Faced by criticism on its Special Economic Zone (SEZ) policy, the government is preparing guidelines for acquisition of land from farmers for setting up SEZs."We are meeting the representatives of state governments tomorrow to advise them on land acquisition for SEZs. The Board of Approval (BoA) will lay down some general guidelines on this," G K Pillai, special secretary in the Commerce Ministry, said at a CII seminar.The meeting is also likely to consider norms for putting up social infrastructure such as schools, roads, parks and hospitals in the zones.Pillai said some companies such as Bharat Forge have adopted innovative models to take along displaced people by offering them equity shares, provide training and jobs in the SEZs besides monetary compensation for the land.He said the 150 proposals cleared by the BoA so far would come up on 26,800 hectares of land. In the 225 applications pending before the BoA, 75,000 hectares of land would be required, he said, adding no land on which two crops in a year can be grown would be acquired.
