, another displaced person said, “establishment of the CTL project at Goplapur will help in giving justice to the displaced and affected families through creation job opportunities for them.” (Business Standard 20/1/10) Ganga Expressway project to affect 1,024 villages ( 4) ALLAHABAD: The Ganga Expressway Project would affect 1,024 villages. These villages would come under the `right of way' (ROW) plan of the expressway. Surprisingly, the state government has no statistics regarding the population and the families which are going to be affected by the project. This came to light when a query was asked by corporator Kamlesh Singh under RTI Ac t. Kamlesh's question was: How many villages are going to be affected by the Ganga Expressway Project and what is the population of these villages and the number of families which are going to be affected? The answer has been provided by Prabhu Shankar, under secretary in Industrial Development Section of the state government through letter number 4261(1)/77-3-09, dated January 11. However, the authorities are silent on other questions pertaining to the Ganga Expressway project under the pretext of the matter being subjudice. To a question that how many hectares of agricultural land would be acquired and the quantity of crops produced there, the answer was: According to the directives of Allahabad High Court issued on May 29, 2009, the government was told to obtain clearance on environment. The department said that it would be able to give information regarding agricultural land only after obtaining clearance. Pointedly, 14,705 hectares of land would be acquired. On the question pertaining to the impact on the law and order situation and employment, the department failed to answer saying that it does not have the statistics in this connection. However, it pointed out that state government has formed a policy for the rehabilitation of the affected families from this project. On the question regarding the number of trees which would be cut for the project and what impact it would create on the environment, the answer was that the department is in the process of getting no objection certificate from the environment ministry and only after getting the clearance, the department would be able to count the number of trees which would be cut. However, on the question of number of ponds and water bodies which would be affected by the Ganga Expressway project, the department has said that there are no ponds in the proposed expressway. Pointedly, Ganga Expressway is an ambitious project of the state government which is about 1,049 km long and runs from Greater Noida to Ballia. (Times of India 24/1/10) Supreme Court blasts bureaucracy for denying poor t heir rights (4) New Delhi: The Supreme Court (SC) has flayed the political executive and the bureaucracy, stating that they are denying the marginalised, the weak, and the scheduled castes and tribes their legitimate constitutional guarantees. The court made this extremely harsh observation in a case involving a tribal woman, Nila Die, whose land in Orissa had been acquired by the government for a railway project 19 years ago. Though Die was entitled to monetary compensation and a job in the railways for a member of her family, she received neither from either the South Eastern Railway (SER) or the Orissa government, who were parties to the case. In 2001, Nila Die had moved a tribunal and the Orissa high court for her legitimate dues, spending a considerable amount of her limited resources in the process. The Orissa high court ruled in her favour in 2009 and directed the railway authorities and the state government to provide her son a job. The government did not. Nor did it immediately file an appeal in the SC, but did so 203 days later. A bench comprising justices GS Singh and Asok Kumar Ganguly on Thursday took strong exception to the attitude of both the Orissa government and SER, pointing out that when it came to “implementation of the legislative and executive measures intended to benefit that class of society, those involved in the operation of bureaucratic system, at times, make all-out efforts to deprive the have-nots of their legitimate dues”. The court rejected the government’s plea that Nila Die’s file “was tossed between different functionaries of the railway administration and the advocates”, saying such excuses might have been accepted a decade-and-a-half ago, given the red tapism and lethargy in the government’s functioning. “But such an approach is not compatible at a time when the people of the country are

demanding accountability of all concerned with the functioning of public institutions,” the apex court added. Upholding the HC order, the judges said, “It is most unfortunate that instead of adopting a sympathetic and humane approach towards a woman belonging to the scheduled tribe, who was deprived of the only source of livelihood in the name of public interest, the functionaries of the state administration and SER treated her with utter contempt and deprived her son of the legitimate right to be employed as per the policy of the Railway Board.” “This is a sad commentary on the functioning of the state apparatus,” said the court. The SC imposed a cost of Rs50, 000 on the Union government and ordered that this money be given to Nila Die within two months. Within the same period, the government was directed to get a job for Die’s son. The judges also asked for a report on the implementation of their order. (DNA 30/1/10) MSEZ not following HC's order (4) MANGALORE: MSEZ Pradesh Samrakshana Vedike has accused MSEZ Ltd of constructing a road on agricultural land at Kudubi Padavu in Permude village of Mangalore taluk illegally and by force here on Monday. Condemning the development, the Vedike stated MSEZ officials had resorted to such a move despite the high court granting a stay (27323725/2010) on Friday, adding they used muscle power to remove temporary fencing put up by the residents there. Accusing MSEZ of destroying prime agricultural land, Karnataka south convener of Hindu Jagaran Vedike, Satyajit, demanded that the state government, district administration and police immediately respond to the plight of the residents of the area. "The directions of the high court should be followed in its true letter and spirit," he said adding that the Vedike would furnish copies of the HC order to authorities concerned at the earliest. Satyajit, demanding action against the 'musclemen' hired by the company to 'terrorise' the Kudubis, a tribal community residing in the area, said MSEZ is harassing them after they protested against forceful acquisition of around 14-acres of land in the recent past. Warning that the Vedike would intensify its agitation in favour of the tribals, he also demanded that MSEZ should not be allowed to proceed with second phase of the project. However, refuting contention of the MSEZ Pradesh Samrakshana Vedike, MSEZ officials stated, "We have received possession of land from KIADB on January 27, and hence the land belongs to MSEZL. This land is essential for formation of approach road both for MSEZL and it's rehabilitation and resettlement colony - Somanatha Dhama - built on 14.43 acres. There is no stay brought on MSEZL by earlier owners," they said. (Times of India 1/2/10) Protest planned against ‘anti-people’ projects (4) MANGALORE: The Nagarika Seva Trust (NST) of Guruvayankere has decided to stage a demonstration against “anti-people” industrial and development projects in coastal Karnataka. President of the trust Somanath Nayak told presspersons here on Wednesday that the demonstration would be staged in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office in the second week of March. The protesters will demand a study of the carrying capacity of the coastal districts before further industrialisation, and scrapping of the phase II of Mangalore Special Economic Zone, Petroleum Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Region (PCPIR) and the Netravati diversion projects, among other demands. Elected representatives from the region would be invited to the venue of the agitation to know what steps they had taken to solve people’s problems, Mr. Nayak said. The agitation, which will be flagged off by Vishwesha Tirtha Swamiji of Pejawar Math, will see participation by various religious leaders and members of Krishi Bhoomi Samrakshana Samiti, Karavali Karnataka Janabhivruddi Vedike, Mahila Jagruthi Vedike, Karnataka Krishikara Vedike, Swadesi Jagran Manch, Bharatiya Kisan Sangh, Jamat-e-Islami Hind and Dalit Abhivruddhi Samiti. (The Hindu 4/2/10) Farmers get compensation for giving land for Hubli airport (4) HUBLI: Deputy Commissioner of Dharwad Darpan Jain has said that the district administration had so far paid Rs. 15 crore as compensation to farmers for the acquisition of 60 acres of agricultural land for expansion of Hubli airport. Mr. Jain told presspersons here on Wednesday that of the land being acquired for expansion of Hubli airport, 450 acres was agricultural land. He said the Government had fixed a compensation of Rs. 26 lakh an acre and accordingly the compensation was being paid. To a question, regarding demand for more compensation for the agricultural land, the Deputy Commissioner said the district administration was speaking to farmers individually and was hopeful of completing the acquisition of agricultural lands by the end of March. Mr. Jain said the district administration had disbursed compensation of Rs. 20 crore for the owners of residential buildings and had allotted an alternative site in the layout developed by the Hubli-Dharwad Urban Development Authority. Similarly, Rs. 20 crore had been disbursed towards compensation for industrial properties. The Deputy Commissioner said the administration was working out the compensation for the lands that had been converted for non-agricultural purposes and development activities had taken place. (The Hindu 4/2/10) Medha Patkar slams elevated expressway project (4)

CHENNAI: Renowned social activist Medha Patkar on Friday slammed the Tamil Nadu government’s elevated expressway project from the Port Trust to Maduravoyal and along the beach. “Express highways are considered by many in power and the middle class as an infrastructural solution to the problems of transport and communication in the city. But they are taking large chunks of land, killing public transport and facilitating the agenda of the private car industry,” she said. The project, which the National Alliance of People’s Movements estimates will displace 3.5 lakh slum dwellers, was evaluated without public consultation and will not solve the root problem, she said. Ms. Patkar, who was speaking in Chennai on climate change at Guru Shree Shantivijai Jain College for Women, said that those who live in harmony with earth’s resources – slum dwellers, adivasis, weavers, farmers, labourers – have “simple” lifestyles and technologies needed for humans to successfully mitigate and adapt to climate change. Deeming the Copenhagen summit “a lot of waste, for little result” she said that before India engages in dialogue on climate change in the international community, Indians should engage with each other to find development solutions that are “justifiable and sustainable.” Otherwise inequity would increase at the hands of private industry, she warned pointing to examples in Africa and Latin America. “Chairman of the International Panel on Climate Change R.K. Pachauri should himself come down to earth and talk to farmers, fishermen, social organisations and Adivasis,” she told The Hindu, discussing the controversy over the IPCC’s modelling of climate change. (The Hindu 6/2/10) Medha Patkar terms SEZs as ‘Special Exploitation Z one’ projects (4) CHENNAI: Launching an attack on the claimed outcomes of establishing Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and the processes involved in their creation, social activist Medha Patkar, said “We have only moved from a feudal system of expropriation of produce from the land to an advanced system of land acquisition through industrial capitalism.”Terming SEZ as Special Exploitation Zone projects, she said that constitutional rights of communities are being overlooked in the name of development. She was addressing the press at an event organised to release the findings of a ‘People’s audit of Special Economic Zones in Tamil Nadu’ in Chennai on Saturday. The audit covered villages coming under 66 approved SEZs in the State, of which 45 have been notified. Some of the recommendations made in the report are putting out a clear definition of ‘public purpose’ in the existing legislation, repealing of the SEZ Act (2005) and an inclusive process involving the gram sabhas and panchayats. Similar audits have already been done in five other states and these reports are part of a national audit which is being undertaken by an alliance of social organisations and educational institutions. Pointing out that the Economic Survey of India (2008) compiled by the Government of India itself says that 60 lakh hectares of agricultural land has been diverted for non-agricultural purposes between 1990 and 2005, Ms. Patkar said that most large scale land acquisitions were done in violation of the democratic process and due consultation. “The worrying fact is the SEZ Act, which was passed only in 2005 to speedup the process of land acquisition,” she added. Trade union representatives and villagers from many of the affected communities participated and voiced concern on a variety of issues ranging from ecological degradation to destruction of livelihood. (The Hindu 8/2/10) Deve Gowda warns of ‘jail bharo’ (4) BANGALORE: The former Prime Minister and Janata Dal (Secular) president, H.D. Deve Gowda, has threatened to launch a ‘fill the jail’ programme, unless justice is done to poor farmers whose land has been “unnecessarily notified for takeover” for the Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor Project. Talking to journalists from New Delhi here on Sunday, Mr. Gowda said he was not against development or the Bangalore-Mysore Expressway. “But what is the need for acquiring land at places, as far away as 1.5 km from the peripheral road, affecting the poor?” “Let me see how they demolish the structures that are far away from the revised BMIC alignment. I will stand before the JCB machine and stop it from demolishing the building.” Mr. Gowda, who visited Konappana Agrahara, Doddathoguru, Chikkathoguru, Beguru, Yelenahalli, Gottigere, Pillaganahalli, Kembathanahalli and Pramod Layout (all in Bangalore rural) to interact with the residents, said more than one lakh people were affected by the government decision to transfer thousands of acres of government/agricultural land and private layouts in the name of the Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises (NICEL) Limited, which is owned by NRI Ashok Kheny. Venkatesh of Pramod Layout, which has been approved by the Bangalore Development Authority, said the affected residents were facing threats to vacate. While the market value of the land was up to Rs.10 crore an acre, the residents were being coerced to accept a pittance of Rs. 80,000 an acre, he alleged. Umesh of Kengeri, who was allegedly stabbed by thugs for refusing to part with his land, claimed that he received no help from the police. His damaged intestine was operated on, and moving the bowels was a problem (The Hindu 9/2/10) ‘Land acquisition not initiated’ (4) Udhagamandalam: Emotions ran high at a public hearing conducted on Monday at Sigur, Masinagudi and Anaikatty near the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve in connection with the recent publication of a map of an

elephant corridor with survey numbers. However, they did not get out of control though adequate precautionary measures had been taken by the district administration. While the residents of Masinagudy, including members of the mercantile community and public transport operators, registered their opposition to the proposed elephant corridor by observing a bandh, many of the owners’ of properties notified in the map sported black badges. The Principal Chief Conservator of Forests-cum-Chief Wildlife Warden, R. Sundararaju, who presided, pointed out that the public hearing was in compliance with the orders of the Madras High Court to ascertain the views of the people with interests within the proposed corridor and receive suggestions and objections in writing. Categorically stating that land acquisition proceedings had not been initiated, he said that the petitions would be submitted to the government for further action. The Nilgiris Collector, Anandrao V. Patil, said that all the views would be conveyed to the Government. While a land owner Alok Gupta said that the Government should ensure that neither elephants nor the people are affected, a tribal representative M. Alwas said that patta lands should not be touched. He added that data on the migration pattern of elephants should be provided. Alexander of Vazhaithottam opined that in such issues preference should be given to human beings. Earlier, speaking to The Hindu a senior advocate K.V. Krishnan said that before developing his property a few years ago he had consulted the forest official concerned. A long time resident of the area lamented that none of the reports pertaining to the corridor had highlighted the plight of the people who would be affected by the proposal. Later, speaking to reporters Mr. Sundararaju promised that the environment, forests, wildlife and the people will be protected. Pointing out that around 190 petitions had been received, he said that he would give his remarks if they are sought by the Government. The Forest Department has made its stand clear. The rights of tribals will be taken care of. Among those present at the hearing were the Special Government Pleader, High Court, Kribanandhan, conservators of Forest Rajiv K. Srivastava and R. Kannan and Superintendent of Police, Coimbatore, Kannan.(The Hindu 9/2/10) Repeal Land Acquisition Act, Brinda tells Centre (4 ) BANGALORE: CPI (M) politburo member Brinda Karat on Saturday said that the Central government should consider repealing the Indian Land Acquisition Act, 1894 as the land owners’ interests were not properly protected under the Act. The government should also consider distributing land to the landless and houses for the poor. Brinda said that the state government should immediately arrest the local Sri Rama Sena leader Bhavani Shankar for spitting on the face of reputed women’s rights activist KS Vimala. “The police arrested the offender who blackened the face of the Sena leader Pramod Mutalik immediately. Whereas the culprit who spat on the face of a woman has not been arrested till now, though the complaint was lodged on Friday itself. The government has adopted double standards. So far, they have not taken any action against those who vandalised places of worship. Today, the police arrested a reporter near Mangalore for saying that his name is Rahim. People should condemn the government for its approach. The government should at least take appropriate measures to ensure that Valentine’s Day is observed peacefully,” Brinda said. She said that the nationwide campaign against price rise launched by the Left parties would culminate on March 12 with a big rally in Delhi. Though the Central government had failed to check the rise in prices of essential commodities, it was planning to hike the prices of petrol and cooking gas. If the hike was implemented, it would be met with protests all over the country, Brinda warned. The Central government was falsely claming that the country had overcome recession and there was economic growth, Brinda added. (Express Buzz 14/2/10) Court directive to provide police protection to lan d (4) Kochi: A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Monday directed the State government and the police to provide protection for three weeks to the land of M.V. Sreyams Kumar, MLA; Wayanad district panchayat vice-president George Pothen and Mohan George John Anchery in Wayanad from encroachers. The Bench of Justice M.M. Joseph and Justice M.L. Joseph Francis did not pass any order on a petition filed by Harrisons Malayalam Limited in view of an earlier High Court order providing police protection to all its estates in the State and in the light of a submission by Advocate-General C.P. Sudhakara Prasad that steps had been taken to evict the encroachers from its land. The court directed the Advocate-General (AG) to file counter-affidavits in the case. The court orally directed the AG to provide the data relating to landless tribals, the extent of land distributed to tribals and the steps being taken to distribute land to them. When the petitions were taken up for hearing, the AG submitted that the encroachers were evicted from the land of the petitioners. The eviction had to be conducted carefully. The police could not resort to coercive actions. After the writ petitions were filed, he had instructed the authorities concerned to see that no land was encroached upon in Wayanad. The State had to act with great caution to avoid incidents that happened during the Muthanga eviction. In fact, the tribals who had encroached on the land were more organised and had a feeling that they were denied justice. The government was trying its best to maintain law and order in Wayanad. The court orally reminded the government that it had been vested with the power to deal with the situation in Wayanad. The state should not have allowed anybody to take the law into their hands. The government should have acted

promptly. The court took the Collector to task for putting up a government board on the land of Mr. Sreyams Kumar. The court termed the action ‘mischievous.’ The Judges said that it would have made sense if the government had taken over the land in accordance with the law if it had felt that the land belonged to it. The court said that such erection of boards would send a wrong message. The court orally said that better sense should prevail over the Central government in the matter of giving permission for distributing land to tribals. To a question, Assistant Solicitor General T.P.M. Ibrahim Khan said the Centre could give permission only in accordance with the guidelines concerned. Counsel for the Adivasi Kshema Samithi submitted that the lethargy on the part of bureaucrats and the delay in taking decisions by the Taluk Land Board on applications regarding surplus land had prompted the tribals to encroach the land. The land in Wayanad belonged to its tribals. In fact, the samithi was guiding the tribals in their protest against the government. The court then said that the samithi had no right to take the law into its hands. They could have approached the court if they felt that there was delay in processing the applications or they were not granted land. In his affidavit, Mr. Sreyams Kumar submitted that he owned a total of 64.09 acres in the State. Except 6.4 acres, all the land was in Wayanad district. He said that he owned 36 acres of coffee plantations in Wayanad. The 14.44 acres of land at Krishnagiri which was encroached upon was gifted to his grandfather Padmaprabha Gowdar by the then Madras government in 1943 under it grow-more-food programme. (The Hindu 16/2/10) Over 1.72 lakh acres of fertile land acquired for i ndustries’ (4) Gulbarga: The former Prime Minister and Janata Dal (Secular) supremo H.D. Deve Gowda has alleged that the State Government had acquired more than 1.72 lakh acres of fertile land in 26 districts of the State in the name of industrial development. Addressing farmers as part of his campaign against acquisition of farmland by the State Government, here on Thursday, he feared that the move to create a land bank could “transform into a real estate business”. He said that various organisations and parties, including the Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Dalit Sangharsha Samiti, had extended support to the campaign. The Janata Dal (S) would stage a Statewide protest on February 23 and memorandums would be submitted to deputy commissioners in the districts. After the protest, the party would convene a meeting of all district units and chalk out the next course of action, he said. “If the State Government is this interested in industrial development, it should appoint officers for acquisition of land and take barren land with the consent of landowners. It should acquire only the required area and not more than that,” Mr. Gowda said. He claimed that instead of protecting the interests of farmers, poor and the middle-class, Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa had become a puppet in the hands of a few industrialists and mine owners. Mr. Gowda alleged that policies were being framed in favour of such industrialists and businessmen. Mr. Gowda warned that he would not allow any elected representative of the State to acquire fertile land and that the campaign would continue.(The Hindu 19/2/10) JD(S) stages protest against land acquisition (4) Mangalore, Feb 23, DHNS: MLC and former Minister M C Nanaiah alleged that Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, who sworn-in in the name of the farmers, was implementing anti-farmer policies in the past 20 months of rule in the state. Addressing a protest organised by the JD(S) against land acquisition near the Deputy Commissioner’s Officer here on Tuesday, Nanaiah said that the government is engaged in real estate business that they are acquiring 1.72 lakh acres of agriculture land through Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) for industrial purpose. Similarly, the BJP government also has given consent to carry out mining at six forest regions which include reserve forests. It is a major invasion by the government on our environment, he said adding, “those who acquire farmers’ land forcefully are the real terrorists. Government had already acquired about 2,500 acres of land for the first phase of Mangalore Special Economic Zone (MSEZ). Now they are planning to acquire another 2,400 acres of land for the second phase of MSEZ. “It is nothing but looting the land of farmers,” he said and assured that JD(S) will extend its support to Pejavar seer Vishveshatheertha’s fight against land acquisition. “The state has a requirement of 120 lakh tonnes of foodgrains per annum. However, the foodgrains production in the state has come down to 93 lakh tonnes after Yeddyurappa came to power,” Nanaiah said. He said that Yeddyurappa, who withdrawn all pending criminal cases against his colleagues in the cabinet, has no right to continue as the Chief Minister of the State. “Let Yeddyurappa resign from Chief Minister’s post and seek fresh mandate,” he added. JD(S) leaders Amarnath Shetty, M B Sadashiva, Hyder Parthippady and others were present. (Deccan Herald 23/2/10) Pejawar seer fights for farmers (20) Bangalore: The farmers’ agitation against acquisition of huge tracts of land by the government for various projects has received support from an unexpected quarter. Pejawar mutt seer, Vishweshateertha Swami, has voiced his concern against the alleged land acquisition for townships as part of the Bangalore Mysore Infrastructure Corridor(BMIC) project. He met BJP, JD(S) and Congress leaders to have a free and frank

discussion on land acquisition for special economic zones (SEZ) and projects like the BMIC. “Providing land for the express highway is fine, but is it necessary to provide land for townships as part of the BMIC project?” he asked, adding that only land required for the expressway should be acquired. The seer, who had threatened to launch a stir against land acquisition for an SEZ in Mangalore, also expressed his displeasure at the recent cabinet decision to allow mining in reserve forests. Development should not be at the cost of farmers’ livelihood and environmental damage, he said. Strongly condemning the recent agitation by a section of students in Bangalore university against the proposed cow slaughter ban by consuming beef in the campus, he said, “Some organisations are trying to pursue a sinister agenda of dividing the Hindus by inciting Dalits against the proposed bill to ban cow slaughter. Congress leaders, who are opposing the bill, should understand that even Mahatma Gandhi had advocated the ban,” he said. (DNA 1/3/10) Andhra govt issues notices to SEZ developers over l and use (4) Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh government has slapped notices on the developers of special economic zones (SEZs), asking them to explain delays in project execution and seeking details on the use of land allocated to them, after opposition parties alleged that many SEZs were misusing land acquired with government support. A body representing SEZ developers, however, blames the delays on the global economic downturn and the government’s failure to provide assured infrastructural support. Andhra Pradesh has 73 notified SEZs—the highest in the country. Another 30 SEZs are awaiting notification, giving the state 103 of the 346 SEZs approved by the Union commerce ministry nationwide. “Of the 73 notified SEZs so far in the state, with a projected investment of some Rs70,000 crore, only 19 SEZs have become operational, attracting an investment of some Rs10,000 crore,” said Kanna Lakshminarayana, Andhra Pradesh’s minister for major industries and commerce. “The government would take back the land allotted to the developers of SEZs if they failed to convince the authorities on delays in setting up industrial units or (have been) found using the lands for other purposes,” Lakshminarayana warned. The notified SEZs had acquired 27,722 acres of land across the state, the minister added. Opposition parties have claimed that the developers of these SEZs were trying to make money by using the land for real estate development. T. Sunil Reddy, chairman of the Andhra Pradesh SEZ Developers’ Association, said the global economic slowdown was largely responsible for the delay in the implementation of SEZ projects. The government’s inability to provide the infrastructure assured to them had also played a major role in raising the development cost and turning the SEZ projects unviable, he added. As many as 42 SEZs are coming up in state capital Hyderabad or its neighbouring districts of Ranga Reddy, Medak and Mahaboobnagar, where the cost of land acquisition is very high. B.R. Meena, vice-chairman and managing director of Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corp. Ltd (APIIC), the nodal agency for SEZs in the state, admitted that government agencies had failed to provide the assured infrastructure to many SEZ developers. “APIIC is developing 20 SEZs on its own and had assisted another 23 SEZs in acquiring land. While two more SEZs are also (being developed) by the government agencies belonging to urban development, 28 SEZs are being developed by the private players,” said Meena. APIIC, he added, was preparing a report on how many SEZs had failed to take off despite the government fulfilling its infrastructural obligations. Reddy of the SEZ developers’ association said the absence of additional tax benefits in the proposed extension of the Software Technology Parks of India Scheme was also holding back small and medium information technology (IT) and IT-enabled services (ITeS) firms from moving to SEZs. “Another major reason for IT/ITeS units not showing interest in SEZs is the proposed new direct tax code that threatens to take away tax exemptions to SEZs,” said the chairman of a private IT/ITeS SEZ, who did not want to be named. As many as 43 SEZs in Andhra Pradesh were to host IT and ITeS firms, while the rest proposed to host units of industries, including pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, aerospace, hardware, semiconductors, leather, footwear, gems and jewellery, apparel, building products, alumina, printing paper, and food processing. A number of IT/ITeS SEZs have already sought extension from the Union commerce ministry, while some have sought to denotify, either completely or partially, so they can use the allotted land for other purposes. Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, Andhra Pradesh’s IT minister, said his ministry had served notices on IT/ITeS SEZ developers to submit the details on land utilization. “We have decided to take back the unutilized land from these SEZs and allot them through auction to small and medium IT/ITeS firms interested in setting up their units,” he said. The Andhra Pradesh government, which has announced the highest ever annual budget of Rs1.13 trillion for 2010-11, plans to raise some Rs3,500 crore from the sale of land to fund its developmental programmes. But APIIC’s Meena said the government could take back land only from those SEZs whose land acquisition had been assisted by government agencies. Private SEZ developers were free to do anything with their land assets. There are 18 IT/ITeS SEZs being developed by private players, mostly in and around Hyderabad. (Mint 2/3/10) Protest against farmland acquisition planned in Guj arat (4)

Gandhinagar, March 2: There will be a statewide protest in Gujarat March 6 against the government's move to acquire farmland and allot it to industry. The protest will be known as Mahuva Day. Farmers of Mahuva area in Gujarat's Bhavnagar district have been agitating against a Rs.1,400 crore 214 hectare cement plant being put up by Nirma, which will require a large mining lease. The mining of limestone, the locals feel, will remove the natural barrier that is preventing the incursion of salt water from the sea and ruin the area which has been greened after tidal regulators were put in place. The agitation, which is being led by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator Kanu Kalsariya against the government of his own party, has brought activists and Gandhians to support the cause. Last week farmers had planned a Sabarmati to Gandhinagar protest march, but that was aborted by the government through preventive detentions. Kalsariya confirmed that leaders of the Gujarat Lok samiti and other civil society organisations have decided to observe Mahuva Day to focus statewide attention on this issue. "This is not an isolated instance. Farmers in many other parts of the state are facing similar problems," he added. (New Kerala 4/3/2010) Tata Motors, Nano vendors not giving up Singur land (4) The land taken by Tata Motors at Singur for the erstwhile Nano car factory, and by the many companies who invested there to be vendors to the project, isn’t set to change hands anytime soon. Tata and the vendors both say they plan to hold on to the lease titles, even as Trinamool Congress chief and Union railway minister Mamata Banerjee and the West Bengal government continue with their political posturing over a plan for a rail coach factory at the location. This is the case even with Caparo Engineering, where sources said the vendors had come to an understanding that they would hold on to the land at Singur. “We will be paying the lease fees,” said the source. Caparo was one of the few vendors to have written to the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC) that it wanted to return the land and had sought compensation, with interest. Caparo is a supplier of sheet metal and body frames for the Nano. In October 2008, Tata Motors pulled out the Nano project from Singur, following an agitation led by Banerjee, then not holding any ministerial position, demanding return of 400 acres to the unwilling farmers. Around 55 vendors associated with the Nano project had signed individual lease agreements with WBIDC. Tata Ryerson sources hinted they would be paying lease fees as well, while the chairman of Sona Koyo Steering Systems said, “Of course, we will pay the fees for the land.” According to the contract signed by the vendors with WBIDC, the lease fee is to be paid every year. The annual rental per acre is Rs 8,000 and for Tata Motors, Rs 1 crore a year for the first five years, for 646 acres. In her Railway budget speech last month, Banerjee rekindled the issue. “Ministry of Railways has conveyed its willingness, provided the state government hands over the requisite land to the Ministry of Railways, after returning 400 acres of land to the unwilling farmers (from whom these were acquired),” she had said. Earlier, Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd had evinced interest in setting up a power plant at the Nano site. The state-owned power utility later backed out, saying the project didn’t seem viable. Then, Banerjee sprang a surprise with a rail coach factory proposal. The bigger surprise came from the West Bengal government, which readily accepted the proposal, prompting Banerjee to revisit her earlier demand of returning 400 acres to the farmers at Singur. A number of letters have been exchanged between the state government and the Railway Board, without the two coming to an agreement. While the government asked for a firm proposal from the Railways, the Board said it will do so once the land is recovered from the lessees. However, even if the state government is able to recover the land from Tata and the associated vendors, it will be in a fix over returning this to the land-losers. “As far as my understanding goes, land once acquired cannot be returned. We have taken legal consultation and there is an apex court ruling that indicates this. But, I can't comment on what the Railways can do,” West Bengal’s chief secretary, Ashok Mohan Chakrabarti, had said. During an earlier visit to Kolkata, Tata Chairman Ratan Tata indicated he would not stand in the way of development at Singur, but would have to be compensated for the investment made on the ground.(Business Standard 5/3/10) Centre approves de-notification of 12 SEZs (4) New Delhi, March 10: The Centre has given its nod for de-notification of 12 special economic zones (SEZs) including nine IT SEZs in States such as Delhi, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, West Bengal and Gujarat. This was stated by Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Mr Jyotiraditya Scindia, in a written reply to Rajya Sabha. “Requests for de-notification by the developers have been received from 13 SEZs located in the States/Union territories of Delhi, Orissa, Gujarat, West Bengal, Haryana, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh out of which 12 have been approved by the Board of Approval,” Mr Scindia said. The Board of Approval, which comprises key officials from Ministries such as Commerce, Agriculture, Finance and Home, approves the SEZ projects. “The final de-notification is allowed only on refund of duties or benefits, if any, availed by the developer,” he said. The SEZs, which have been de-notified by the BoA includes four IT-ITeS zones of realty major DLF in Haryana, Gujarat, and Orissa. On the Goa Government's request for de-notification of three SEZs in the State, Mr Scindia said that the State Government “may have to compensate the developers.” The

developers have approached the judiciary and the matter is sub-judice. However, no SEZ in Goa has been de-notified. The Goa government had recommended 15 proposals for setting up of SEZs. “Out of these, seven proposals were accorded formal approval by the Board of Approval and notifications were issued in respect of three cases,'' Mr Scindia said (Business Line 10/3/10) Trouble for Posco: Church joins villagers in opposi ng Rs 50,000 crore steel plant (4) BHUBANESWAR: After Anil Agarwal’s Vedanta Resources, now it is Korea’s Posco that is facing the heat from the Catholic Church, which has declared to stand by the villagers opposed to the setting up of the Rs 50,000 crore mega steel venture near Paradip in Orissa. “We oppose anything that threatens to displace thousands, destroy forests, pollute environment and deprive people of their traditional livelihood. The Church cannot accept projects that would make people refugees in their own land,” All India Christian Council secretary general, John Dayal on Tuesday told ET. Villagers are opposing government plans to lease 4,000 acres fertile land to Posco for its three iron mining projects in Kandhahar, Kujanga and Paradip. Mr Dayal made it clear that the Church of England is against multi-national companies displacing thousands for mega industrial projects. “The Church of England withdrew all its investments from Vedanta Resources for violating human rights and causing environmental damage near its plant site at Lanjigarh. The Church must support the movement against large projects which are denuding forests, marginalizing tribal people and trivialising human dignity,” he said. The Korean company’s Indian subsidiary, Posco India , has been facing stiff resistance from locals for the last five years and the promised land still eludes it. With protests growing loud and clear, the biggest FDI proposal may not see the light of the day. Besides, the opposition has now spread to affected villages in Keonjhar and Sundargarh districts. In these villages, locals are guarding their farmlands against the entry of government and Posco officials. Father Nicholas Barla, a tribal leader who has lent his support to Khandadahr Bachao Andolan (Save Khandadhar agitation), said over telephone that the proposed mines would displace 42,493 people in Sundargarh district alone. Of these 32,044 are tribal, dalit and poor Christians. “We have seen displacement at Rourkela, Hirakud and other places due to mega projects. People have become refugees in their own land and many still have not got compensation . We will not allow Posco to set its foot in Khandadhar,” Barla reiterated . Corroborating Father Barla, Khandadhar Bachao Andolan convener Aswini Mohanta said people now have become conscious of their rights. “We have organised several rallies and people are guarding their villagers and have driven out Posco counselors sometime back. Khanadadhar has 26 streams out of which 12 are perennial streams. If mining is allowed these streams will die down and we will have no water for our survival. We are determined to fight against Posco till our last breath,” Mr Mohanta added. Former Jharakhand Mukti Morcha MLA Mansid Ekka, who leads the villagers’ fight to protect their “water, land and forest” said: “The project is a conspiracy by the state to loot vulnerable tribal and dalit people in the name of development.” Activists claim the projects would also seriously damage the ecology, environment and water bodies and about 2,900 acres pledged are forests. Posco recently offered Rs 7000 per decimal of betel vines, but the villagers have not accepted the package as yet. Praful Samantaray, who leads Jana Shakti Abhiyan (People’s Power Campaign ), said the villagers first should get record of rights in their names as per the Forest Dwellers Act. Mr Samantray warned that the captive port would destroy the nesting habitat of the endangered Olive Ridley turtles as well as dolphins , hyenas, jackals and other animals in the forest. “It would destroy mangroves and thereby increasing the intensity of cyclones,” he cautioned adding that people across the state would observe March 10 as protest against state repression on peoples’ movements. (Economic Times 10/3/10) Gujarat falls back in SEZ number game (4) Ahmedabad March 11, 2010, 1:07 IST: Despite being the largest contributor in exports, Gujarat ranks fourth in terms of number of special economic zones (SEZs) operational in the country and fifth in terms of notified SEZs. This, however, hasn’t dampened Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s dream of making Gujarat the ‘SEZ capital of the country’, as the state’s contribution is highest among all other states — over half the country’s overall exports. Gujarat is all set to contribute over Rs 1 lakh crore (its exports crossed Rs 94,000 crore till February) of the total Rs 2 lakh crore exports that the country is expected to touch by end of this financial year. While a major portion of this export would come from Reliance’s Jamnagar SEZ (Rs 75,000 crore), the Surat SEZ is poised to emerge as the country’s second-largest industrial enclave with its exports crossing Rs 20,000 crore, said government sources close to the development. (Business Standard 11/3/10) Anti-displacement organisations stage protest (4) BERHAMPUR: Protest demonstrations were taken out in different parts of south Orissa on Wednesday to oppose the alleged measures of the State government to suppress democratic movements in the State. Twenty-one organisations in the State came together for the protest demonstrations. Major anti-displacement organisations of the State like Niyamgiri Surakhya Samity, Visthapan Virodhi Janmanch of Kalinganagar and Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samity, tribal organisation Lok Sangram Manch (LSM) etc

were part of the group. The activists of the LSM and the All India Kisan Mazdoor Sabha (AIKMS) demonstrated in front of the office of the Revenue Divisional Commissioner (RDC), southern division in Berhampur. They also handed over a memorandum addressed to the Governor at the office. Through the memorandum, the agitators asked the State government to stop police atrocities on democratic movements in Kalinganagar, Narayanpatna and Muniguda. They also wanted the government to release the arrested activists of these democratic movements. The memorandum also demanded end of forcible land acquirement in the name of industrialisation and they opposed the use of natural resources of the State by the multinational companies. The activists were led by AIKMS national committee member Bhalachandra Sarangi and Raghunath Padhi of the LSM. Similar demonstration was also held in Parlakhemundi in front of the office of the Gajapati District Collector under the leadership of State secretary of the LSM Raghunath Nayak. In Sorada of Ganjam district, the demonstrators handed over a memorandum addressed to the governor to the local Block Development Officer. Despite denial of permission by the administration, demonstration was also held at Daringbadi in Kandhamal district under the leadership of tribal activist Kusanath Pradhan. At Muniguda in Rayagada district, Lingaraj Azad of Niyamgiri Surakhya Samity and Haribandhu Kadraka of LSM led the demonstration against the displacement by the alumina project of the Vedanta company. In Bhawanipatna of Kalahandi district, Niyamgiri Surakhya Samity held demonstration in front of the district Collectorate. Protest demonstration was also held in Malkangiri town. (The Hindu 11/3/10) Karat spoons out anti-acquisition tonic (4) Lucknow, March 31: Prakash Karat today said the CPM would fight farmland acquisition across the country, in an apparent bid to pull the party organisation out of its defensive shell post-Singur and Nandigram. CPM activists will hit the streets on April 8 opposing chief minister Mayavati’s plans to acquire 64,000 hectares (1.58 lakh acres) as part of a countrywide agitation whose cornerstone is concern for the poor. “We have made mistakes in Bengal and… suffered electoral reverses,” the CPM general secretary said in Lucknow. “The party will now stand by the poor everywhere,” he added. In Singur, his party was seen by many as standing with industry rather than the farmers. Now, the CPM wants the 1894 law that the Bengal government had used to acquire land in Singur scrapped. “That is an ancient, archaic law, which needs to go,” Karat said. He complained that Mayavati’s plan would tear the poor away from their land. “The acquisition of this huge tract of land will cause land alienation of Dalits and other backward people…. Part of the land is to be used for commercial purposes but farmers are not getting a proper price for their land.” Mayavati hopes to complete acquiring the 64,000 hectares by the year-end for the Ganga Expressway, a 1,047km road running along the river that will connect eastern and western Uttar Pradesh. Karat said: “The party hopes to mobilise 25 lakh workers (across India) on April 8.” A Uttar Pradesh CPM leader said this was the first time the party had formally launched an agitation against land acquisition at the national level. “This is a Karat line with a sharper focus on the future,” said Prem Nath Rai, a member of the state party secretariat. However, the CPM is known to have taken radical positions on issues such as land acquisition in states where it has little or no stake but pursued different policies in places where it is in power. Karat today defended the land acquisition in Singur. “There, the total area of land acquired was much smaller. At least 70 per cent of the farmers had agreed to part with their land.” The so-called new Karat line also proposes a united Opposition against the Congress’s “anti-people economic polici- es and the pro-US nuclear liability law”. It is said to be part of the party’s policy revision in the wake of the electoral reverses and a bid at damage control before the 2011 elections in Bengal and Kerala. “Our new policy will address the grievances of voters in West Bengal,” Karat said, adding: “We (still) have a vote share of 43 per cent. There is no reason for us to be upset.” He has a high personal stake, too. After his controversial decision to withdraw support to the UPA government that facilitated a Congress-Trinamul Congress pact in Bengal last year, the failed attempt at a “third alternative” with Mayavati and the decline in the party’s electoral strength under his watch, a debacle in Bengal and Kerala in 2011 could lead to stiff opposition to his getting a third term as general secretary. Karat is working on issues of land acquisition with other parties. He said he had received suggestions about a new acquisition law from Ajit Singh of the Rashtriya Lok Dal. The new law, he added, should address the “public purpose” of acquisition and ensure a bigger role for the state in deciding compensation and rehabilitation. (Telegraph 1/4/10) NBA plans indefinite agitation from April 13 (4) Indore, Mar 31: The Narmada Bachao Andolan will launch an indefinite agitation from April 13 here to protest a Narmada Control Authority (NCA) plan to construct 17-metre high gates at the Sardar Sarvar Dam in the narmada valley. ''The NCA is scheduled to hold a meeting on April 1 in New Delhi to decide on installing the gates at the dam,'' NBA chief Medha Patkar told media here today. She said the NCA was holding another meeting after March 26 on April 1 on the issue indicated complete disregard of the environment protection norms. Patkar said thousands of tribal farmers from Barwani's Rajghat will march to Indore on April 11 and would start their indefinite agitation in front of NCA office on April 13. She said

there were no serious efforts made by the Madhya Pradesh government to rehabilitate those displaced by the project while alleging that corruption amounting to crores of rupees took place for taking up rehabilitation of the oustees. ''The states of Gujarat and Rajasthan had taken some steps for the rehabilitation of the oustees but the attitude of the Madhya Pradesh government over the issue is shocking,'' Patkar said. More than 2 lakh population would be affected by the NCA plans to construct the gates She said. ''Rampant corruption is taking place in the projects for rehabilitation of the oustees who would be affected by construction of the gate,'' Patkar said. ''The NBA activists had found 758 registries of persons who do not live at all in the yet-to-be affected areas,'' Patkar said. She said the 90 locations chosen for rehabilitation of the oustees are heavily mismanaged. The officials had also not been following the government decision of providing land in exchange for land owned to the oustees. (Central Chronicle 1/4/10) Kalinganagar tense as mobs beat back BJP protesters (4) BHUBANESWAR: Tension gripped Kalinganagar in Orissa's Jajpur district once again on Monday when BJP leaders and workers were prevented from visiting tribal hamlets, where people are opposing road laying and construction of a six million-tonne Tata Steel project. Mobs chased away BJP leaders and workers. BJP State president and former Union Minister Jual Oram was leading a team of 100-odd men and women, which was stopped by about 300 men supporting industrialisation. Several party workers were assaulted. Mr. Oram's vehicle was damaged by the people who prevented the entry of the team into Baligotha village, where the police resorted to lathi charge and firing on March 30. At least four local journalists were beaten up by the mob when they tried to take pictures of the BJP group being chased away and vehicles being damaged. “Policemen from the Jakhapura station, just about 150 metres from the scene, did not intervene when about 300 people supporting the construction of a common corridor road abused us, beat up our party workers and damaged our vehicles,” Mr. Oram told a press conference on his return here from Kalinganagar. “In fact, the road was supposed to be used not as a common corridor by many industries, but as a major passageway to the site earmarked for the proposed steel plant,” Mr. Oram said. “Why not the government itself set up industries on land having no population,” he asked, demanding a halt to the alleged forcible acquisition of land for industries. “Many of those who used force and threw stones at us were supporters of Finance Minister Prafulla Chandra Ghadai. They were armed with iron rods, sticks and pipes.” Charging the Naveen Patnaik government with throwing all democratic norms to the winds in the cause of private companies at Kalinganagar, Mr. Oram demanded that politicians, representatives of mass organisations and journalists be allowed to visit Baligotha and other villages where police action against residents opposing displacement had reached a new high. During their March 30 offensive at Baligotha, the police damaged the houses and other property of activists of the Bisthapan Birodhi Janamanch, which has been spearheading an anti-displacement agitation since January 2006. A few days ago, teams of the BJP, the Congress and the Communist Party of India(Marxist) were denied entry into the area by the police. (The Hindu 6/4/10) Singur reversed? Now, farmers seek govt help to sel l land (4) KOLKATA: Land acquisition in Bengal has taken a backseat. But in some pockets, a reverse trend is emerging. Over the past few months, owners of small plots in several parts of the state and in some cases, groups of farmers have been asking the administration to help in selling off their land because agriculture is not turning out to be viable. West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC) has received many such applications from big and small owners in Burdwan, South 24 Parganas, Howrah and Hooghly. The land on offer ranges from a few hundred bighas to 500-1000 acre. Such appeals have prompted WBIDC to consider framing a specific policy on purchasing these plots and forming a separate pool of land. "If owners are willing to part with their land, then it should not be a problem for us to purchase the plots. Either WBIDC can purchase or facilitate acquisition where there is an industrial body waiting in the wings to take land. It is easier than hunting for land and convincing people. This is land with readymade consent," an industries department official said. Last year, CPM's Burdwan district committee secretary and state committee member Amal Haldar wrote to land minister Abdur Rezzak Mollah requesting that Section IV (I) of the Land Acquisition Act be immediately issued in Kanksha mouza covering 700 acre where farmers were keen to have their land acquired by the state. The farmers have also been mounting pressure on the CPM in this regard. Recently, two other petitions came from the Maro and Ilambazar areas. (Times of India 6/4/10) Govt. accused of failing to protect rights of Adiva sis (4) NEW DELHI: Along the border between Jharkhand and West Bengal about 200 villages share a similar fate. Their cattle are dying, farms and forests shrinking and people battling unemployment, hunger and disease. These villages, like hundreds of others in West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh, are the ones where land from the tillers was taken for establishment of Special Economic Zones and for industrial and mining projects. “These are the things that are hard to miss, but

just the things that the governments want to underplay,” said Partho Sarathi Ray at a day-long session here on Saturday. The session was part of the ongoing Independent People's Tribunal on Land Acquisition, Resource Grab and Operation Green Hunt. The three-day event that concludes on Sunday is being organised by Citizens Against Forced Displacement and War on People. Mr. Ray, who gave a detailed account of the problems faced by people whose land was taken away for the establishment of SEZs in West Bengal, accused the Government of failing to protect the rights of the Adivasis. He drew a link between Maoist insurgency and the Government's failure to protect the interest of the locals. “The only places in these areas that have so-called Maoists are the only areas where you find no SEZs. In Nandigram it took people's violent protest to stop the Tatas from starting their plant. In other area the Maoists have been able to stall SEZs,” he said. In Jhagaram also in West Behgal, sponge iron plants have come up, which have apart from other repercussions caused the shrivelling of orchards. “There are about 33 such plants that are releasing such harmful effluents that the nearby mango orchards have begun shrinking,” said Mr. Ray. Accusing the Government of overlooking the interests of the locals, he alleged: “There are no positive interventions from the State, the Government's only response has been Operation Green Hunt, which they think is a developmental step.” Testimonies like this from various other States will be heard by a jury comprising Justice P. B. Sawant, Justice H. Suresh, Admiral Tahiliani, Professor Yash Pal, Dr. Mohini Giri and Dr. P.M. Bhargava.(The Hindu 11/4/10) SC defers hearing on Mundra SEZ (4) The Supreme Court today deferred for three weeks the hearing on the petition filed by Gujarat fishermen challenging the allocation of 600 acre of land for Rs 7,400-crore multi-product Special Economic Zone (SEZ) promoted by Adani Group of companies in the state on the ground that it comes under protected maritime zone. The fishermen had filed the petitions in 2008 alleging the land alloed for the SEZ falls in the areas that come within the purview of the Coastal Regulation Zone. The apex court had in August 2009 issued notices to the Adani Group of Companies, the Centre and others on a plea seeking a halt to work on the project. Though, a Bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan, adjourned the matter, the proponents of the project submitted that an independent agency should be allowed to visit the areas to ascertain the fact. Besides Adani, the Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Environment and Forests and Mundra Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd, Gujarat government, Gujarat Pollution Control Board and others are named as parties to the petition. Mundra SEZ, established under the SEZ Act of 2005, is proposed to come up on about 6,000 acre of land. The Gujarat High Court had, in its interim order, rejected the plea of the fishermen for staying the development activities at Mundra SEZ. The fishermen have assailed the filling and construction activity in the Coastal Regulation Zone undertaken by the Adani group in the creeks situated in Mundra area of Kutch district. According to the petitioners, the company, after allotment of an additional area of 2113.7962 hectare of land, had undertaken construction and development activity for the additional SEZ without obtaining prior environmental clearance as mandated by the Ministry of Environment and Forests' notification of September 14, 2006. The fishermen have alleged the Adani Group had constructed an air strip and airport, residential township, roads and fencing and reclaimed water front area and filled up creeks, which was in violation of the notification. (Business Standard 12/4/10) Farmers seek SEZ lands back (4) Ongole, April 12: The three-day state meet of the AP Rytu Coolie Sangham (APRCS) started here on Monday in which farmers from all over the state participated. The Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) central committee member, Mr S.D. Basu (associate of Kanu Sanyal), inaugurated the martyrs’ memorial while APRCS state president Ms Simhadri Jhansi hoisted the flag. Renowned scientist Mr K.R. Chowdary said that farmers were debt-ridden due to the failure of government in providing loans. He alleged that government had allotted 12 lakh acres of fertile land to multinational companies in the name of special economic zones (SEZ) and left farmers unemployed. He demanded immediate annulment of land allocation to SEZs. Retired IAS officer and president of Bharat Jana Andolan, Mr B.D. Sharma, said that despite Act 1/70 to protect lands of tribals, government had taken away their lands in the name of SEZs. Renowned writer Singamaneni Narayana and other leaders alleged that government was trying to snatch away 28,000 acres of fertile lands in Prakasam district for the Vodarevu and Nizampatnam Ports Industrial Corridor. The meet observed two minutes of silence for the death of Communist leaders Pyla Vasudeva Rao, Kanu Sanyal, Omkar, N.V. Krishnaiah, B.N. Reddy, B. Ramakrishna and others. Mr Chowdary released Rendu Desala Katha, a book written by Dr Sharma on the occasion. Thimsa, Tappetagullu, Kinjiri, Rela, Kolatam and other tribal traditional dances were staged by cultural groups on the occasion. Later in the evening, a rally was taken out in the town and a public meet organised at PVR high school grounds in which speakers demanded cancellation of thermal power projects at Kotipam, Santabommali, Sompeta and Kanaparti of the state and annulling allocation of fertile lands to SEZs and MNCs.(Deccan Chronicle 13/4/10)

Bengal still waiting to hear from Mamata on Singur (4) New Delhi April 16, 2010: Both the warring sides claim they are keen to see industry come up in Singur — the abandoned site of the Nano factory near Kolkata. But nine months after the decision to relocate the Nano factory, there has been no forward movement on setting up an industry in Singur. West Bengal Industry Minister Nirupam Sen told Business Standard: “We are yet to hear from the railways and are awaiting a concrete proposal from them.” Sen also claimed he had the assurance from the Tatas that should the government want to set up industry on the land, they would create no problems in handing over the land. “Ratan Tata has told me personally that if there is a good, well-conceived proposal to set up an industry, he will immediately hand over the land to the government.” The Singur plot consists of almost 1,000 acres. According to Sen, while the Tatas hold most of it, a few other vendors have also been given the lease. This is in stark contrast to the concerns of Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee. During her Budget speech, Banerjee had mentioned that her ministry was keen to set up a railway coach factory at Singur, but was not sure if the state government could give the land. “I will build a factory if I get 600 acres of that land and the state government returns the rest to the farmers. But there is a big question mark on whether the state government can give the land,” she had said on February 24 during her Budget speech. Sen, however, said today that the railway ministry was yet to give any concrete proposal on its coach factory. “We had written two letters. We had asked them to visit the site and tell us which part of the plot they wanted to use. We have no idea about her (Mamata Banerjee’s) plans. We only hear from news reports that she wants to build a rail factory in Singur.” Banerjee, however, has made it clear that she wants to use only 600 acres of the Singur plot and build a coach factory, provided the West Bengal government returns the rest of the land to “unwilling farmers”. An amused Sen today quipped: “I don’t know if there is a precedence of returning land in this manner, anywhere in India. The railway and the defence ministry are the largest acquirers of land. These land acquisitions are done by state governments. Can you show me an example where the railway ministry has told the state to return land to farmers?” Sen, however, admitted that the state government was yet to find an appropriate willing investor to set up an industry in Singur. Another Central PSU — Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) — had shown interest and even surveyed the plot to build a power plant. But it reported back that the plot was not suitable for a power plant. In August last year, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee had announced for the first time that she wanted to build a railway factory in Singur. The CPI(M)-led state government initially wanted to set up an alternative automobile hub, but soon had to change its mind and show interest in Banerjee’s proposal, as it found no suitable investor. A Chinese company had said it was interested, but the Left-ruled state didn’t find the proposal encouraging. Singur now waits for its turn to get a factory, while the war of words between the state government and the railway ministry continues. (Business Standard 16/4/2010) West Bengal to give land to underprivileged (4) Kolkata: The West Bengal government is planning to distribute for free at least 200,000 acres of state-owned land among underprivileged people in a bid to regain the political support it lost after the forcible acquisition of land for industrial projects. Gaining favour: A file photo of the Nano unit in Singur that Tata Motors had to abandon. After forcibly acquiring land for various projects, the state government plans to distribute 200,000 acres of land for free. The takeover of some 10,000 acres of farmland had resulted in the Left Front government led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist), or CPM, losing votes in the 2008 village council polls and the 2009 general election, reversing the result of the 2006 assembly polls. The state government is now trying to make amends by distributing land, both in cities and in rural areas, before the assembly elections scheduled for next year. The proposed largesse will benefit at least one million families, according to the state’s land and land reforms minister Abdur Rezzak Mollah. “It is an attempt to regain the confidence of people who have left us,” said Mollah, whose department is coordinating with others for implementing various schemes under which land will be distributed. The schemes would mostly benefit people who have built homes on state-owned land and those tilling the soil for absentee landlords. While announcing the first scheme on 18 February, West Bengal’s finance minister Asim Dasgupta had said the state would lease out land for free for 99 years to the “urban poor”, or people who have been occupying state-owned land for more than 20 years and earn less than Rs6,000 a month. Under the scheme, land under 25 municipal bodies is to be distributed, benefiting some 400,000 people. Another scheme was announced later to benefit agricultural workers, artisans, fishermen and other financially challenged people. Not only is the lease premium being waived for them, the state government is even going to offer a discount on the annual lease rent, according to Mollah. The state government typically charges 0.3% of the value of land as annual lease rent. “Even this could be huge, particularly for land in the urban areas,” he said. Apart from this, the state government is planning to transfer perpetual tilling rights of some 170,000 acres of farmland to people who currently cultivate them. “In West Bengal, there are vast tracts of land owned by absentee landlords,” Mollah said. “The state government would seize them under the Land Reforms Act, and distribute them among people who till them.” Though people would not have the right to sell tracts of land thus secured, they would have a

perpetual right to cultivate them for a living. The state government has through the decades brought under its control large tracts of land under its celebrated land reforms programme, but hasn’t distributed everything that it seized from large landowners, said Abhirup Sarkar, political observer and professor of economics at Kolkata’s Indian Statistical Institute……. (Mint 3/5/10) In Calcutta, Left speaks industry (4) Calcutta, May 3: The scrapping of the Nano project in Singur and derailment of industrialisation today resurfaced as major poll planks for the CPM and its allies in the Calcutta civic polls. “Industrialisation.... is the guarantee for the city’s development. No city can develop with the huge burden of jobless youths,’’ says the Left Front manifesto for the city. Its manifesto for the 80 other civic bodies going to the polls with the Calcutta Municipal Corporation on May 30 had not even mentioned the word industrialisation, a political hot potato after successive poll debacles since Singur and Nandigram. But today’s stress on the need for industry and the blame on Trinamul for Nano’s exit indicated a different assessment of the city’s mood. “The decision to set up the car unit was not wrong. It was mainly Trinamul which obstructed it,’’ CPM state secretary and front chief Biman Bose said. Even if the manifesto kept mum on Nandigram, a sore point within the front, the revival of the Singur issue underlined the CPM’s hope of deflating Mamata Banerjee’s development plank as railway minister. “The Nano is now stockpiled in the rail minister’s godown (auto hub in Shalimar) while Singur is left with a haunted structure (of the car factory). What dream of development will Calcuttans have while voting?’’ the manifesto asks. CPM leaders admitted that the Nano had failed to arrest the erosion in its middle-class support base in the Lok Sabha elections last May and the Assembly bypolls after that. But recent victories of the SFI in college and university polls have made them hopeful of winning over young and educated but jobless voters. (Telegraph 4/5/10) SEZ management draws flak for ignoring farmers (4) Tirupati, May 4: The BJP National Executive Committee members, Mr Bandaru Dattatreya and Ms K. Shanta Reddy, on Tuesday extensively toured the villages in Satyavedu and Varadaiahpalem mandals and received complaints from the farmers that the Sri City SEZ management had not paid them the promised compensation for their acquired lands and resorted to forcible occupation of agriculture lands at some villages adjoining the SEZ. Speaking to reporters, the BJP leaders criticised the Sri City management for their false promises to the farmers. “Some of the farmers who surrendered their lands to the SEZ at cheaper rates were duped that their children would be provided jobs, which in fact, is not real. The farmers had turned into farm labourers. We also received complaints that the SEZ management made under and partial payments to the farmers at some villages.” The BJP leaders, who also visited the Pulicat lake at Sullurpeta, maintained that during their interaction with the farmers and fishermen, it was revealed that the number of winged migrants had been dwindling each year due to growing pollution. They expressed concern at the proximity of the Sri City SEZ and DTZ to the bird sanctuaries of Nelapattu and Pulicat. They demanded that the Central government should declare the buffer zone between the industrial belt and the bird sanctuaries. Meanwhile, the Sri City officials said that the SEZ and DTZ would not allow the entry of any polluting industry. “We have already signed the relevant agreements with the Central government agencies to protect the environment. As the SEZ is located about 60 km away from Pulicat and that the entire zone is strictly non-polluting, it would in no way affect the bird sanctuaries.” (Deccan Chronicle 5/5/10) Cyber park to complete land acquisition soon (4) Chennai/ Kochi May 06: The proposed cyber park at Kozhikode on Wednesday got the draft declaration approved by the land revenue commissioner, which enables speedy acquisition of land for the first mega IT project in the Malabar region. Binu Pazhoor, CEO of Cyber Parks division under the IT department, said land acquisition of the 43 acres would be completed soon. He said 150,000 sft of the first IT building with a total built-up area of 400,000 sft would be ready for commercial launch by early next year. The foundation stone laying ceremony is scheduled for this month end. In the first phase, the project is expected to generate 1,500 direct employment and 3 million sft of built-up space. Upon completion of the second phase in 2015, it will generate a total of around 30,000 direct employment. Construction work will commence in July, this year. Cyber park is being developed as a hub and spoke model in the northern part of the state. While the hub is being built on 43 acres in Kozhikode, the spokes will be set up in Kannur and Kasaragod districts. The park will provide special economic zone (SEZ) and non SEZ space for clients serving domestic and international markets. It will also provide basic infrastructure such as a 110 KV substation, rain water harvesting and waste water recycling and eco friendly waste management, an IT department release said. (Business Standard 6/5/10) Violation of rights: Chandy (4) KOCHI: The State government has violated basic human rights and ignored the sentiments of the masses in the Kinaloor incident, said Leader of the Opposition Oommen Chandy. He was addressing the

gathering after inaugurating the political session of the Indian Lawyers Congress here on Sunday. Mr. Chandy accused the CPI(M) of resorting to violence in Kinaloor, as in Nandigram, against people, including women and children, who were protesting against the survey for a 100-metre-wide road. The police action took place the very next day after an all-party meeting, led by the Chief Minister, petitioned the Prime Minister to reduce the width of the new National Highways to 30 metres.The government was insensitive to the sentiments of the people and chose to ignore it, he said. While Industries Minister Elamaram Karim had gone on record stating that the trouble at Kinaloor was caused by outsiders, the police had registered cases against 150 locals charging them with attempt to murder. Even the authorities, including the District Collector and the Minister, had given different versions regarding the proposed project, he said. Mr. Chandy alleged that there was complete breakdown of law and order situation and the State government was violating human rights. It even went against its legal and constitutional obligations, he alleged. D. Vijayakumar, vice-president of the organisation, presided. M.I. Shanavas, MP; K. Babu, MLA; K.C. Mittal, general secretary, Legal Cell and Human Rights Department of the All India Congress Committee; N Venugopal, KPCC general secretary; organisation leaders T.Asaf Ali and Tomy Kallani; were among those who spoke.(The Hindu 10/5/10) Eviction in Orissa, unlike in Nandigram (4) May 15: Orissa police today cleared the entry point to Posco’s proposed factory site for the first time in five years, evoking images of the Nandigram land war but so far without the body count that changed the course of Bengal politics three years ago. A 1,500-strong police team fired rubber bullets to disperse “bomb-throwing” land protesters gathered under the banner of the Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti. The clash at Balitutha near Paradip, 110km east of Bhubaneswar, injured at least 15 of the 1,000-odd anti-land acquisition agitators — mostly women and children — who had been on a dharna at the site since January 26. Officers claimed the mob had hurled crude bombs, injuring five policemen. South Korean steel major Posco had signed a pact with the Orissa government in June 2005 for a $12-billion plant — one of the largest foreign direct investments in India — near Paradip in Jagatsinghpur. But the project failed to take off because the residents of Dhinkia, Gadakujanga and Nuagaon — the gram panchayats covered by the proposed plant site — blocked the entry of Posco officials. Today’s police action — perhaps prompted by Posco’s decision to explore opportunities in neighbouring Jharkhand — has given the Jagatsinghpur district administration access to the proposed plant site for the first time since 2005. Sources said the administration now planned to enter Dhinkia and Nuagaon to free up the entire site. “We will not allow land acquisition at any cost. We are prepared to lay down our lives,” said Sangram Samiti chief Abhay Sahu. The Orissa dispersal raises the question whether the Bengal government could have averted the Nandigram flare-up by either waiting out the protesters or launching action only after putting in place crowd-control measures. Bengal police had claimed they did use rubber bullets on March 14, 2007, but the day ended with 14 bodies on the field. Modern crowd-management equipment were absent, not to mention lack of planning. In Orissa today, 1,500 policemen cleared 1,000 protesters. In Nandigram, less than half — 700 — were deployed to tackle a crowd of 5,000. “We had given a long rope to the people,” said Jagatsinghpur collector Narayan Chandra Jena. Unforeseen events can still take place in Orissa. But the key factor that differentiates Bengal and Orissa appears to be politics. A year before Nandigram, 14 people were killed in Kalinga Nagar while resisting the construction of a boundary wall for a Tata project. The number of casualties in the Nandigram March 14 firing and that in Kalinga Nagar was the same but the fallout different. Nandigram became a national issue, Kalinga Nagar remained a local problem — so much so that a section of the state BJP that wanted to withdraw support to the Patnaik government was cold-shouldered by the party’s national leadership. “There was no Mamata Banerjee in Orissa. The Congress, the main Opposition party in the state, did not pursue the issue,” said a leader of the ruling Biju Janata Dal. The CPI has taken up the cause of the villagers protesting against the Posco project but the party has so far not whipped up the rebellious mood that marked the Nandigram agitation. The party, whose MP was arrested today to prevent him from heading to the trouble spot, has now threatened to launch a statewide agitation. The Left parties, including the CPM, condemned the police action. (Telegraph 16/5/10) SEZs: tall on promise, short on delivery (4) HYDERABAD: Five years after the Special Economic Zones (SEZ) Act, it is a case of high on promises and low on achievements. While the government asserts that its SEZ policy had worked wonders in attracting investments, boosting exports, creating infrastructure and generating employment, civil society groups continue to be sceptical. “The government's claims are highly exaggerated on all counts. None of the milestones it has set have been achieved. Moreover, these claims will have to be weighed against the large-scale displacement of poor farmers ,” says Usha Seethalakshmi, who did extensive research and conducted people's audit on SEZs. “What is the point in claiming to have generated employment for 55,000 after five years while displacing poor and vulnerable sections ten times over?” she asks. She told The Hindu that Chief Minister K. Rosaiah's recent projection, that there would be Rs. 70,000 crore

infrastructure development in 73 SEZs creating 25 lakh jobs was in contrast to ground realities. When the Central government's investment projection for all the 346 SEZs in the country is Rs. 40,000 crore, how could it be Rs. 70,000 crore for the State alone, she wonders. Surprisingly responding to her RTI application, the AP Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) failed to divulge specific information on the extent of land acquired so far, actual number of units commissioned and employment generated. The Corporation responded in general terms focussing on projections. Several features stand out in the development of SEZs in the State during the last five years. Large tracts of extents of land have been acquired and handed over to corporate firms, some of them with dubious records. Real estate development appeared to be the main attraction than exports. A majority of the companies were IT-related, which strangely require less space. Lot of pre-existing industrial parks have been converted into IT and other SEZs overnight to boost “SEZ achievements” providing double the incentives and concessions while those displaced have been left high and dry. From growth centre to green industries park and now to pharma SEZ, the 15-year transformation might have helped the industrialists and entrepreneurs while the displaced persons continue to fight for justice . When a two-day national people's audit of SEZs was held in New Delhi recently, the eminent panellists like K.B. Saxena, member of Central Land Committee, Devaki Jain, development economist, Ashish Kothari, environmentalist, Admiral L. Ramdas, former Chief of Naval Staff and Kuldip Nayar, senior journalist called for repeal of SEZ Act, not to consider pending applications and a review of approved SEZs through a participatory public process. (The Hindu 17/5/10) After tribal protests, Forest Act coming in the way of Posco project? (4) NEW DELHI: Even as violence has broken out in Jagatsinghpur district of Orissa, the only thing preventing the Orissa government from securing the 1,253.225 hectares of forest land for Posco’s integrated steel plant, ironically, is the Forest Rights Act — a legislation that many conservationists opposed initially and now find is the only point of defence left for the three villages in the eye of the storm to block the take over. On Tuesday, the Union environment and forests ministry clarified that it had yet to give the green light to the Posco project and was awaiting clarifications from the Orissa government. To the contrary, the state government has claimed in its correspondence with the Centre that it had completed all formalities under the Forest Rights Act and the local population had made no claims or the communities under the legislation to claim back traditional forestlands. The Union environment and forest ministry had on December 29, 2009, given a conditional approval for diversion of the forestland for the steel plant, laying down several conditions, with the implementation of the Forest Rights Act being the key hurdle. In reply to the conditions imposed the Orissa government claimed that there were no tribal people in the proposed ‘Posco area’ either cultivating or residing in the forestland and that no other traditional forest dwellers are in cultivating possession of the land for three generations. Tribal activists on the other hand warned that the environment ministry had erred in the first part by giving a ‘conditional’ clearance to the project despite the state government not having complied with the Act, which requires the government to settle all rights in a forest area before it initiates the process of displacement for any project and seek permission of the gram sabha before displacement. Under the Act, individuals as well as communities are permitted to file claims asking for rights over forestlands that have traditionally been theirs. With the Orissa government having filed purported gram sabha resolutions from the area under contention supporting its moves in Oriya language the environment ministry has now asked for translations of the village resolutions. (The Economic Times 19/5/10) SEZ is land grab by modern zamindars, say economist s (4) Kendrapada: The Special Economic Zone (SEZ) is a manifestation of excessive greed of the business houses and multinational companies after appropriating the fruits of reckless liberalisation and senseless privatisation, said local economist Gangadhar Sahu. The rapid expansion of SEZ will lead to environment degradation since it violates CRZ rules in many cases, Sahu added, elaborating further that the SEZs in the coastal region may dump industrial waste in the sea. The fishermen, landless agricultural labourers, Dalits, tribals and the marginalised sections will suffer due to degradation of environmental assets such as water bodies, sea shores, creeks, forest and other common property resources. It will lead to loss of local livelihood because of diversion of agricultural land to non-agricultural land.Moreover, employment opportunities will be available to only skilled labourers, he observed. SEZ is a kind of land grab which has created new and modern zamindars and has debased the life of the farmers, tribals and the poor. Around 40 per cent of land acquired by the SEZs in India, belonged to the tribals. The SEZs are only benefiting the big business and multinationals who are getting various exemptions from labour law and tax rules, informed the economist. According to Sahu, there are only five SEZs in China in 27 years since 1980 whereas in India up to August 2007, the number of SEZ so far approved is 341. The land acquired for approved SEZs in India is 1, 26, 077 hectare by May 2008. The proposal for establishing one SEZ on 35,000 hectare near Mumbai by the Reliance Industries was cancelled through voting system where more than 98 per cent of the affected farmers rejected the proposal though notice was issued to them.In

Odisha, number of the SEZs with formal approval is six. The earlier sanctioned SEZs were the Vedanta Alumina Ltd at Jharsuguda, Posco near Paradip, Hindalco at Lapanga in Sambalpur district and two in the Kalinga Nagar area. Recently, sanctioned SEZs are IDCO's Infocity at Bhubaneswar and TATA Gopalpur SEZ, earlier acquired for the production of steel. There are many adverse effects of SEZs. First, there will be revenue loss of Rs 1,00,000 crore per annum due to the tax sops as estimated by the Union Finance Ministry, stated Bhubaneswar-based Development Research Institute (DRI) economist Kishore Chandra Samal while addressing a seminar recently at the Kendrapada Autonomous College. However, according to the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP), the loss will be more at Rs 1,70,000 crore of taxes, including more than half towards the direct tax.The SEZ schemes will increase regional imbalance if there will be no linkage effects of the SEZs as warned by the Reserve Bank of India, Samal informed.The old and existing small units outside the SEZ will not be able to compete and hence will suffer. The big units may relocate to the SEZ and this will be more in poor State like Odisha, where large number of mineral- processing industries are coming to invest in the liberalised era. As a consequence, the State Government will lose huge amount of tax revenue. Thus, regional imbalance will grow inside the country as it happened in China as well as inside the State of Odisha, Samal observed. (Pioneer 27/5/10) Push for SEZs, retail trade sector (4) New Delhi, February 27, 2010: Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s push for special economic zones (SEZs) and suggestion to open up retail trade has brought the two issues back to the centre-stage of UPA politics. In his speech, Mukherjee said the Centre was committed to ensuring continued growth of SEZs to draw investments and boost export and employment. “SEZs have attracted significant flows of domestic and foreign investments. In first three quarters of 2009-10, exports from SEZs recorded a growth of 127 per cent over the corresponding period last year.” The Trinamool Congress has been openly opposed to the move. Party chief and Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee had sought a re-look at the SEZ policy and led the agitations against the Nandigram SEZ and the Tata Motors’ plant at Singur in West Bengal. Some Congress leaders privately admitted that the policy would cause large-scale displacement, widen regional imbalances and spur social conflicts. In spite of the murmurs within the party, the Congress officially welcomed the announcement. “It is good that the focus on the export potential of SEZs will continue,” said spokesperson Manish Tewari. Mukherjee also suggested opening up the retail sector to counter rising prices. He said there was a political constituency for the move, given that the cost of intermediation was one of the main factors behind price hike. The UPA has come under fire from both the Opposition and the allies over the price issue. “There is a huge cost of intermediation from farm gate to kitchen,” he said, as there was a gap of Rs 6-7 per kg between wholesale and retail prices. The move would help bring down the difference between the farm gate prices, wholesale prices and retail prices. To push his argument, Mukherjee quoted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh: “We need greater competition and therefore need to take a firm view on opening up of the retail trade.” But his suggestion had few takers. The BJP said it was opposed to any backdoor entry of FDI in retail. “We see this happening in coal sector where the government is appointing a regulator when it is the sole player,” party spokesman Prakash Javdekar said. (Hindustan Times 27/5/10) Let down by agriculture, villagers counting on stee l prosperity (4) KULPENI (West Bengal): Fifty-five-year-old Bulu Sheet’s eyes light up as he speaks about the prosperity that the 10,000-million-tonne steel plant, to be set up by the JSW Steel near this village in Paschim Medinipur district will bring to locals. Thatching the roof of his house, along which the boundary wall of the plant runs, the landless labourer expressed the hope that his three sons would get jobs once the project came up. The 4,454-acre barren laterite land, which the JSW Steel has acquired for the Rs. 35,000-crore project, holds out promise of a bright future for the locals. Following the opposition at Singur and Nandigram to West Bengal’s journey towards industrialisation, the announcement of this project provided the much-needed optimism for a better livelihood to the local populace. However, the landmine explosion triggered by Maoists targeting Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s convoy on November 2, 2008, while he was on his way back after laying the foundation stone, and the subsequent escalation of Maoist violence in the region as well as the economic downturn slackened the pace of the project, leaving the residents swaying between hope and despair. During a recent visit to the site, it was found that even as the company began raising the boundary wall, employing local people for the purpose, educated youth in the area were anxiously waiting for the commencement of the project. Dipak Mahato (22), studying for a master’s degree at Vidyasagar University, dreams of getting a job at the plant some day. “My family had willingly given up agricultural land for the project for a job. Though the compensation was adequate, it is fast drying up in the absence of any other source of income. So the sooner the project starts, the better for young men like me,” he said. Admitting that farm yield in the region was always below par and job opportunities were scarce, Biren Santra said the villagers unanimously supported the project. Biren had given up his plumber’s job in Kolkata and opened a grocery-cum-restaurant at the entrance of the project site, hoping for a better future. While every villager across social sections is vocal against Maoist violence

and believes that it is hampering development in the region, no would discuss politics. “What do we have to do with politics and politicians? Our only demand is that the project come up soon and we will support anyone who works towards it. Other than that, political debates only make good media stories but leave poor people like us in the lurch,” says the middle-aged Haladhar Manna. The ground-breaking work at the plant site at Salboni is expected to start by October, a senior official of the company told The Hindu on Thursday. To be implemented in three phases, the first phase of the plant with an annual capacity of three million tonne was expected to start operating within 30 months of the commencement of the ground-breaking work, the official said. (The Hindu 28/5/10) Probe agencies’ right on SEZs sparks inter-minister ial row (4) New Delhi: The freedom of investigating agencies to enter into Special Economic Zones (SEZs) to probe into economic offenses such as money laundering has become a major bone of contention between the finance ministry and the commerce ministry. The differences could now reach the court room soon. While the commerce ministry wants to protect SEZ units from ‘the interference’ of various intelligence agencies like the CBI, Enforcement Directorate (ED), Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) and officials dealing with law and order, narcotics and environment, the finance ministry wants to ensure that there is no safe haven in the country that is not accessible to agencies probing into white collar crimes. On May 7, commerce ministry withdrew the freedom it gave to intelligence and enforcement agencies to enter inside SEZs and investigate offenses without securing any permission from the SEZ’s development commissioner (DC)—the sole official responsible for the zone. The freedom was given on November 30 last year as visiting officials from Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an inter-governmental body that sets global benchmarks on legislation to prevent terror funding and money laundering, wanted to know how fool proof India’s SEZ rules and regulations were. Keen to get membership of FATF, the government in December assured FATF officials that that there is no safe haven in India, that economic intelligence agencies cannot freely access, said a source. Subsequently, on May 7, the commerce ministry withdrew that freedom. A week ago, the commerce ministry brought to force a few sections in the SEZ rules (20-21) that mandated it to notify certain offenses and who should exclusively investigate them, said a ministry official. Commerce ministry, which is mandated to facilitate export growth, does not want too many agencies to interrupt export production in the name of investigations. But for these agencies, the concern is that the absence of deterrence could encourage illegal cross-border fund transfer and terror funding through SEZ units. Several SEZ units are now fighting cases regarding smuggling of finished jewellery from Europe and alleged imports of plastic waste. Since only one class of offense has been notified under SEZ rules—violations of the Foreign Trade Development and Regulation Act of 1992 to be investigated by the DC—intelligence and enforcement agencies cannot enter SEZs without the DC’s permission, said the official. Field officers of one of the enforcement agencies told FE that investigations are best done discreetly maintaining its secrecy till the last... (Financial Express 4/6/10) Cease hostilities against Adivasis, Centre urged (4 ) Madikeri: Various tribal organisations that met at the Avaregunda hadi (settlement) in Virajpet taluk in Kodagu a few days ago urged the Centre to immediately end hostilities against the Adviasi people and traditional forest dwellers in certain parts of the country. The meeting was hosted by the Budakattu Krishikara Sangha (BKS), a tribal organisation in Kodagu. It was attended by representatives of the National Adivasi Andolan, National Adivasi Alliance, South Asian Dialogue on Ecological Democracy (SADED) and Tamil Nadu Core Team (TNCT), a press release by national convener of the National Adivasi Alliance Vijayasingh Ronald David said here on Friday. The violence unleashed on the tribal people in the name of anti-Maoist operations must stop and the money spent by the Union Government on this must be diverted to enhancing the skills of Adivasi youth and for other welfare activities, the meet resolved. The Centre should involve the Maoists in dialogue to resolve any conflicts in Adivasi areas, the representatives said. The organisations demanded that Adivasi lands be allotted to them according to the provisions of the Scheduled Tribe and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Rights) Act in all States. Forest and Revenue officials should act according to the recommendations of gram sabhas in allotting land entitlements under the Act. Community Forest Rights provisioned under the Forest Rights Act should be implemented, they demanded. Union and the State governments should respect the constitutional provisions of tribal autonomy enshrined in the Act and give them complete control over their habitats and natural resources. The Government and civil society should respect the Adivasi development model, they said. The meet urged the Centre and State governments to cancel all MoUs signed with national and international firms to set up industries and for mining in Adivasi areas. “We demand the scrapping of the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Act,” a resolution said. The Adivasi people demanded a judicial inquiry into the cases of alleged police highhandedness. Cases of sexual assault on Adivasi women by security forces should be taken seriously and the accused should be tried in fast-track courts, they said. The Adivasi people were also against the practice of recruiting special police officers from the Adivasi areas of Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Jharkhand and West Bengal. They urged authorities to disband

Salwa Judum and sought the rehabilitation of families displaced by it. The representatives opposed displacement of Adivasi families from national parks, sanctuaries and Project Tiger areas. The meeting was attended by Bhuvan Pathak of SADED from New Delhi, Martin from the TNCT and members of the Adivasi community. President of BKS Kodagu J.P. Raju presided. (The Hindu 5/6/10) Left reforms land scheme to win back rural voters ( 4) KOLKATA: If land reforms was the Left Front’s main plank to win successive elections till the late ’80s, its safest bet more than a couple of decades later and at a time it’s rapidly losing ground in Bengal seems to be land again. The strategy is simple — buy land from farmers at 25% above the market price and distribute it among the landless. The revision in rates, from the earlier 10%, is to override any problem the administration might face while buying land, wary as the state government is about the purchase of private land after the land stirs at Singur and Nandigram. The state is now planning to go all out with this ‘land gift scheme’, with a focus on scheduled castes and tribes, in hope that it can help win over the rural poor. The land is expected to come from small and mid-level farmers who till their own land. The government is not interested in buying land from absentee landlords or big farmers because their land is tilled by barga labourers. “We are not interested in buying barga land,” said state land and land reforms minister Abdur Rezzak Molla. He added, justifying the move: “Even if the poor farmer sells his land, who is buying it? It’s either big farmers or people from other professions, such as schoolteachers, who buy the land hoping to make a fast buck as prices rise. The government will, instead, buy the land, pay 25% extra to the poor farmer and then distribute the land among the landless.” (Times of India 6/6/10) KRRS rallies farmers against land acquisition for p ower grid (4) Askihal (Raichur district): The proposed setting up of a power grid by the Power Grid Corporation of India (PGIC) near Askihal village, 5 km from Raichur, has encountered problems as farmers are opposing the acquisition of land at the proposed site. Activists led by Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha State vice-president Chamarasa Malipatil, honorary president Amaranna Gudihal and district president Laxmangouda Kadagamdoddi on Monday put up a board challenging the Government's decision to acquire the land. The green board read: “This is the land of farmers. No officials are allowed to enter it without permission.” Addressing a gathering at the site, Mr. Malipatil alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party Government in the State had taken a unilateral decision on acquisition of fertile land for industrial purposes. Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, who had taken oath in the name of farmers, had failed to protect their interests and those of agricultural labourers. Such an attitude would not only affect the agricultural economy, but also throw farmers on the streets. He said the Government had also acquired land for special economic zones (SEZs) to favour industrialists. Instead of fertile land, the Government should identify dry and waste land for the purpose, and acquire it after negotiating the price with the farmers, he said. Mr. Malipatil told presspersons said that the farmers were ready to sell their land for the proposed project, but not fertile land. Farmers wanted Rs. 25 lakh an acre for their land, he said and added that if their demands were not met, they would intensify their agitation. The PGCL requires 92 acres of land for the project. Land was recently identified near Askihal village for the project, and the district administration was urged to initiate action to acquire the land. However, landowners in the village expressed their opposition when Deputy Commissioner V. Anbu Kumar convened a meeting of farmers last week. They were told that they would be offered a maximum compensation of Rs. 4 lakh an acre. Farmers wanted Rs. 25 lakh an acre, but the district administration rejected it and said the price would be limited to Rs.11 lakh an acre. The district administration had indicated that it would take necessary action to acquire the land at Askihal village, even if the farmers were not ready to accept the final offer. The issue was kept pending as the Deputy Commissioner had submitted a report to the State Government seeking its permission on the proposed acquisition of the land. Meanwhile, the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha , which is against the acquisition of land without the consent of farmers, mobilised them to oppose the Government. (The Hindu 8/6/10) Govt approves six new proposals to set up SEZs (4) New Delhi, June 8: The government today approved six applications for setting up new Special Economic Zones in the country, including proposals from L&T and Hindalco, while the Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Haryana SEZ has been given a time extension. The inter-ministerial Board of Approval (BoA), the nodal body for SEZ related matters, also allowed developers to withdraw four of their SEZ proposals. The applicants, which included Bata India, had cited a slowdown in the IT industry as the reason for pulling out of the projects. Despite some developers pulling out of their SEZ projects, renewed interest from industrial investors is visible in the tax-free enclaves due to the smart recovery in economic activity. Realty major DLF, which had withdrawn four SEZ proposals last year, received permission for revival of one such project in Kolkata. Along with the Reliance Haryana SEZ, which will come up on the outskirts of the National Capital Region, 32 other developers have been given time extensions to execute their projects. These include TCS, Uttam Galva, Unitech Reality Projects Ltd and the Navi Mumbai SEZ. "The Board of

Approval (BoA) has approved the requests for extension of time of all the developers," Commerce Ministry Additional Secretary D K Mittal told reporters here after the BoA meeting. The Navi Mumbai SEZ had sought additional time for establishing its three IT zones in Maharashtra. The company has been facing problems in land acquisition. TCS had also asked for additional time for its IT SEZ in Gujarat. Over 100 promoters which had sought time in the wake of the economic slowdown last year have already been granted extra time for implementation of their projects. While engineering major L&T has received clearance for a Karnataka SEZ for IT, it has withdrawn a similar project for Mumbai. The government has given formal approval for setting up 574 SEZs, of which 353 tax-free zones have been notified in different parts of the country. Exports from SEZs were valued at Rs 2.20 lakh crore in 2009-10, up 121.29 per cent from the previous fiscal (Central Chronicle 9/6/10) Govt assures "good package" for Posco villagers (4) Bhubaneswar, June 19, 2010: Expressing its commitment to restore peace at Posco's proposed project site near Paradip, Orissa government has promised a "good package" for the people likely to be affected by the mega steel plant of the Korean company. "I have told the delegation of United Action Committee (UAC) that a good rehabilitation package will be worked out," Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik told reporters on Friday after an hour-long talk with a delegation of a pro-project group. Patnaik, who held a similar discussion with the anti-Posco group on June 13, said, "Peace must be maintained at the project site." Patnaik also accepted an invitation from the UAC to visit the proposed plant site villages at an "appropriate time." A 15-member UAC delegation, led by its president Anadi Rout also urged the chief minister to address a public meeting and announce establishment of the Rs 52,000-crore steel project mooted by the South Korean steel major. Unlike CPI-backed Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS), UAC made it clear that they favoured establishment of the steel plant as it would improve socio-economic condition of the people who were virtually staying in an island surrounded by rivers. "We have drawn attention of the chief minister to the reign of terror created by PPSS activities on the people who support the project," UAC president said, adding that at least 79 families hailing from Patana village (52) and Gobindpur village (27) were staying out of their homes due to attack and assault by the rival group. UAC also sought the state government's help in making arrangement to ensure return of 79 families to their houses at Gobindpur and Patana villages so that they could be part of the ongoing socio-economic survey activities. "PPSS run a parallel administration in Dhinkia gram panchayat as no government official or police was allowed to enter into the area," UAC member Tamil Pradhan said. In a memorandum addressed to Patnaik, UAC demanded immediate demolition of check gates raised by PPSS activists and seizure of arms and bombs stored by them to create violence. (Hindustan Times 19/6/10) Tension grips Kalinganagar (4) Bhubaneswar June 20, 2010,: Tension again gripped the Kalinganagar Industrial Complex, the emerging steel hub in Jajpur district, after activists from the Visthapan Virodhi Jana Mancha (VVJM) clashed with supporters of the upcoming Tata Steel project. VVJM is the organisation at the forefront of an agitation against the project. The two groups clashed within the project site at Kalamatia when up to 15 VVJM activists, armed with traditional weapons, opposed land-levelling work that was underway. The situation was brought under control after police forces rushed to the area, following which the agitating VVJM activists fled from the site. Work on the steel project is continuing and no casualties have been reported. Police have deployed two platoons at the site to prevent any further incidents. (Business Standard 20/6/10) Tata Steel at Kalinganagar sets new benchmark in R& R (4) Kolkata/ Bhubaneswar June 21, 2010: Tata Steel, which is setting up a six million tonne per annum greenfield steel plant at Kalinganagar steel hub in Jajpur district, has set a new benchmark in Rehabilitation and Resettlement (R&R) for the families affected by the project. This model R&R scheme, being implemented under the banner of Tata Steel Parivar, focuses on reassuring communication, customised rehabilitation & resettlement and rechecking of its implementation for each family through self and independent social audits. Each family covered under the scheme is assured of the benefits for a period of ten years. While the government policy has stipulated for provision of employment for one member from each core household, the Tata Steel Parivar policy promises employment opportunities for each major member of the core house who are identified as extended families. Besides, the company is providing training facilities for personality and technical skill up gradation. Further, scholarships are also being provided for displaced families pursuing higher education in professional education like that in Medicine, Engineering, and Management. An amount of Rs 2.21 lakh is also being provided as one time assistance in lieu of employment. Under the Tata Steel Parivar policy, each family is given a monthly maintenance allowance of Rs 2000-2300 till they get an employment in the plant whereas the policy stipulates for payment of maintenance allowance for 12 months only. Apart from offering the homestead plots, the Tata Steel Parivar scheme has developed modern rehabilitation colonies at Trijanga, Sansailo

and Gobarghati with 20 km of motorable roads, 32 km of drainage and 300 sodium vapor halogen lamps for street lighting in the colonies.(Business Standard 21/6/10) BJP warns Orissa govt against renewal of Posco cont ract (4) BHUBANESWAR: The BJP on Monday warned the Orissa government against renewing its MoU with Posco India and accused Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS) of following “double standard” by allowing survey in the proposed project site near Paradip and thereb y giving “tacit approval” to it. “The MoU with Posco which expires today should not be renewed at any cost as the proposed project in fertile area will prove disastrous for poor farmers,” senior BJP leader Mr Bijoy Mohapatra said here. Threatening that any move to hand over Khandadhar mines to Posco for extracting iron ore and allowing it to draw water from Jobra barrage near Cuttack would be opposed strongly by the party, Mr Mohapatra said all concessions including facilities offered under SEZ would also be opposed. On PPSS allowing survey work in proposed plant site, he said, “It is nothing but double standard. By giving consent to the survey PPSS has clearly shown it is ready for setting up of the plant in the area.” Earlier, the Chief Minister, Mr Naveen Patnaik had said renewal of the MoU with Posco India is being processed, and “whatever will be done will be according to rules and regulations”. - PTI (Business Line 21/6/10) 1,865 acres of land to be acquired (4) Kochi: The Wayanad district administration has decided to acquire 1,865 acres (1 acre = 0.4 hectare) of land for rehabilitation of tribal people, the State government said in a petition filed before the Kerala High Court on Tuesday. The petition, filed through K.R. Ganesh, Senior Government Pleader, sought to extend by four months the time given by the court to evict encroachers from land in possession of V.M. Sreyamskumar, MLA, and others in Wayanad. Otherwise, the government's attempt at rehabilitation would be seriously prejudiced, the petition said. The Supreme Court, dismissing an appeal filed by the State against the High Court directive for eviction, had ordered that the government and the District Collector could approach the High Court to get the deadline extended. The petition said authorities had inspected land proposed to be acquired at Mananthavady and Vythiri. The administration would negotiate with landowners the price of the property to be purchased. The government said 34 huts each were removed from lands at Mupainad and Pozhuthana villages. (The Hindu 23/6/10) Delhi launches survey of homeless people (4) New Delhi, July 02, 2010: Aiming at including the homeless people in the 2011 Census and providing them facilities accordingly, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Friday launched a survey for them with assistance from UN Development Programme. "There are lakhs of homeless people in Delhi, who are not registered and so they do not have any kind of identity card. Because of this they cannot avail benefits of the social welfare programmes," Dikshit said. She said the aim of the survey is to include all those people in the current Census. The survey, said to be the first of its kind in the country which involves 24 governmental and non-governmental organisations, will take two months to complete, she said. It will be conducted in 15 divisions of the city. Later, initiative will be taken to get the names of the homeless incorporated in the Census. "A register will be made and according to that homeless people will be given ID cards, BPL cards so that it becomes easy for them to avail health facilities and get their children admitted to schools," Dikshit said. The Chief Minister launched the survey by filling the form of a paralysed homeless woman named Shakila. The form asks one about where he or she lives, family, occupation, income and other particulars. Dikshit said the counting will be done in the night as it is the "best time" when one could find these people at their places. The Chief Minister also said that after the survey, Delhi government will have accurate figures of the homeless and then it will be easy to accommodate them and provide them adequate facilities. Speaking on the occasion, Patrice Coeur-Bizot, UN Resident Representative, said, "The survey would serve as the basis for their inclusion in the National Population Register and would be more effective in designing and implementing the targeted interventions to improve the lives of the poorest." The homeless survey is supported by UNDP's 'Innovation Support for Social Protection' project which aims at "equal access to the multitude of social welfare schemes" that the city government have implemented for the vulnerable population. (Hindustan Times 2/7/10) Affected residents to hold satyagraha (4) Bangalore, July 4, DHNS: People who are likely to lose properties due to Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike’s road widening project would go Gandhi way. They have decided to hold satyagraha against the Palike’s plan. During the public interaction at the NGO Hall in Cubbon Park on Sunday, people unanimously decided to intensify the movement against the widening of 227 roads and bring all the affected people under one umbrella. One of the affected parties asked Justice M F Saldanha about his opinion on launching satyagraha. To this Justice Saldanha said he is happy that such ideas are emerging and demanded that the BBMP should scrap all the road widening project as it is atrocious. Justice said

that common man become helpless as such projects are executed using muscle powers. “What can a common man do if someone comes with the heavy excavating machine. Due to the Metro Rail project 350 people committed suicide in New Delhi. The government has become anti-people”, he said. He said that all the 28 public interest litigations that were filed in the High Court against the project were rejected. He opined that courts too have a duty to uphold people’s right. “We expect justice from the courts for the masses. Courts should also understand people’s miseries,” he said. He viewed that road widening projects undertaken by the BBMP and absolute atrocity and flayed the TDR system saying that it has failed in Mumbai. (Deccan Herald 5/7/10) Plan for metal SEZ in Haldia (4) New Delhi, July 4: A subsidiary of Nagpur-based Abhijeet Group has proposed a special economic zone for metal-based industries in Haldia. It is among the three firms that have sought approval to set up tax-free enclaves at a time uncertainty looms over tax benefits after the implementation of the direct tax code from April 2011. Coastal Ferrotech — an Abhijeet Group firm — has sought the permission of the board of approval (BoA) for special economic zones to set up an SEZ in Haldia. It plans to acquire 111.28 hectares for the project. Videocon Industries has sought permission to set up an electronics SEZ in Navi Mumbai, and Infoparks seeks to set up an IT/ITeS zone at Ernakulam in Kerala. These three proposals, along with the request of 26 developers seeking additional time to implement their projects, will be considered by the BoA at its meeting later this month. Abhijeet Group officials said land acquisition problems had delayed the Haldia SEZ by more than a year. In the meantime, the group has set up a Rs-800-crore ferro-alloy plant at Atchutapuram SEZ near Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. The Andhra Pradesh project, which the company says is the biggest ferro-manganese and silico-manganese manufacturing facility in Asia, is likely to commence operations in January-February, officials said. On whether the firm will go ahead with its SEZ plans despite having set up the facility in Andhra Pradesh, they said, “If we are able to acquire the land, then this could be considered. However, we will have to wait for the final decision on the incentives in the tax-free zones to take a call.” Commerce ministry officials, who have taken up industry’s concerns on the scrapping of SEZ tax benefits with the finance ministry, said, “We have impressed upon the need to see to the best extent possible the interests of the investors in SEZs are protected.” The revised discussion paper on the direct tax code makes available profit-linked deductions only to existing SEZ units, which implies that units that come up after April 1, 2011 will not get tax exemptions. (Telegraph 5/7/10) Posco announces compensation package for displaced people in Odisha (4) PARADIP: Posco-India on Thursday announced a compensation package for the people to be displaced by its Rs 51,000 crore mega steel project near here in Odisha's Jagansinghpur district. The South Korean steel major would pay Rs 17 lakh per acre of agricultural land while the price of area under betel vine was fixed at Rs 11.5 lakh per acre, official sources said. Agreeing to pay compensation for government land encroached by villagers, the steel major also offered a monthly allowance of Rs 2,250 for people cultivating betel vines at the proposed plant site, the sources said. The company promised to provide a job to one member of every displaced families according to their educational qualification, the sources said. This apart, the company also announced Rs 2 lakh per acre used for prawn ponds, according to the new rehabilitation package announced at the Rehabilitation and Peripheral Development Advisory Committee (RPDAC) meeting held here, the sources said. To make the package attractive, the steel major also committed that it would provide a three-room pucca house built on 10 decimal of land with a cowshed to each displaced family. Each displaced family would also be provided Rs 5,000 as transport cost. "The RPDAC is meeting at Jagatsinghpur this evening to finalise rehabilitation package for the people to be affected by Posco project," Chief minister Naveen Patnaik had said earlier in the day after reviewing the progress of the Posco project. (Times of India 9/7/10) Posco rehab rejected (4) Bhubaneswar, July 12, 2010: The outfit spearheading the movement against South Korean steel maker Posco's proposed plant near Paradip port in Orissa's Jagatsinghpur district has rejected the rehabilitation package for oustees announced by the Naveen Patnaik government. The Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti on Sunday decided to intensify the movement against the project and debar the government officials and police into the area. At a public meeting at Dhinkia, 120 km from Bhubaneswar, the samiti said the state chief minister had "betrayed" the people by announcing a rehabilitation package without visiting the area that the project proposes to cover. An official copy of the package was burnt at the meeting, which was attended by about 3,000 people, mostly women. The government had announced a Rs 70-crore rehabilitation package on Friday for the 3,000 families who would be displaced by the proposed steel plant. The package fixed a compensation of Rs 17 lakh per acre of private land, Rs 11.50 lakh per acre of land under betel vine cultivation and Rs 2 lakh per acre for ponds used for prawn farming. "We have repeatedly told the government that we are not after any package. We want the shifting of the

project site. Our movement will continue till we achieve our goal. No police and administration officials will be allowed into the area again," samiti leader Abhay Sahoo said told the gathering. PPSS leaders said that no package can replace the thriving agro-economy based on betel vine cultivation and prawn production. Instead, if the plant came up, it would destroy the livelihood of thousands. Posco, the world's fourth largest steel company, had signed an MoU with the Orissa government in June 2005 to set up a plant that would produce 12 million tonnes of steel per year. The estimated investment involved is Rs 54,000 crore. (Hindustan Times 12/7/10) Land acquisition for SEZ to be reviewed: DC (4) Kakinada, Jul 13 : East Godavari District Collector M Ravichandra today assured a group of farmers that their views would be taken into consideration on the land acquisition for the Special Economic Zone (SEZ). Addressing a special meeting of the farmers of A V Nagaram village of Thondangi mandal who did not take the awards for the lands acquired for the SEZ, at the Collectorate here, he said geographical conditions would be studied and land acquisition process would be reviewed for taking an amicable decision. ''The farmers of the village have voluntarily handed over the dry lands to the SEZ. Of the total 1100 acres of wet land in the village, they are demanding 150 acres yielding two crops a year under the tanks should be exempted from acquisition. The land owners'opinion would once again be heard'', he said. The Collector assured the farmers to provide the SEZ action plans as desired to infuse confidence among them. (New Kerala 13/7/10) Posco land acquisition may start soon (4) Bhubaneswar July 13, 2010: The Jagatsinghpur district administration has initiated steps to expedite land acquisition for Posco’s mega steel plant in Orissa following the announcement of the compensation package for the project-affected persons. The process is likely to take off from Noliasahi, where the district administration has received overwhelming support for the project, sources said. The disbursement of compensation is expected to start from July 18. After the finalisation of the Posco package, the administration has decided to issue notification for payment of compensation within the next couple of days. It is also advising betel vine cultivators to apply for compensation. However, the villagers have demanded correction in the site survey report by by including the betel vines that were left out, before a notice for the payment of compensation is issued. During the socio-economic survey, a total of 1,503 betel vines, operating in an area of 153.40 acres, in Noliashai, Bayanalkanda, Polanga, Nuagaon Gobindpur and Bhuiyanpal villages were identified. However, there were 374 betel vines, covering an area of 50.87 acres, which could not be properly identified as their owners did not come forward to claim the ownership of the property. On the other hand, 31 prawn gheris operating in an area 269.96 acres have been identified in Nuagaon, Bhiyanpal and Jatadhari villages. Similarly, fruit and non-fruit bearing trees in respect of 985 beneficiaries have been enumerated in these villages. The value of these trees has been estimated at Rs 3.90 crore. (Business Standard 13/7/10) Centre says no to SEZs in Goa CRZ areas (4) PANAJI: The Central government has agreed that no special economic zone (SEZ) will be permitted within the CRZ areas of Goa, environment minister Aleixo Sequeira announced on Tuesday. Sequeira, who attended a meeting with Union minister for environment and forests (MoEF) Jairam Ramesh in Delhi on July 6, said that the above concession has been given to Goa and will be expressly mentioned in the CRZ notification 2010 that bestows a kind of special status to Goa by way of concessions. "This was the demand of the Congress-led coalition government of Goa, and I am happy that the centre has agreed to it," Sequeira said. The environment minister also informed that he raised the issue of the MoEF order issued last year, which put restrictions on the Goa state pollution control board (GSPCB) to act against violators under Section 5 of the Environment Protection Act (EPA). Using that order, a number of companies had obtained orders from the administrative tribunal, staying the pollution board’s orders against them. Sequeira said MoEF will soon issue a clarification on its earlier order such that the government of Goa and the GSPCB will enjoy full powers under the EPA, as it earlier did. In view of the MoEF assurance, the state government has directed the chairman and member secretary of the GSPCB to challenge all stay orders of the administrative tribunal before an appropriate forum, Sequeira said. The MoEF has also agreed in principle, to extend a World Bank grant to Goa for a specific programme that seeks to prevent coastal erosion in the state. (Times of India 14/7/10) HC seeks report on rehab centres by Aug 31 CHANDIGARH: The private drug de-addiction centres have come under the scanner of the Punjab and Haryana high court as Justice TPS Mann of the HC, on Monday asked the director, Punjab health services to conduct raids in the centres and submit a report by August 31. HC also directed that no private de-addiction centre in Punjab would be allowed to function without permission from the health department. The court further enquired into the the working of such centres and asked the director

whether the centres are giving a proper treatment to drug-addicts. While passing the orders, Justice Mann observed the severity of drug addiction in Punjab. Justice Mann said that extreme measures are adopted in curing drug addicts at unauthorised centres and ethics are not observed. HC also issued a notice to Rajwant, manager of a Kharar based Jeewanjot organization accused of detaining a person illegally in the centre, asking him the reason for no contempt of court proceedings against him under the contempt of court act. The directions were issued on Monday during the hearing of an ongoing petition filed by Manjit Kaur of Nabha against Kharar based private de-addiction centres. In her petition, Manjit Kaur had alleged that her father Kuljeet Singh was illegally detained in Kharar based de-addiction centre. She claimed that the HC that her father was a prestigious person and he was not suffering from any mental ailment nor is a drug addict, yet he was illegally confined at Jeewanjot organization in Kharar. Acting on her petition, HC had appointed a warrant officer who confirmed in his report that Kuljeet Singh was kept illegally in the centre. Justice TPS Mann referred Kuljeet Singh to PGI and directed the PGI director to determine if Kuljeet Singh was a drug addict or being administered any narcotic or psychotropic drug by the Jeewanjot organization. Further hearing of the case would be on August 10. (Times of India, 3/8/2010) Don't clear Vedanta's mining project: panel The committee said allowing mining by Vedanta will ‘shake the faith of the tribals in the law of the land’. File photo shows members of the Dongaria Kandhas tribe and other villagers during a protest against the Vedanta project in front of the State Secretariat in Bhubaneswar, Orissa. Photo: Ashoke Chakrabarty The Union government should not clear Vedanta's bauxite mining project in the Niyamgiri hills of Orissa as it violates the environment and forest law, according to a panel set up to investigate the proposal. “The Vedanta Company has consistently violated the Forest Conservation Act [FCA], the Forest Rights Act [FRA], the Environment Protection Act [EPA] and the Orissa Forest Act in active collusion with the State officials,” said the report of the four-member panel, headed by Planning Commission member N.C. Saxena. The report was submitted on Monday. The report also catalogued the negative impact that the mining is likely to have on the region's biodiversity and on the Dongria and Kutia Kondh tribal communities, which have economic and cultural ties to the land. “Allowing mining … by depriving two primitive tribal groups of their rights over the proposed mining site to benefit a private company would shake the faith of the tribal people in the laws of the land,” it said. On Friday, the Forest Advisory Committee will consider the report and make a final recommendation to Union Minister of State (Independent charge) for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh. While refusing to discuss his final decision, Mr. Ramesh noted, “as a matter of principle, it would be a tragedy in this country if you can violate a law and then there is a window available to you for a correction … to pay a penalty and go ahead.” The mine is a joint venture between Vedanta Aluminium and the Orissa Mining Company. The violations listed by the report include illegal occupation of village forest land, violating both the FCA and the EPA, and a six-fold expansion of the nearby Vedanta refinery without the relevant environmental clearance under the EPA. Mr. Ramesh said he was not aware of either the expansion or the lack of the necessary clearance until the report was handed to him on Monday — this, despite the widespread media coverage of the expansion proposal. “I found out just 10 minutes ago,” he told journalists. (The Hindu, 17/8/2010) Vedanta project: panel blames Orissa officials The N.C. Saxena panel, which has asked the Centre not to clear Vedanta's bauxite mining project in Orissa, is scathing about the “collusion” of the State and district administrations, blaming them for deliberate non-implementation of the Forest Rights Act (FRA) and the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act (PESA) in the region. These Acts insist that the consent of forest dwelling tribal communities and bodies such as gram sabhas must be obtained before any clearance is given to divert forest land for a project. “The district administration's reluctance to comply with the legal mandates of the FRA was clearly evident; and the Orissa State Administration has not acted to correct this reluctance,” said a report submitted on Monday by the four-member panel led by Planning Commission member Mr. Saxena. District Collectors of Kalahandi and Rayagada first claimed that there were no claims under the FRA in the area of the mining project, without attaching the requisite gram sabha certifications despite repeated requests. When the overwhelming evidence of individual and community claims filed with the gram sabhas was pointed out, they shifted their stance, claiming that the FRA was not applicable as the original proposal was made before the enactment of the law. The State government has also been non-cooperative in this regard, the report said. In a damning statement, Rayagada District Collector told Dr. Saxena that “this particular approach was due to the position taken by the State government in favour of the granting of mining lease.” The report then adds a footnote: “Soon after making this statement, the Collector realised that he should not have said so. Therefore he said ‘I would like to withdraw my statement'.” While this makes erring officials liable for prosecution under the FRA, the panel strongly recommends that they be sent for a training programme instead (The Hindu, 17/8/2010) Faulty policies to blame for minerals loot: Karat

Communist Party of India(Marxist) general secretary Prakash Karat on Monday expressed concern over the open loot of minerals in the country. The Centre's faulty mining policy was helping companies accumulate huge capital. Citing the case of an Andhra Pradesh-based company which had since announced plans to establish a steel plant, Mr. Karat said growth of capitalism through mindless exploitation of the mineral wealth had been rampant during the past six decades. The CPI(M) leader was releasing the Oriya translation of Karl Marx's Das Kapital Volume-I at a function organised by the Lokshikshya Pratisthan here. Karl Marx had written about the exploitation of mineral resources and growth of capitalism way back in 1867. The book had given a new direction to the labour movement across the world, Mr. Karat said. He thanked Lambodar Nayak, who translated Das Kapital into Oriya. He expressed satisfaction that the Oriya translation of the second volume of the three-part book was already in progress. Economist Prabhat Patnaik said the growth of capitalism resulted in an increase in the number of the poor and in inequality, while a few were accumulating wealth by the day. CPI(M) Orissa secretary Janardan Pati and senior party leader and former MP Sivaji Patnaik spoke. (The Hindu, 17/7/2010) Vedanta mines illegal, must be shut down: Green pan el NEW DELHI: Mining giant Vedanta consistently violated several laws in bauxite mining at Niyamgiri, encroached upon government land, got clearances on the basis of false information and illegally built its aluminium refinery at Lanjigarh, Orissa. As the company engaged in these violations, the Orissa government colluded with it and the Centre turned a blind eye. These are some of the findings of the four-member N C Saxena committee, which on Monday recommended that the company not be allowed to mine in the hills that are the abode of the Dongaria Kondh and Kutia Kondh tribes in Orissa. The no-holds-barred indictment of the state and private sector in the $1.7billion project brings out the short shrift given to concerns about tribal rights and environmental protection. It is significant also because it underlines the changed sensibilities of the government towards the issues against the backdrop of Left-wing extremism and why Naxalites are finding it easy to influence alienated tribal belts. The stern report of the environment and forests ministry panel signalled that tribal rights and environmental isssues have finally muscled their way onto the governance agenda, forcing the authorities to take action against corporates who may have shown disregard for rules. The Saxena committee report, which could lead to shutting down of the Vedanta smelters in Orissa, comes after the MoEF moved to stop or stall several high-profile, heavy-investment projects, including the Posco Integrated Steel project in Orissa, which, at Rs 56,000 crore is the single-largest foreign direct investment in India, the Jindal thermal power plant in Chhattisgarh (Rs 10,000 crore), hydroelectric projects on Bhagirathi in Uttarakhand and the Navi Mumbai airport in Maharashtra (Rs 7,972 crore). The panel was set up by the ministry of environment and forests to investigate if the state government and the aluminium giant had complied with the Forest Rights Act and Forest Conservation Act while mining for bauxite. The report reveals exhaustive evidence to nail the complicity of the state government in permitting Vedanta to flagrantly violate the laws. But the committee, even as it recommended that the mining project be disallowed, stopped short of asking for prosecution of the officials involved in what seems to be a blatant fraud that went unchecked for years. "The question of whom to prosecute is secondary. First, we have to consider the clearance," said Union minister for enviroment and forests Jairam Ramesh. Asked if the violations could be set right now, the minister said, "Without prejudice to the existing case, it would be a tragedy that one violates laws and still has a window of opportunity to just pay a penalty and get away with it later." The report will now be reviewed by the statutory Forest Advisory Committee, which will then give its recommendations to the ministry to take a final call on the forest clearance. The report says, "This committee is of the firm view that allowing mining in the proposed mining lease area by depriving two primitive tribal groups of their rights over the proposed mining area in order to benefit a private company would shake the faith of tribal people in the laws of the land which may have serious consequences for the security and well-being of the entire country." The report records how the state government falsified documents and concealed information from the central government to facilitate the aluminium refinery in mining bauxite while the company encroached upon government and tribal lands with impunity. The aluminium czar Anil Aggarwal's company has illegally --despite legal notices from the Orissa State Pollution Control Board -- begun building a refinery to produce 6 million tonnes of aluminium per annum instead of the 1 million tonnes per annum plant that it had got the green clearance for. The committee -- that included S Parasuraman, director of Tata Institute of Social Sciences; Promode Kant, retired forest official; and Amita Baviskar, professor at the Institute of Economic Growth -- pointed out how right from the beginning, the firm had furnished falsified reports to the Centre to seek clearance, and how the state officials ranging from the highest bureaucrats to the collectors of two districts either refused to enforce existing laws or simply colluded with the company to deny the tribals right over their lands. (The Times of India, 17/8/2010) Bangalore: 14 hours. 12 deaths. At the Beggars’ Rehabilitation Centre near Sumanahalli on Magadi Road, a dozen persons, including three women, died between 5 pm on Tuesday and 7 am Wednesday morning. What is intriguing is that of

the 12 dead, 11 were cremated by Wednesday evening without a post-mortem. This, even as the minister ordered a probe into the mysterious deaths. Interestingly, there are different reasons reported for the deaths. Two inmates — Jagadish, 30, and Balakrishna, 65 — died of diarrhoea and vomiting. Rajavelu,

65, passed away due to electrolyte imbalance; Munirathna, 70, due to old age; Giridhara Shetty, 50, of cardiac arrest; Mooga, 60, severe generalized weakness; Gopi, 65, myocardial infarction; Rajendra, 70, anorexia and old age; Ningamma, 50, epilepsy; Jayamma, 65, anaemia, general weakness; Moogi, 45, bodily infirmity; and Ramakrishnaiah, 65, reason for death is unknown. Even more shocking was that the rehabilitation officials termed the entire incident a coincidence. "Some of them were natural deaths and it was sheer coincidence that all the deaths occurred on one night. We’re inquiring into why diarrhoea and vomiting were the reasons for two deaths,’’ an official said. Meanwhile, 14 persons are undergoing treatment for diarrhoea and vomiting at Indiranagar Isolation Hospital and were brought here on Wednesday morning. In addition, 15 others who complained of similar symptoms are undergoing treatment at the rehabilitation centre. (TOI, 19/8/2010) Finally, a cell to keep an eye on mining BANGALORE: A month after ban on iron ore exports came into force, a special cell headed by director of mines and geology has been constituted to curb illegal mining. Continuing his efforts to check rampant illegal mining, chief minister B S Yeddyurappa, before leaving for New Delhi on Wednesday, signed an order to constitute the cell, which has been given sweeping powers to curb illegal mining. The cell will collect information on iron ore production and total amount of ore used for value addition locally and ore exported. Further, the cell will monitor the contractors involved in export of iron ore and the company to which it has been sold. Contractors, who have sold more than 10,000 tonnes will have to give accounts to the cell, which will be tallied with the bar code existing in the check posts. Later, all transactions will be computerized. Besides this cell, there is a Central empowered-cum-coordination committee, which meets once in six months to discuss various issues relating to the mining sector, including illegal mining and measures to prevent, detect and control it. The ministry of mines has issued various guidelines and suggestions. Ten states -- Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Goa, Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa, Rajasthan and West Bengal -- have set up the committee. The cell will look after: * Providing good infrastructure to 13 newly constituted composite check posts and taking necessary action to curb illegal stone and iron ore mining *Following the Lokayukta report, the director will constitute five teams and will survey encroachment of other mining permits. The teams will be given a month's time to complete the survey work * The cell, from time to time, should make public the prices of iron ore so that government and general public will know the prices during changes in national and international markets * Joint scrutiny, involving various departments, during renewal of iron ore applications * The cell should obtain information from the permit owners on the amount they would extract ore in next three months (TOI, 19/8/2010) Health Ministry sends team to probe vaccination dea ths The Centre has sent a two-member team to Lucknow to probe the deaths of four infants after they were administered anti-measles vaccination at an immunisation camp in the Mohanlal Ganj area. “Most stringent action will be taken against those found guilty,” Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said on Sunday. The team is expected to submit a preliminary report the same day. The deaths took place on Saturday, following which the immunisation drive was suspended by the Uttar Pradesh government and a departmental enquiry ordered. The Central team will ascertain whether the vaccines were spurious, expired or whether there were procedural lapses, either while administering the shots or in maintaining the cold chain. A magisterial probe is also on. The State government announced a compensation of Rs. 50,000 each to the families of the infants killed. The shots were given by the Auxiliary Nurse-Midwives (ANM). The team will investigate whether the ANMs in this case were trained to do so, since anti-measles vaccination is administered only to children over nine months old. The dead infants were less than four months old. Within minutes of being given the shots, the children became breathless, started sweating and their pulse rate dropped. They died before medical help arrived. The three ANMs, the medical officer and the person in-charge of maintaining the cold chain have already been placed under suspension. The shots were combination vaccines for measles, BCG and Hepatitis-B, administered under the universal immunisation programme. (The Hindu, 23/8/2010) 4 Kids Die After Vaccination LUCKNOW: Four children died in Mohanlalganj tehsil of Lucknow during a routine immunisation camp on Saturday afternoon. The children died soon after they were administered measles vaccine followed by drops of Vitamin A solution, prompting parents to blame the vaccine for their deaths. Identified as Rekha, Sahil, Satyam Kumari and Sania, the children hailed from Bindauva, Rampur Garhi and Padmin Kheda villages of Mohanlalganj, which is about 30 km from Lucknow city. All the children were below two years of age, the youngest being six months old. The government has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident. Sub-divisional magistrate, JP Chauhan said, ‘‘Around 11 am, we heard that some children

had taken ill reportedly after they were administered vaccine at an aanganwadi centre governed by Nigohan primary health centre. When we reached there (at 11.30 am) we found parents mourning the death of their children.’’ Citing eye-witnesses, Chauhan added that the children fainted minutes after they were administered the vaccine. ‘‘The parents alleged that the children fainted, their eyes rolled back and some fluid started coming out of their mouth (convulsion-like symptoms),’’ he said. As news of the incident spread, the routine immunisation drive was affected in 41 villages. The district administration and health department officials to rush to the spot. They, however, failed to explain the cause of death. This further irked the parents who tried to take health officials hostage. This led to panic buttons being pressed at the headquarters. DM Anil Sagar, DIG Rajeev Krishna, CMO, Dr AK Shukla and other officials had to intervene to salvage the situation. They were later joined by DG, family welfare directorate, Dr SP Ram. (TOI, 22/8/2010) Naveen positive on Posco, mum on Vedanta He came, he saw, but the end results were mixed. Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik came to the Capital on Monday with three major items on his lobbying agenda against the Union Environment and Forests Ministry — the Posco steel plant, Vedanta mine and the Polavaram dam. After meeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh, Mr. Patnaik sounded confident about Posco, refused to say much on Vedanta, and seemed reassured about Polavaram. He was largely silent on the fate of Vedanta Aluminium's $1.7 billion-proposal to mine bauxite in the Niyamgiri Hills against the wishes of the local tribal community. A committee, headed by National Advisory Council member N.C. Saxena, condemned both the company and the Orissa government for alleged deliberate violations of forest and environmental laws. Mr. Patnaik did not bring up the issue with Dr. Singh, and did not get far in his discussions with Mr. Ramesh either. Orissa's Forest Secretary will meet Mr. Ramesh on Tuesday to present the State government's rebuttal of the Saxena (The Hindu, 24/8/2010) NGOs help sought for Beggars' Rehabilitation Centre To address the issues of nutritious food, hygiene and personal care, the absence of which prima facie had led to a series of deaths at the Beggars' Rehabilitation Centre here, the Social Welfare Department is in the process of roping in non-governmental organisations to lend a helping hand. These three major concerns will be addressed on a priority basis, said a senior official of the department on Sunday too. A couple of years ago, the centre had contacted ISKCON, Bangalore, which had, in principle, agreed to provide food to the inmates. However, it could not be done because of absence of approval from the highest level, sources in the department said. However, with Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, who visited the centre on Saturday, announcing that food preparation will be outsourced, the process has again gained momentum, the sources said. Various NGOs and ISKCON will be approached for the purpose, officials said. Meanwhile, a couple of NGOs have approached the centre promising a helping hand in maintaining hygiene and taking care of the inmates. The centre authorities have asked them to come out with specific plans so that the process could be taken forward. A senior official said that terminally and mentally ill inmates require constant personal attention and hence, help of service organisations is all the more required. Some NGOs, including Cadabams, have approached the centre, he added. Also, the department is soliciting help from missionaries, the official said. Since August 16, many inmates of the centre have fled and now only about 750 are remaining, another official at the centre said. Efforts are on to bring the beggars back to the centre. Meanwhile, on Sunday, one more inmate at the centre died and the officials attributed the cause to old age. The inmate's name was given as Yogeshwari (60). The atmosphere at the centre on Sunday was completely in contrast to the situation prevailing on August 16, with clean dormitories and the campus. Though Mr. Yeddyurappa said he knows the reason behind the cleanliness when he visited the centre on Saturday, officials on Sunday told The Hindu that priority will be given for hygiene. Another notable difference was that the officials organised a cultural programme for the inmates in the evening. “We had recreational activities for the inmates previously when I was managing the centre. Now that I have been posted back here, we will resume such activities,” M. Ramaiah, the newly appointed Secretary of Central Relief Committee, said. (The Hindu, 24/8/2010) Govt rejects Vedanta mining plan on green worries NEW DELHI: India's environment ministry on Tuesday rejected a plan by India-focused mining group Vedanta Resources Plc to mine bauxite in Orissa, dealing a blow to the company already struggling with regulatory issues in India. The decision pertains to one mining site in eastern Orissa state where it runs an alumina refinery on bauxite imported from elsewhere in India. The decision was announced in a government statement. The company is facing regulatory hurdles in its bid for control of Cairn India, a

potential deal valued at $9.6 billion that can give billionaire Anil Agarwal-led group a slice of India's oil reserves and exposure of surging demand. (TOI, 24/8/2010) 2,000 houses for gas victims The Gas Relief and Rehabilitation Department will construct over 2,000 houses at a cost of `40 crore for the widows of those who died in the worlds worst industrial disaster that occurred in Bhopal in 1984. For this, the department has sought 25 acre land from the district administration. At present, 2,486 two and three storey quarters have been built in Karond area for the dependents of those who died in the gas tragedy. They were constructed in the year 1990 by the Gas Relief and Rehabilitation Department through MP Housing Board. Each flat consists of one room, a kitchen, toilet and bathroom. Five acre government land is available near Karond but it is not adequate for the new project. In the new project, area of the flats will be larger and each of them will have two rooms apart from kitchen and bathroom. Land is being searched within the limits of the Bhopal Municipal Corporation for the new project. More spacious land is being searched so that adequate arrangements of road, drinking water, light, sewer system etc can be ensured. This decision was taken after Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had visited the widows’ colony to celebrate the festival of Rakhi among the gas victims. He had made several announcements for providing facilities to the gas victims. This was for the first time since 25 years of the tragedy, when a chief minister had visited the gas affected people and witnessed their plight. (Dailypioneer, 26/8/2010) Police promise to fulfil commitments given to Maois ts Under the Rehabilitation and Resettlement package those Maoists who surrendered recently to police will soon get the promise house of their own. In addition they will be kept in an open jail so that they can live along with their family. This was decided by a high level meet of Rehabilitation Committee organised in Ranchi. Elaborating more about the plans for Maoists SSP Ranchi Praveen Kumar said, “Presently four Maoists who recently surrendered are at Birsa Munda Central Jail. But soon they will be shifted to the open jail of Hazaribagh so that they can live with their family. Their sons and daughter can attend schools and the jailed rebels will be given vocational training.” “In addition we are providing them an array of other incentives. If they want to live in urban areas then a house will be provided to them under the Urban Poor Scheme. After their release they can also get interest free loans and assistance in their children’s marriage. Police has decided to give them the money allocated for police award as well so that they can lead a normal life and get absorbed in mainstream,” Kumar added. (Dailypioneer, 26/8/2010) This way lies disaster By withdrawing the bauxite mining clearances given to Vedanta Resources, the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests has served a blow for the cause of protecting the environment and the rights of indigenous people from corporate marauders who place profit above all else and are least bothered by the long-term damage that is caused in the guise of ‘industrialisation’. The NC Saxena Committee as well as the Forest Advisory Committee have come to a set of conclusions that reflect as much on Vedanta as the system that allowed the aluminium giant to almost get away with violating the Forest Rights Act, the Forest Conservation Act and the Environment Protection Act in its pursuit of plundering Odisha’s natural resources. That Odisha Mining Corporation colluded with Vedanta in virtually gifting the company with Niyamgiri hills, which would have spelled doom for the Dongria tribe and stamped out its cultural identity apart from causing widespread destruction of the region’s environment, is yet another shameful example of state-appointed protectors turning into exploiters. It now transpires that previous ‘clearances’ and ‘approvals’, including those from the Ministry of Environment and Forests, then headed by a DMK Minister, and the courts were secured on the strength of misleading, if not patently false, declarations. The Odisha Mining Corporation worked its way around the Forest Rights Act by submitting fake certificates, claiming that gram sabhas had agreed to the Niyamgiri hills, held sacred by the Dongria tribe, being mined for bauxite. Vedanta stands exposed of violating the Forest Conservation Act by acquiring forest land without Central approval. Worse, it has been held guilty of treating the Environment Protection Act with contempt by beginning expansion work on its refinery without clearance. All this happened under the benign gaze of the State Government headed by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik who surprisingly still insists Vedanta has got a raw deal. While the scrapping of the dubious ‘clearances’ earlier given to Vedanta has justifiably attracted much attention (the London-based firm aspires to emerge as the largest producer of aluminium), we need to look beyond this specific instance of gross violation of not one but a clutch of laws. Ever since the mining sector was thrown open to the private sector, there has been an un-regulated gold rush with carpetbaggers riding roughshod over both Central laws and local sentiments. Strangely, State Governments have been complicit in this stunning loot and plunder — they argue that ‘development’ comes at a price which must be paid as people stand to gain in the long run. That is a

flawed argument and deserves to be contested: Industrialisation is not about laying to waste the nation’s resources; it is about harnessing them in a just and wise manner. Tragically, the ease with which mining rights can be secured and the impunity with which illegal mines can be operated suggest neither justice for those who stand to lose the most nor wisdom on part of those elected to public office. The nation has to bear the burden of the resultant discontent and destruction. Hopefully, by cracking down on Vedanta, the Union Government has signalled tough times ahead for those who follow the law of the land more in the breach than in practice. (Editorial, Dailypioneer, 26/8/2010) Beggars making a silent exit Beggars are fast leaving areas of the Capital that are expected to be frequented by players and visitors during the Commonwealth Games. Though on the face of it the Delhi Government has not launched any official drive to remove them as it wants to treat them in a humane manner, the fact of the matter is that the Social Welfare Department had recently sought additional police force to buttress its efforts to clear the main roads and crossings of New Delhi of beggars. While officials believe there are about 5 lakh beggars in the city, according to various NGOs working in the social welfare sector the number could be as high as 20 lakh. “What we do not want is beggars following or harassing tourists during the Games. That would present a poor picture of the Capital city which is now redoubling its efforts to ensure the success of the Games,'' said a senior Delhi Government official. Another area of concern for the Government is the fact that about 25 per cent of all beggars are drug addicts. “They are the ones we fear the most as they often indulge in petty crime to raise funds for financing their habit of drugs.'' So the Government is silently but surely ensuring that either the beggars are removed to the various Beggars Homes or they relocate to areas which are not likely to be visited by too many tourists. Delhi Social Welfare Secretary Manoj K. Parida, however insists that there is no drive to remove the beggars. “There is no instruction or government policy to remove them for the Games. They are nevertheless detained and arrested as part of the usual drive. We have nine mobile squads which detain them and three mobile courts to prosecute them. We are also assisted by 20 Delhi police personnel in this task.'' Noting that as per court orders, the Delhi Government has written to other States to take back their beggars, Mr. Parida said some of the States had written that Delhi cannot return people like this as they come here to partake in the prosperity that comes to Delhi on account of being the national Capital. The official said since a large number of beggars are also found around places of worship where people give them alms, the Government had also written to several such bodies to put up donation boxes outside their premises also so that people can make the donations there instead of giving alms directly to beggars. “This would have discouraged begging. But neither the managements of these places of worship nor the devout have paid heed to this advice.'' Admitting that often “only a thin line exists between small time hawking and begging,” Mr. Parida said as per norms only the beggars are removed from the streets. “They are let off with a reprimand after the first offence, the second offence entails detention of up to three years while the third has detention of up to 10 years. But the very fact that in our Tahirpur beggars home we have just 300 beggars as against a capacity of about 1,200 shows that we are not hunting for them.'' (The Hindu, 2/9/2010) Maya effect: UPA to include annuity for farmers in R&R bill NEW DELHI: Mayawati's quick reflexes after the setback over land acquisition in Aligarh has put Congress in a spot, with the Centre fearing it may be dubbed the villain for farmers' woes if it does not prevail upon Trinamool Congress to relent on the bills for Land Acquisition amendment and R&R. After Uttar Pradesh brought its liberal Resettlement and Rehabilitation policy to win over farmers riled by "low land rates" for Yamuna Expressway, the Union rural development ministry is considering adding "annuity" to the pending R&R bill. Annuity would be a fixed sum of money the farmers will get periodically after their land is acquired. If approved, it will add to the compensation the farmers get for their land. The proposal forms part of the fresh movement in UPA to push the vexed land bills. The Aligarh faceoff between farmers and UP saw the Opposition argue that Centre's failure to promulgate these bills was responsible for stateslike UP acquiring land for private players with impunity. As a result, the PM assured a delegation of Aligarh farmers led by Rahul Gandhi that the bills would be brought to Parliament in the winter session. However, there is little hope for these bills unless Trinamool relents. Officials, though unenthusiastic, say state's role in acquisition could be further reduced from 30%, as given in the LA amendment bill, to 10% to win over Mamata Banerjee. Annuity per se is seen as a "non-starter" as it will only sweeten the compensation in R&R bill which is not binding on states but only meant to serve as guideline on "acceptable package". With states like UP and Haryana having adopted "good compensation with annuity" in their R&R policies, Centre may not get too many brownie points for the new compensation measures. There are concerns that UPA's move on annuity may not buffer Congress from sniping from rivals as it does not address Mamata's concerns. The railway minister wants that states should have no

power in acquiring land for private parties while Centre is loathe to accept it for its implications for industrialisation. According to sources, the core issue remains the LA bill which deals with the role of states in acquiring land for private companies, the red rag for TMC. (TOI, 14/9/2010) Leh victims yet to get permanent dwelling units A month after the devastating cloudburst in Leh, safe and permanent dwelling units for victims who have lost their homes are yet to come up. No permanent structure has been installed for the homeless so far despite assurances being given by the authorities that units for the victims will come up before the advent of winter. Only a sample prefabricated structure has been constructed so far at Solar colony, Choglamsar, and most of the victims are still putting up in tents. In Skurbuchan village, the National Bamboo Application has constructed four prefabricated bamboo houses for the victims and they are planning to construct 20 more such units in the same area. Chief Executive Councillor of Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council Tsering Dorjay said, "We are now not constructing houses for the victims." "Instead, we are giving Rs 2 lakh to those whose houses were completely damaged and Rs one lakh to people whose houses were partially damaged," he said. Apart from this, the government will give subsidy on timber and will make available all the construction materials for them, Dorje said. The authorities are now planning to shift the victims who are presently putting up in tents to government buildings like schools and other such buildings so that they could protect themselves during winter. (IE, 22/9/2010) Before the deluge, a sea of tribal tears “The government will give us money (in the form of a rehabilitation & resettlement package). But, what about our emotional attachment to the forest? We cannot live in a concrete jungle. What we want from the government is allotment of alternative forest land. We want to be allowed to stay close to our Mother (Nature). If not, we will stay with Her and submerge with Her,” says A Ankisetty, a 67-year-old tribal from Paidipaka village. The New Devaragondhi Rehabilitation Colony stands testimony to this determination. Situated 5 km from the forests on the outskirts of Polavaram town, it was constructed with money from the state government’s R&R package. It comprises 100 houses, replete with a community hall, day-care centre, primary school, Durga temple and church. But, the colony wears a deserted look — except for the four tribal families that live there. “We are here to convey our grievances to politicians and officials, who shy away from visiting our tribal villages and, hence, come here quite often,” says Venkata Lakshmi, a member of the government-run Development of Women and Children in Rural Areas programme from Devaragondhi village. Venkata Lakshmi — the only literate in the village — has just one concern. “What the government had earlier promised, including an R&R package for girls above 18 years and compensation for borewells, has not yet been fulfilled. If this is the fate of our Devaragondhi village, when will the government address the problems of other villages, which are already in the grip of floods?” she asks. “Let our tears mingle with the Godavari water.” The compensation package extended by the state government varies from village to village, tribal to non-tribal and the nature of land holdings. For instance, Paidipaka tribal village received Rs 1,40,000 an acre, while the Ramayyapeta non-tribal village received Rs 1,85,000. Of the 29 villages (two vacated) in the Polavaram mandal that will be inundated due to the project, 25 are tribal. “Our village, Ramayyapeta, which has 450 households with 250 acres under cultivation, will be submerged because of the project. I have three acres. The government has given compensation of Rs 1,40,000 an acre. But, we are yet to receive rehabilitation packages for 400 more households and alternative land for a cemetery and sheds for livestock,” says 33-year-old Boreddy Apparao. Tourism has suffered here, too. The number of tourists to Polavaram has come down to nil. Until last year, around 1,500 tourists used to come every day to visit the Papikondalu hill range by boat from Polavaram. Papikondalu, too, will disappear once the Indira Sagar project takes shape. “Until 2009, my hotel was brimming with tourists, who contributed about 60 per cent to my daily counter sales of Rs 5,000. It is not the case now,” laments Subbayya, the proprietor of Sri Sai Hotel. Things are no different for the 450-odd villagers of Kummarilova, a small hilly village in East Godavari. When the state government approved a unique Rs 40-crore aqueduct as part of the Indira Sagar project, which would enable the Godavari to flow even as vehicular traffic plied beneath, the villagers were a happy lot, not realising that they would fall victim to this project. The Polavaram water would flow atop the hill and then on to the structure. “We now realise the ‘uniqueness’ of the project! The government wants to evacuate the village as it intends to use it as a dumping yard. Government officials have already surveyed the village, rejecting our demand for an R&R package. There is no clear picture from the officials as yet to the compensation,” says village panchayat president J Varalakshmi. With a majority being daily labourers, Kummarilova villagers approached 28 farmers in the village, who together hold 49 acres of land that will also be acquired by the government, and knocked on the doors of a nearby court in Tuni. “The court

ordered that our views be considered before any decision on the project was taken. Government officials, however, are deaf to our plight. We plan to approach the Andhra Pradesh High Court soon,” she says. The only sector that Lady Luck is smiling upon is real estate. “With the construction of the zero point (or outer tunnel regulator) from where the Polavaram canal begins, prices of rainfed land have escalated to Rs 8,00,000 an acre from Rs 2,00,000. It’s time for us to do brisk business,” says a beaming Vygreshwara Rao, a small-time realtor from Polavaram town. (Business standard, 21/9/2010) NGOs seek proper rehabilitation of rescued migrant labourers It is common to find large number of people migrating from western Odisha to other States in search of jobs in order to earn a livelihood. But ultimately they become victims of torture and exploitation. As life becomes miserable there, many leave the place and appeal before the local administration and NGOs to rescue fellow labourers. Most of these poor people migrate to other States in search of livelihood. So far 700 people have been rescued in three years. However only 30 have been rehabilitated and resettled, points out Umi Daniel of Migration Information Resource Centre, Bhubaneswar. Most of these labourers migrate initially through illegal agents and they are not aware of where they are going. Worse, they work in unregistered and illegal brick kilns of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. In the absence of exact information, it becomes a virtually difficult task to locate the brick kilns and rescue them, Daniel says further. The registration of migrant labourers should be done at the panchayat level so that at least the panchayat can know who are leaving the village and where they are going, opines Jain Patra of Adhikar. The rescued migrant labourers have no option for livelihood at their home. So they are forced to migrate in order to meet their expenses and other needs, and they get huge amount of money as advance. The proper implementation of MNERGA with timely work and payment could reduce the problem, says Jatin further. Even though a large number of people from Nuapada district are migrating, only few are rescued and rehabilitation is almost nil for those rescued in Nuapada district, laments Abani Panigrahi of Lok Drusti. The migrant labourers who return are virtually left with no job back home and they are forced to go to money lenders or brokers to manage their livelihood or migrate once again in order to survive, he added. MNERGA should be provided to them during their lean period in order to retain them from migrating again, he opined further. The State has a responsibility to rehabilitate these poor people otherwise these people would be forced to migrate once again only to face the miserable situation again, points out another NGO activist. While they are released under the Bonded Labour Act and compensation is given to them in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, the effort of Government of Odisha has not been satisfactory at all, observes the activist. The Inter-State Migrant Workmen Act, 1979 should be amended and made more labour-friendly, feels social activist Sanjaya Mishra. A comprehensive and integrated plan should be launched to check the distress migration for betterment of the hapless migrant people of this region, opines leading social activist Achyut Das. (Pioneer, 27/9/2010) Rehabilitation demanded for villagers living near T ehri Dam In order to rehabilitate the villagers located near Tehri Dam, Dharohar, a social organisation held protest and submitted a memorandum to the District Magistrate Sachin Kurve addressing the Chief Minister here in Dehradun on Monday. Dharohar president Pankaj Singh Kshitri in a Press note said that the State Government should conduct inquiry into the incident when the level of water was increasing in Tehri Dam, why the administration was waiting to reach the EL 820 metre? The Government should provide compensation to those families whose life and property has been severely affected due to release of water from the Tehri Dam. The Corporate Society Responsibility fund should be spent for the benefit of the villagers located near Tehri Dam. (Pioneer, 28/9/2010) Flood victims dumped near drain NEW DELHI: Delhi's makeover as a world class city before Commonwealth Games has made the authorities shift and dump the over a thousand flood victims squatting along the UP link road to a site along a stinking drain near Mayur Vihar Phase-I. Spread out in a row, the tents have tall wild bushes on both sides as buffers from the filth and stink. The tents that had come up along the UP link road between DND flyway and Akshardham flyover were removed over the weekend and road laying and streetscaping work is now in full swing. Ashok, one of the inmates, tells you they were moved to this site on Saturday, and the operation was so swift that in the rush to relocate the tents some of their belongings fell into the water. The relief camp along the drain is accessible from one side of the road. Inside, the flood victims are trying hard to settle down in their temporary shelters. Most of them are from Chilla Khadar, a habitation on the riverbed across Mayur Vihar. Their homes are still fully or partially under water. Radhey, around 30, is already sick with fever and has been suffering from bouts of vomiting. As she stood waiting for her turn to fill water from a tanker at the camp, she said people were falling sick. Mosquitoes abound here as the drain is barely a few feet from the site. Sunny is in Class I and he is aware of the Games.

Asked why they had to move to this site, he muttered, ''Khel gaon aa raha hai na isliye.'' The children still go to MCD and government-run schools in the vicinity. That's the only time when they get away from their filthy surroundings. From October 1, however, the schools will close for the autumn break that will stretch to the end of the Games, prolonging their agony. Shanta Devi said many children go for tuition after school and since those classes will continue even during the vacations, the children will not have to spend the entire day at this relief camp. Dayawati is 60 and the circumstances make her angry. A witness to the 1978 floods, she points out that even after so many decades there are hardly any facilities for the poor. Though the water has now started receding and after sometime they would be in a position to move back to the riverbed where their houses are located, they have been asked to stay put till the Games are over. When asked about the conditions at the relief camp, a senior official from the revenue department, who refused to be named, said they had planned to relocate the camp at a large vacant ground behind Mayur Vihar near Chand cinema but the occupants did not wish to go there as their children study in schools in the vicinity of the main UP link road. Hence, they had to settle from this site from where they can also monitor the receding water. (TOI, 29/9/2010) ‘CMAS victims properly rehabilitated’ The villagers of both Narayanapatna and Bandhugaon blocks, who left in fear of violent activities by the Chasi Mulia Adibasi Sangha (CMAS), have been properly rehabilitated by the district administration, informed Koraput Collector Rajesh Prabhakar Patil at a Press conference on Tuesday. Around 700 non-Adivasi families were expelled by the CMAS during May-August 2009 and they had left for Koraput, Damanjodi, Rayagada, Laxmipur and even to Parvatipuram in Andhra Pradesh. Out of the displaced families, 200 families have been provided shelter at Koraput, 70 families at Machaliguda near Damanjodi and 25 families at Laxmipur, informed Patil. From the very date of displacement, the district administration was very alert on providing shelter and taking rehabilitation measures for the families. Relief was also provided to 730 families for 120 days along with 148 dhotis, 267 sarees, 342 blankets, 470 polythene and 224 crockery and utensils. Patil also informed that around 5,000 persons have been covered under Madhubabu Pension Yojana (MPY) and are regularly provided with pension under the scheme and 489 displaced and eligible beneficiaries selected by the Palli Sabha were also covered under Mo Kudia Yojana of the State Government. 250 families will be provided with ration cards and those having income less than `25,000 per annum were declared ‘debt free’ under which 300 debtors applied for debt-free loan to the district administration, Patil said. Patil also informed that around 100 persons have been provided loan of `2 lakh each with debt-free under the SGSY Yojana and the children of the displaced families have been admitted to the hostels and residential schools run by the ST & SC Development Department in the district. The tenth pass-out students have also been facilitated for admission into colleges and out of which 10-12 students are presently being imparted vocational training at the Koraput ITI. Out of 108 land related cases, 50 cases have been settled, 59 encroached lands have also been restored and 6,376 pattas have been issued under the Forest Act in Narayanapatna block. He also informed that developmental works under different schemes are going on in Narayanapatna block and in some areas, the work is reported to be slowly due to Maoist threat. However, digging of 40 ponds has been completed under Mo Pokhari Yojana in Balighat, Borigi, Bijaghati, Langalabeda and Tentulipadar in Narayanapatna block and inaccessible areas of Narayanapatna, Bandhugaon and some parts of Laxmipur block have also been covered under the Odisha Tribal Empowerment Livelihood Project (OTELP) where the NGOs were involved in structure and developmental work. “As the displaced families refused to stay at Machliguda and Panasput where land was identified by the district administration, we are ready to provide land and shelter to them if they select a suitable place,” assured the Collector, adding if they wish to return their original village to live peacefully, the administration will also take care of them. “I request all citizens of my district and NGOs to come forward for restoration of peace and also want full-fledged co-operation from every corner for implementation of developmental works,” the Collector appealed. Attending the Press conference, the newly-joined Koraput Sub-Collector Punam Guha Tapas Kumar opined for positive change in life of the displaced. Kumar also added that awareness and dialogue exchange are needed through a forum for finding out the exact issue and its solution and also hoped for a united effort for the all-round development in the area. Among others, Revenue Officer Divya Lochan Mahanta and DIPRO Prafulla Kumar Mallick attended the conference. (Pioneer, 8/10/2010) 680 families to be displaced for Brutang irrigation project As many as 680 families are likely to be displaced for the proposed Brutang irrigation project in Nayagarh district, the stage-I environment clearance for which has been accorded by the Centre, official sources here said. Issuing direction to officials to ensure that the displaced families are properly rehabilitated, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday said that about 23,300 hectares of agricultural land would get irrigation facilities by the project over Brutang River. He reviewed the project hours after residents of

about 21 villagers held a protest meeting against the project at Daspalla. “We will not allow our houses to be submerged for the project,” said a protester, Jasoda Behera. With the State Government all set to implement the project by appointing a special officer to coordinate early clearance of the stage-II environment clearance, the local villagers under the banner of the Basachyuta Sangram Samiti vowed not to vacate their houses and land. About 2,110 hectare of land is likely to be submerged due to the project. Stating that 7.42 lakh people living in 309 villages in five blocks of Nayagarh district would get irrigation benefit after the project is completed, local Member of Parliament Rudra Madhab Ray said he is holding talks with the agitating people to pave way for implementation of the project. (Pioneer, 11/10/2010) Sardar Sarovar: 40,000 families still to be resettl ed Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar takes part in 'Mass rally and Sankalp' programme to mark the 25th year of the non-violent struggle in Narmada valley against Sardar Sarovar Dam, at Badwani in Madhya Pradesh, on Saturday. Photo: A. M. Faruqui Calling for a review of resettlement sites for the people affected by the Sardar Sarovar dam and of the irrigation project itself, Medha Patkar, leader of the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) said, there were as many as 40,000 families still in the submergence area, waiting to be resettled. “Initially, the [Narmada Water Disputes] Tribunal, which gave the award, estimated the number of families affected by the Sardar Sarovar at about 7,500. Now the government accepts there are 51,000 families. They also accept that out of these, around 40,000 and more are still in the submergence area,” Ms. Patkar told The Hindu. The NBA recently celebrated 25 years of struggle by organising meetings and rallies in Maharashtra and Gujarat. Ms. Patkar said the rehabilitation process itself was plagued by many problems. “The resettlement of 11,000 families [of the 51,000], was done only by Gujarat. A comprehensive review of resettlement sites is essential. In Maharashtra for example, lands were allotted four years ago, but the titles have not been given.” While the Andolan compelled the government to give more compensation, the lack of political will in execution had deprived people of their dues. “People are not satisfied, because the government's intentions are not good. They had stated on affidavit before the Supreme Court that land would be given in return for land. They now want to change that in Madhya Pradesh. The MP government, unlike its counterpart in Maharashtra, is not open to dialogue,” she pointed out. Perseverance of villagers : Ms. Patkar lauded the grit and perseverance of villagers who took on a big dam like Sardar Sarovar. “Crocodiles have eaten up many of our young boys, aged 13 and 15 years. Still people have the determination. Today, Pinjaribai [resident of Gujarat] is almost alone in her village. Tigers have started to come there. But she is so courageous. She says I have the land right, I will get the land. “After the Sardar Sarovar, the space for and strength of jan andolans (people's movements) have increased. They are taking a clear and radical stand on development projects,” Ms. Patkar said. In the absence of clarity on the correct benefits and damage caused by the project in the initial stages, the estimated level of submergence had resulted with the increase in the height of the dam, which stood at 122 metres in height today. “At 90 metres only it should have submerged [some areas], but that has [not been the case]. Big villages which were going to be submerged in 1993, have not sunk,” Ms. Patkar said. The 2000 Supreme Court decision allowing the dam to go above 90 metres was seen as a setback for the Andolan. Ms. Patkar questioned the “legal regime” of the day which violated the Directive Principles of State Policy. On the other hand, withdrawal of the World Bank and the debate fuelled on big dams were seen to be the achievements of the movement. The bank stopped its funding to the project in 1993. “But, it is instrumental in pushing for big dams. So we still can't say that we have challenged international financial institutions,” Ms. Patkar said. In the last 25 years, Ms. Patkar has expanded the scope of her activism to include land and displacement issues. Calling for a repeal of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, Ms. Patkar said, “once the principle of eminent domain of the State [which permits land acquisition for national development projects] becomes the basis for the total development planning then, people's consent is not necessary. Instead of repealing the Act, the government is amending it to give more cash compensation on every issue. Additional cash. Extra cash. It is also redefining public purpose to include private purpose projects. If that goes ahead, it could cause huge displacement which is already a severe law and order problem.” (The Hindu, 25/10/2010) Post-Independence land settlement deprived Kui Loku of natural rights The Kuidina Forum for Peace and Justice (KFPJ) submitted a memorandum with Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik during his Kandhamal visit on Monday. For a sustainable peace and non-repetition of violence in future, the KFPJ demands official clarification and the Government’s stand to be pronounced immediately on the confusions and rumours frequently raised relating to the indigenous identity, religion, conversion, home-coming, land status, holding and grab, enforcement of specific rights and protective instruments, false certificate enquiry process and identity claims. The KFPJ also demands assurance of time-bound return of the victims of 2007-2008 and 1994 violence through the nation-wide print and electronic media

publicity with appropriate safety and security arrangements and rehabilitation in the respective nativities with adequate compensation. The ongoing peace-building measures and rehabilitation process to be made more inclusive, people-based and transparent, particularly with the involvement of community leaders, local social organisations, women groups and panchayat bodies in planning and decision-making, implementation of related programmes and development schemes basing on the legal provisions. Joint Committee to be formed to monitor the process in the district and block levels to asses the situation regularly, through frequent visits and also maintain a separate office, helpline and records with the up-to-date relevant information. The criminals and anti-social elements responsible for creating violence and social unrests with the help of the panchayat bodies must be identified and the panchayat must be made accountable for further disturbances. Justice delivery system to be reviewed in relation to the investigations and prosecutions of the ongoing GR cases. Adequate and appropriate actions to be taken to reinvestigate the cases whenever required. Review and re-examination of the utilisation and progress of Government and non-Government aids relating to development, relief and rehabilitation during the last three years through social audit and appropriate action to be taken. All the officials, holding key positions but non-sensitive to the issues of ST/SC and minority communities must be replaced. Fund-driven organisations, coming from out-of-district and not so much familiar with the local culture, tradition and social values, must be restricted as there is apprehension of creating further divisions and disturbances. Trafficked women and children must be identified, rescued and locally rehabilitated. The KFPJ has alleged that the natural and basic rights of the peace-loving indigenous Kuidina, the original settlers of the land identified as Kui Loku, were ignored when the post-Independence provisions were formulated and enforced in relation to their identity, spirituality and traditional relationship with the land and forest. For the first time, land settlement was made by the Britishers for the immigrants (Saasi Loku) in 1920-1925 and tax was collected while the original settlers were spared. However, the post-Independence official land settlement for all, made in 1970s-80s basing on the adverse possession, deprived the original settlers of their natural rights due to lack of any long standing recorded evidence to be mentioned in the Record of Rights (ROR) and many non-indigenous people took advantage of the procedural weakness. It is claimed that the Kui Loku are not religious fanatics or casteists. The disturbances started only after 1970s due to the unrestricted aggressive actions of radical fascist forces. The allegation of conversion is also equally baseless. On the forged caste certificates, KFPJ states that all blame is put on a particular weaker section of the society without making any effort to fix responsibility against the issuing authority. Out of the 3,300 complaints filed by the victims in the local police stations, only 831 have been registered as FIRs. Majority of the registered cases have not been investigated. “We are concerned for survival and dignity of all and oppose all kind of divisive efforts to disintegrate and genocide the indigenous people in the name of religion and caste just for the vested political and socio-economic interests,” the KFPJ states. (Pioneer, 28/10/2010) Land acquisition inevitable, says Pranab PTI Murshidabad: Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee waves as Union Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways RPN Singh (C) and Chairman and MD of HCC Ltd Ajit Gulabchand (R) look on, during the foundation laying ceremony of NH 34 (Berhampore to Dalkhola) at Mathurapur in Murshidabad district of West Bengal on Sunday. In an apparent message to cabinet colleague Ms Mamata Banerjee who is opposed to land acquisition, Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday said there were some areas where land acquisition was “inevitable.” “Roads can only be built on land and improvement can only take place on land. Completion of road development projects will depend on land acquisition,” Mr Mukherjee said against the backdrop of the Railway Minister not turning up for a meeting in Delhi on the Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill called by him, but sending her views. He said that the Centre was working on the relief and rehabilitation package for the Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill. “We are at present discussing the rehabilitation package at the central level and we will bring an act on the same,” Mr Mukherjee said at the foundation stone-laying ceremony for widening the NH 34 between Berhampur and Dalkhola in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district to a four-lane highway. Stating that he expected the act would come soon, he, however, declined to give any time frame. He said financial compensation would be ‘healthy’ and jobs would be offered for acquisition of land for the highway widening of the NH 34 between Berhampur and Dalkhola. A total 680 hectares would be required to complete the widening of the NH 34 out of which contract for 260 km has been awarded to the Hindustan Construction Company. The project is estimated to be completed in 30 months. Mr Mukherjee said the project would help in fructifying the SAFTA and the Look East policy. The NH 34 begins from Kolkata and ends at Dalkhola covering 482 km connecting international borders of Myannmar, China (through Nathula), Nepal and Bangladesh with West Bengal. Modernisation of the highway would have a great impact on growth of trade commerce, Mr Mukherjee said. (The Hindu, 01/11/2010)

'Games displaced 250,000 people in Delhi' NEW DELHI: Around 250,000 people lost their homes due to evictions and demolitions conducted for security measure taken for the 2010 Commonwealth Games (CWG), a human rights organisation said here Wednesday. "Most of the demolitions and forced evictions have been characterised by lack of notice and due process, large police presence, destruction of personal possessions by authorities and violence," said the Housing and Land Rights Network (HLRN) in a release. HLRN said that in a few instances where resettlement has been provided on the outskirts of the capital, the living conditions are grossly inadequate. The report also mentioned that according to the National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI), over 275,000 informal sector workers, including street vendors and ragpickers, lost their livelihoods in Delhi due to the Games. "An estimated 55,000 vendors were forcibly evicted from their places of work, often with violence," an NASVI member said. As revealed in a Right to Information application filed by HLRN, Rs.744 crore from the Scheduled Castes sub-plan were diverted from 2006-07 to 2010-11 to meet CWG-related expenditures. "This has resulted in lack of development funds for Delhi's Dalits. Home minister P Chidambaram admitted this in the Rajya Sabha and mentioned that the diverted funds would be returned," added an HLRN member. Shalini Chaudhary, associate director of HRLN, suggested that the various agencies set up to probe the corruption charges and financial embezzlement in the Games-related projects should also enquire into the gross human rights violations. (TOI, 04/11/2010) Rs.30 crore for shifting villages from Sariska Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh announced in Sariska on Wednesday Rs.30 crore for shifting villages from the Sariska Tiger Reserve. On a visit to the reserve after the death of CP1, one of the five tigers released there as part of the re-introduction of tigers, Mr. Ramesh expressed his concern over the incident but gave the go-ahead to his team there for the continuation of the programme. A clear indication of this was Mr. Ramesh's instructions to the senior officials of the Forest Department to get ready with the plan for shifting yet another tiger to Sariska. The tiger in question was also identified as the male which recently had intruded into the world-famous Keoladeo National Park near Bharatpur. The clearances in this regard from the National Tiger Conservation Authority would be sought, he said. Rajesh Gopal, Member-Secretary of NTCA, and Brajendra Singh, Member, accompanied him. After arriving from Delhi at 9 a.m., Mr. Ramesh discussed the recent developments with the Park staff and senior officials of the Forest Department. He individually asked them what they thought could be the reason for the tiger's death. He also discussed the issue with members of the Wildlife Institute of India, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests R.N. Mehrotra, Chief Wildlife Warden and the Field Director of the Park. Later accompanied by a caravan of seven to eight vehicles he visited the hamlet Kala Keth, where the partly decomposed body of the male tiger was spotted on Sunday evening. He also talked to villagers in the area and asked them why they did not report the death of the animal. Talking to journalists at Sariska, Mr. Ramesh said the shifting of villages would be carried out speedily. He asked Dr. Gopal to allocate Rs.30 crore towards the expenses. (The Hindu, 18/11/2010) Centre agrees to high-level monitoring panel in Chh attisgarh case With the petitioners in the ongoing PIL case on Salwa Judum asking for the formation of a high-level committee to oversee the rehabilitation of displaced persons in Chhattisgarh and deal with criminal matters arising from the activities of the state-sponsored anti-naxal movement, the Centre, through the Solicitor-General, on Thursday told the Supreme Court that it agreed to the setting up of a panel but needed time to work out the details. In their plea before a Bench of Justices B. Sudershan Reddy and S.S. Nijjar, the petitioners, Prof. Nandini Sundar and others, said the court should direct the Centre and Chhattisgarh to withdraw all support, either direct or indirect, (financial or moral or logistical) to any armed vigilante group, including Salwa Judum by any of its names and cease arming civilians. Senior counsel Ashok Desai, appearing for the petitioners, said schools and hostels which are still being occupied by the security forces must be vacated and a high-level committee to monitor rehabilitation and criminal justice constituted. When Chhattisgarh counsel submitted that schools be run at alternative sites without disturbing the paramilitary personnel stationed there, Justice Reddy said, “We are not going to buy this argument. You have to vacate the schools.” It was simply not acceptable for the security forces to occupy schools and displace children, he said. The court also ordered police protection to one of the petitioners, Manish Kunjam, a former CPI MLA. In proposals submitted to the court, the petitioners said the State government should be asked to vacate all schools, hostels and public buildings by December 31, and to ensure that they were not occupied by armed or security forces in future for whatever purpose and that the schools were restored to the appropriate educational authority. On relief and rehabilitation, they said a high-level committee should be constituted to oversee the comprehensive rehabilitation in Dantewada and Bijapur districts, including registration of FIRs. For this purpose, a Rehabilitation Plan might be

designed keeping in mind the model suggested by the petitioners in March 2010. They wanted compensation of Rs. 4 lakh paid in cases of death, rape or incapacitation. The process of restoring essential services like the PDS, schools, anganwadi and health workers to villagers should be started immediately. The Bench posted the matter to December 15, asking the Centre and the State to file their response to the proposal. (The Hindu, 19/11/2010) ‘Sangharsh' holds dharna against displacement, land acquisition “Sangharsh,” a collective platform of social movements and people's organisations fighting displacement and forcible land acquisition, began a five-day dharna at Jantar Mantar here on Monday. Representatives of people's movements from Assam to Tamil Nadu participated in the “Sansad Gherao” dharna. Among the struggles highlighted was the Assam-based Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti's (KMSS) agitation against construction of dams in Assam and other regions of the northeast. Addressing the gathering, Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar denounced the absence of meaningful participatory processes in development planning. She demanded that the “prior, informed consent” of gram sabhas in rural areas and basti sabhas in urban areas be made a pre-requisite for land acquisition. Ms. Patkar was critical of the Union Rural Development Ministry for ignoring the recommendations of Parliamentary Standing Committees in the drafting of the Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill 2009 and the Resettlement and Rehabilitation Bill, 2009. “Sangharsh” also released its “critical assessment and recommendations” on both the Bills which, it said, was evolved with the participation of its 150 constituent people's movements. The protesters were particularly critical of the definition of “public purpose” in the Land Acquisition Bill, 2009 which, they said, was turning out to be worse than the controversial British-era Land Acquisition Act, 1894. They said the proposed amendment also subsumed within the definition of “public purpose” land purchased by private individuals or companies, which would be used to discriminate in favour of corporations and politically influential classes. Besides Ms. Patkar, the dharna was also addressed by veteran journalist Kuldip Nayar, forest rights activist Ashok Choudhury and KMSS leader Akhil Gogoi. (The Hindu, 23/11/2010) Chavan to fight for higher relief to affected famil ies Maharashtra Chief Minister Pritviraj Chavan on Sunday described the grant of environmental clearance to the 9,900-MW Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project (JNPP) by the Ministry of Environment and Forests as both “historic” and “emotional” moment for him. “The clearance is a “historic” step forward for India’s nuclear power programme. This is also an emotional moment for me personally since I was part of the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s trip to Washington for make-or-break negotiations of the India-US civil nuclear deal which began the journey to end India’s nuclear isolation”. Chavan, who was a Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) prior to becoming the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, said he was part of the entire process where the US amended its laws and India cleared the nuclear liability bill, leading up to the beginning of nuclear commerce and culminating in the clearance to the JNPP. “Not only is the project one of the largest nuclear power projects, it is also one of the five nuclear power parks that India planned after the India-US nuclear deal to speed up its nuclear power generation towards a target of 63,000 MW by 2032 from the current installed capacity of 4780 MW. This is also one of the first coastal projects planned among a series of proposed power generation projects that would generate around 33,000 MW,” he said. The Chief Minister said that in all 2,335 families would be displaced in five villages, owing to ongoing acquisition of 938 hectares required for the project. He said that if need be, he would fight with the State-run Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) for securing higher compensation to the JNPP-affected families. He said that though final award had been declared as per the current laws on rehabilitation and relief, the matter was re-looked into to a high powered Group of Ministers (GoM), which recommended enhancement of compensation. Chavan sought to fears arising out of the likely waste disposal from the nuclear power plant, saying: “The waste fuel management would be under the supervision of IAEA and the waste would not escape the limits of the boundary of the plant”. Speaking on the occasion, S Banerjee, Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission, lamented that though the country had an indigenous capability of establishing nuclear reactors for nuclear energy and had developed a full cycle technology to support the energy demand of the country was much higher. (Pioneer, 29/11/2010)

Let Kashmiri Pandits live in Govt houses: HC Directing the Centre to allow displaced Kashmiri Pandits who have retired from Government services to retain the houses allotted to them till the Government made alternative arrangements for their rehabilitation, the Delhi High Court has held that they have continued to occupy the public premises only on account of inability of the State to protect their fundamental rights. “The difference between the cases of petitioners and that of unauthorised occupants of public premises is that the writ petitioners have continued to occupy the public premises only on account of inability of the state to protect fundamental and basic human rights of the petitioners,” said Justice Gita Mittal while directing the Centre to pay costs of Rs 25,000 to each of the petitioners. An eviction order dated 23 September 2003 from the Estate officer of the directorate of Estates was received by one of the petitioners in November 2003. The petitioners sought protection from forcible eviction of quarters on the ground that it was the only roof available to them. The petitioners are a group of around 30 Kashmiri Pandit families who were employees of Central government organisations including paramilitary forces, defence services and intelligence. They were allotted accommodation in Moti Bagh, RK Puram, Sarojini Nagar, Andrews Ganj, Gole Market and other parts of Delhi after they were shifted to the Capital and posted in the local offices of the central organisation and department where they were employed. The government evacuated them from the Kashmir Valley as they had become prime targets of the militants. “It is an admitted fact that over this period, the properties of the petitioners in Jammu and Kashmir have either been destroyed, or in other cases, occupied by militants or the majority groups in the state. On account of the inability of the Government to protect the lives and properties of the petitioners, despite the Constitutional mandate, the petitioners have been deprived of their properties, are unable to return to their homes and face danger to their lives if they do so” Justice Mittal said. Standing counsel for the Centre, Jatan Singh had contended that the Union government has no responsibility vis-à-vis the petitioners in the given facts and that only the State of Jammu and Kashmir is liable for the infraction of the rights of the petitioners. Noting that an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court refers to a total package of the Central government involving an outlay of Rs 1618.4 crore, the court said “the affidavit of the Chief Secretary does not even refer to the utilisation of this huge amount of public money and the fate of the proposed facilities. There is nothing even before this court which could suggest that the facilities promised before the Supreme Court have even come into existence.” “The declared policy of the state with regard to the IDPs (internally displaced persons) from Kashmir is concerned with their rehabilitation. Forcible eviction from their current residences without an alternative is not even remotely suggested in these policies,” the court said while pulling up the government for threatening to forcibly evict the Kashmiri Pandits. (Pioneer, 01/12/2010) 'What's being done for Kashmiri migrants?' NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Omar Abdullah government to detail steps it had taken to construct houses to facilitate return of Kashmiri migrants under the centrally sponsored Rs 1,618 crore package for their rehabilitation. Additional solicitor general Indira Jaising informed a Bench comprising Chief Justice S H Kapadia and Justices K S Radhakrishnan and Swatanter Kumar that the Centre has already sanctioned Rs 200-odd crore to construct housing complexes for those who had been forced out of the state because of militancy and related violence targetting them and their property. When the counsel for J&K government sought time to respond, the Bench asked him to detail the steps taken for constructing houses as well as creation of jobs. "Without houses being put in place, the migrants will not return," the Bench said. It asked the state to file a status report, which should also detail auction of houses of migrants since 1997. A PIL filed by `All India Kashmiri Samaj' had sought a UN-mandated package for Kashmiri Pandits to give them the status of internally displaced persons. In response to this, the Centre informed the court that it had framed a Rs 1,618 crore package for their rehabilitation. The package included Rs 770 crore assistance for repair/reconstruction of fully or partially damaged, dilapidated or unused houses, Rs 150 crore for construction of group housing societies for those who were forced by circumstances to sell their houses and Rs 110 crore for their transit accommodation till they got permanent houses. The Centre had also promised Rs 180 crore for cash relief and free ration for a period of two years to migrant families after their return to the Valley. It also promised a Rs 293 crore grant for setting up self-employment avenues for educated youth from migrant families and another Rs 115 crore for restoration of orchards. (TOI, 7/12/2010) Government sops for displaced farmers LUCKNOW: To ensure there is no repeat of Tappal farmer agitation and to keep the farmers in good

humour, the UP government has decided to cover all farmers, whose land has been acquired, under the state's new reform and rehabilitation policy. In this regard, the state government has already invited proposals from Indian insurance companies or banks who will "provide professional services for successful implementation of the annuity scheme enacted by the state government''. While the last date for collection of application forms is December 31, the completed `Request for Qualification cum request for Proposal' documents must be submitted latest by January 4, 2011. Under the policy, all farmers displaced due to land acquisition for the Yamuna Expressway or other similar projects, will be entitled to at least 112 square metre plot for constructing a house, 7% reservation in housing colonies in the proposed townships and an annuity at the rate of Rs 20,000 per acre for 33 years. According to the government policy, the annuity will also be subject to a Rs 600 per acre annual hike, for which payment will be made in July. Farmers who prefer a down payment will be entitled to Rs 2.40 lakh per acre as a rehabilitation grant. This, the government clarified, will be in addition to the compensation paid for the land. Aside from the promise of annuity and reservation, the new rehabilitation policy mandates that all developers provide jobs to at least one person from the displaced family. (TOI, 9/12/2010) Displacement turns landowners to labourers From landowner to a junk-dealer is the fate of Mangara Linda met facing repeated displacements in his lifetime. The ruthless process made Linda landless, forcing him to take to junk dealing to meet his two ends. Fatefully, one more displacement is in the offing as measurement process of his small piece of land has already taken off. Linda is not only person from Garha Toli, a village in the vicinity of the Birsa Munda Airport, to bear the brunt of displacement. Similarly, most of the residents of the village lost their farmlands—the means of livelihood for them— due to the exploitative process. Adding to their woes, the administration did not made any compensation to them against the land snatched. Having acquired the land, the administration turned a blind eye to the matter. “The displacement is curse for us. I feel embarrassed while moving around the city with my thela (hand-pulled cart), shouting kabariwala, kabariwala to get the junk. At the age of 54, I find it difficult to pull the cart loaded with junk and old newspapers and used bottles. All this I do to manage my family of six,” said Linda, who lost around his seven acres of land. “The trouble for our village started way back in 1942 during British Rule. My grandfather Faujdar Linda, who owns more than 15 acres of land, informed me. But the land reduced to 10 acre after the acquisition. The displacement continued as the government acquired land once again in 1962 to set up the factory, reducing the land piece to 7 acre which also acquired by the government during the expansion of the factory,” pointed out Linda, adding that no efforts on part of the government was taken to compensate them for the loss. The first land acquisition in 1942 displaced the residents of Korantoli village to Chinutoli who were further displaced in 1962 owing to the second acquisition to Garhatoli, said Gamu Linda, who lost around 5 acres of agricultural land and now works as a daily wage labourer to fulfill the daily needs of his family. The sordid affairs of the villagers can be felt when Linda said, “Only the wearer knows where the shoe pinches. Why does the Government cheat us? The senior officers visit the villages only when they have to start another acquisition. They make tall claims about the compensation when the land is taken. But once process is over, they leave us on our own fate. Only God knows how long the Government will cheat us.” “Government does not pay heed to our demand. Now we want compensation for the earlier acquired land. Administration has once again started process for acquiring land without making any compensation to hundreds of residents of Harandad village adjoining to the airport under the expansion plan,” said Linda in despair. Podda Linda echoed the same sentiments. “Fatefully, the displacement axe is there for us. Unfortunately, no one is there to raise the issues we faced due to repeated displacements. The apathy has effected our children’s education badly as we cannot send them to schools. Most of the parents in my village put their children on work as they turn teen. The very reason behind it is that they cannot manage the food for them with the meager amount they earn as daily wages labourers.” “Will this process ever end,” asked Linda, leaving for the city in a hurry where he had to attend his duty at a construction site of a residential apartment coming out for those who are born with better fate than Podda Linda and company. (Pioneer, 9/12/2010) Kerala youth abducted in South Africa An Indian youth running a restaurant in Pretoria, South Africa, was abducted on Monday by an unidentified group, which has demanded Rs.1 crore in ransom. Nidhin K. Baby, 27, son of Baby of Kalleppara at Palakkamoola near Kariambadi, who has been running the restaurant for the past six years, was abducted while returning to Pretoria from Johannesburg after meeting his friends there. Mr. Baby, a

retired schoolteacher, told The Hindu that he got a phone call from his son at 2 a.m. on Monday, informing him of the abduction, after a call suspected to be from the anonymous abductors. Nidhin informed him that his life would be in danger if the family did not give the ransom. Nidhin also informed Mr. Baby that he would contact him again, at 10 p.m. on Tuesday, and that the abductors had warned him that the issue should not be conveyed to the Indian embassy or the government. “We have submitted memoranda to Union Minister for Overseas India Affairs Vayalar Ravi, the Chief Minister of Kerala and the India Embassy, seeking immediate intervention of the authorities,” Mr. Baby said. But the Meenangadi police said they had not received any complaint. (Hindu, 15/12/2010) Custody death: 3 cops to be prosecuted Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala Government has permitted the CBI to prosecute three police officials in connection with the death in custody of Udayakumar at the Fort Police Station in Thiruvananthapuram. The CBI had approached the Ernakulam Chief Judicial Magistrate Court in Kochi seeking permission to prosecute DySP EK Sabu, Sub-Inspector C Ajithkumar and Head Constable VP Mohanan, sixth, thirteenth and fourteenth accused respectively. The CBI had on September 27 filed the chargesheet in the case. Udayakumar, taken into custody on September 27, 2005, was reported dead at 4.00 pm the same day in custody. The CBI had named 14 persons as accused and 13 of them were police personnel. (Pioneer, 15/12/2010) Scheme to better quality of life for PAPs MUMBAI: The social development cell of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) is preparing to improve the quality of life of thousands of project affected persons (PAPs). The success of a pilot scheme for human development will be extended to all families who were affected by road building and rail expansion. The scheme was initiated by the MMRDA along with the Ambedkar Centre for Justice and Peace. After studying 1,084 project-affected families at Gautam Nagar, Govandi, the MMRDA provided them with a comprehensive health and education programme. Special health camps were conducted for pregnant women. were given advice on how to take special care of the unborn child. Also, anganwadis and English medium nursery schools were opened to cater to the children of displaced people. Officials said this plan will be extended to all colonies of the PAPs. The MMRDA has relocated about 40,000 families in 36 colonies in various parts of the city and extended suburbs. The cell will also look at special training facilities to help the people pick up skills to earn a livelihood. The care of the project affected has been taken up by the MMRDA after it undertook the Mumbai Urban Transport Project and Mumbai Urban Infrastructure Project. The MMRDA also cleared the rail tracks of hutments so that additional railway lines in the suburban sector could be laid. In addition to this, it has also undertaken the Metro and monorail projects which has also led to people being displaced from the roadsides. (TOI, 18/12/2010)