need 4 National Action !

Hello! My friends. After a long time, we are here again. Twitterattis’ and Facebookers’ silence should not be construed as ‘World-in-Silence’.

Condemning Midnight swoop at RamLila Maidan,  Mistreatment to Krittika Biswas, and Murder of J Dey,

Welcoming Supreme Court verdict on Salwa judum, and Mamata’s announcement on subsidized food,

Not entering into the discussion of Baba’s 11000 army, PM’s inclusion under Lokpal, Rift in UPA over VIP treatment, Azad’s comment on MSMs, and whom Bipasha is dating these days,

Praising Media’s role in Maran’s resignation, and unveiling Doping scandal,

Refusing to comment on Telengana crisis, Rahul’s padyatra, Release of Maria Susairaj, Pitt and Jolie’s decision to tie the knot, and Khan’s Delhi Belly,

Let me pay my tributes to Victims of Mumbai serial blast, Swami Nigamanand

and most importantly people killed in Forbesganj, Bihar (6 people killed); Noida, Uttar Pradesh (4); Dhanbad, Jharkhand(4); Jaitapur, Maharashtra (1); Kakkarapalli, Andhra Pradesh (2); Sompeta, Andhra Pradesh(3); Narayanpatna, Orissa(2); Mudigonda, Andhra Pradesh(8); Nandigram, West Bengal(11) and Kalinganagar, Orissa(13).

On June 2, Mayawati announced a new land acquisition policy under which its role in acquiring land for private developers would only be that of a ‘facilitator’. This is nothing but an attempt to woo farmers after getting them brutally beaten by the police in the backdrop of their agitations in Bhatta-Parsaul Village. To remind you, four persons, including two policemen, were killed in the clashes and firing in Bhatta-Parsaul on May 7. And here Maya was kind enough to say that in the affected villages where land has been acquired, the developer would have to construct a kisan bhawan as well as a model school.

The farmers have been agitating for higher compensation and demanding that only half of their lands should be acquired, while the rest should be handed back to the farmers after development. Their demand is 25% reservation in all schemes of Noida, Greater Noida and Yamuna Expressway. Moreover they are demanding that the authorities should give 120 square metre plots to landless farmers and a compensation of Rs. 5,00,000 for each acre of acquired land.

But the Chief Minister cleverly clarified her stand saying -areas where land has already been acquired and compensation distributed to farmers including Bhatta-Parsaul and Tappal will be out of the ambit of the policy(announced on June 2). This is not govt’s indifferent attitude for the first time. History of this country is evident of such attitude of every government, be it ruling or in waiting!


However the Supreme Court on July 06 ordered the return of the land to villagers and upheld an Allahabad High Court order quashing the UP notification to acquire 156 hectares of land for construction of residential apartments by private builders. The Bench of Justices G.S. Singhvi and A.K. Ganguly concluded that the entire exercise of acquisition was a colourable exercise. Justice Singhvi lambasted the GNIDA and opined “You will not understand the psyche of the farmer. For him, land is a mother, his means of livelihood and sustenance...” Also the day before, the court criticised States for taking advantage of the colonial land acquisition law to divest farmers of their farmland.

The court on June 27 warned the UP government against invoking the "urgency" clause for acquiring prime agricultural land, saying it would step in if this continued as it did not want "more Nandigrams" and observed "We will not keep our eyes closed." However the argument of Advocate P Narasimhan, appearing for the Shahberi land-owners is worth considering. He advocated for redefining public purpose clause in Land Acquisition Act. He said, “Public purpose is only when there is access for the entire public to the benefits arising out of the acquisition, and for this the public trust doctrine must be applied."

Here, we appreciate his line of argument.

...demanding scrapping of L.A.Act
Photo Courtesy: The Hindu

Farmers, adivasis, dalits and working class people have sacrificed their life for development, while trying to defend their right over the natural resources. In 1998, during the tenure of Babugauda Patil, NAPM led siege to the Rural Development Ministry demanding primary right of Gram Sabha over the development planning and no forced displacement. Since then the issue has been raised at many levels which finally culminated in the 'National Development, Displacement and Rehabilitation' Bill approved by NAC I in 2006. Many organisations, alliances across the country have made their efforts to secure and protect land rights of the landless communities.

Once again after the Greater Noida incidents, an environment has been created whereby every political party is demanding passage of amendments to the existing Land Acquisition Act and UPA government proposed to do so in Monsoon Session. It is a welcome move that the new Rural Development Minister Sri Jairam Ramesh has accepted formulation of one comprehensive law and not two separate legislations. 

However, the people movements’ are demanding to:

·       1.  Repeal the Land Acquisition Act and Enact a comprehensive National Development, No Forced Displacement and Rehabilitation Bill instead of two separate legislations incorporating the progressive elements of the Standing Committee on Rural Development (2007-08) enunciating the principle of least displacement, just rehabilitation and a decentralized development planning based on Article 243 of the Constitution, PESA 1996 and Forest Rights Act, 2006 in consultation with affected communities, movement groups and farmers groups.

·         2. Put moratorium on all acquisitions until the process for a new comprehensive legislation is complete

·         3. Issue a White Paper on all the land acquisitions, displacement caused and rehabilitation completed since independence. The White Paper must also make public the extent of land utilized, unutilized and land acquired for public purpose but remains occupied by sick and non-functional industries and other infrastructure projects.

We here believe the demands to be genuine and reasonable so ask everyone to join hands to protect the agricultural land and secure land rights for the food security needs of the future generations. National Action Against Forced Displacement & Land Grab and For Community Control Over Natural Resources & Livelihood Rights is need of the hour.