Land Acquisition

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/article3832611.ece

Though I did not understand the article completely but I get the jist of it. I have to say that I support both of them partially or I can say that I do not support any of them. Though I agree with Mr. Jairam Ramesh that this kind of bill is necessary for the progress of country, I also agree with Ms. Medha Patkar that this kind of bill, in reality, is helping the corporates and not the masses.

I live in a small town surrounded by a lot of agricultural land which is the sole source of income for the villagers nearby. A canal had to be dug to distribute water because in that land rice/paddy is sown in the season of June and July. Since monsoon has been late for past couple of years and paddy requires a lot of water in the initial period of sowing this canal was really needed. Its plan was such that it had to pass through this agricultural land.

The land was taken from the farmers by the government and they were provided with a monetary compensation. On top of that, the amount provided was not sufficient to buy even half of the lost land nearby. Most devastated were the farmers whose most of the land was taken by the canal and were left with two small chunks of land on either side of the canal.

Though India needs growth and infrastructures like that canal are really necessary, I do not believe that better solutions are not possible. They could have adjusted the plan of the canal a bit so that it devastated less people or provided people with alternate land or awarded them appropriate compensations. Government cannot really hurt one group of people to help the other. To provide water to one group of farmers they cannot ruin the other.

Though I really don't know how much they considered it, I do know that it was not sufficient. Government needs to do a lot more for there farmers if they are taking away their land like that even if it is for the purpose of a greater good.