Subir Roy: Winning the battle over land

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Medicos out on the streets may be grabbing the headlines today but a far greater problem is emerging and likely to take centre stage eventually""discontent over land. As the pace of economic growth quickens, more and more land will be needed for new industries, infrastructure and urban space. This land will have to be acquired from city dwellers, small and large farmers and some of the most vulnerable sections of society""tribals and indigenous peoples, who live mostly at the edge of forests. If land acquisition becomes an unduly divisive process, growth prospects will recede and the country will be dotted with mini civil wars.

China, which is far ahead of India in growth, has already got a full taste of this. Earlier this year, it formally came to grips with the problem by announcing a new policy which will make the process of land acquisition far more considered and rigorous and take far better steps to compensate and rehabilitate those affected. The latter will involve paying higher compensation, giving more alternative jobs to the displaced or guaranteeing pension for those who cannot be given jobs.

The Chinese authorities were forced to devise this policy by growing public protests""87,000 public demonstrations across China in 2005, up by 9,000 over 1993, according to official statistics""symptomatic of widespread social unrest. The flash point came earlier when several died in police firing while protesting against land acquisition in Guangdong province, one of the fastest-growing. Officially, three people died in the firing; media reports from the area said 20. The Chinese authorities have now said they will detain the policemen who fired on the demonstration.

In India, early this year, 12 people died in a police firing in Kalinga Nagar in Orissa, protesting against land acquisition for a number of projects by, among others, the Tatas and Posco. The Orissa government has announced a fresh rehabilitation and relocation policy and Posco has cut its land requirement. It now says it needs 4,000 acres and not 5,000, and this will displace 400 families and not 2,000. Why didn't Posco and the Orissa government think of this earlier? In a way the laws of the marketplace are at play. A painful process of price discovery is on, after which the true cost of the land, including the toll it takes on the affected families and their livelihood, is emerging.

Orissa is not alone. The Karnataka government is having to forego a lot of development because it cannot offer firms large tracts of land, which they need and which Andhra Pradesh is able to. This is partly because most firms want land around Bangalore, which is privately owned and densely populated and cultivated. On the other hand, the Andhra government was in the happy position of owning a lot of land around Hyderabad which was semi arid and thinly cultivated. But its good days are nearly over and it will have to soon fall in line with other states and acquire land from the public the hard way.

The state to confront the problem most recently is West Bengal, which has announced plans to acquire 32,000 acres in several districts for well-defined projects. Of this, there is some protest against the acquisition of a thousand acres for a new car plant to be set up by the Tatas. CPI(M) leader Prakash Karat has said with alacrity that the party's politburo is not looking into this as it is an issue to be determined by its West Bengal unit and the government. The left forces in Orissa, however, have joined the Congress and the rest of the opposition on the side of those opposing the land acquisition.

Without land the bright growth prospects ahead of India will not be fulfilled. Properly handled, at the end of the day everyone can be better off, not as with the Narmada project, where Gujarat farmers seem set to benefit at the expense of Madhya Pradesh tribals. The key therefore lies in handling land acquisition the right way.

For this, all governments must immediately resolve to acquire land only at market prices. Property consultants say determining market prices is a very feasible task which can be performed by taking note of the rates at which recent deals have been struck in the area in question. The process can be aided in the medium term by lowering state levies on registration, and in the longer term, by computerising land records. Karnataka has done this but not for Bangalore. The two together will vastly ease and aid the process of price discovery and minimise travails over land acquisition.

This leaves us with forest, semi forest and thinly cultivated areas. Forests should be absolutely no go areas. The central government should clearly reiterate that India needs development but not at the cost of its remaining forests. So fresh bauxite mining in Orissa and Andhra should be ruled out. The remaining""areas adjoining forests and thinly cultivated areas""is typically inhabited by tribals and indigenous peoples, who either live off forests or follow very backward forms of cultivation. It also happens that a lot of the current Maoist activity in India is in these areas where dispossessed tribals and forest people feel left out of the development process and have contempt for all politicians, including the leftists.

Relocating and rehabilitating them is a complex task. It is not just relocating them in familiar terrain but also helping them learn new ways of earning a living so that they do not become worthless alcoholics in a new and unfamiliar world. This is the most difficult task for which NGO help ought to be enlisted. What should concentrate the mind is the knowledge that there is no alternative if we wish to grow and prosper in a democratic and inclusive society.

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