A working paper to be circulated among members of CII and Ficci before a second meeting of the two sides next month
Industry and civil society representatives agreed today on the need for a platform to discuss and create a consensus on land acquisition/utilisation and other basic issues in this regard.
At a meeting in this regard convened by Business and Community Foundation, an agency working on these and other issues, the two sides came together for a discussion on issues related to displacement. From industry, there were representatives from Tata Steel, ArcelorMittal, Cadbury, Nestle, the Jindal group, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci).
Amita Joseph of the BCF said a working paper is to be circulated among members of CII and Ficci, followed by a second meeting of the two sides next month.
“Industry is beginning to see how complex the environment is and that they cannot grow after alienating the poor,’’ she said.
There were diverse views on how to compensate people whose land is acquired for industry. P V Rajagopal of Ekta Parishad, who’s leading a campaign for land redistribution to the landless, said industry had been opposed to giving shares of their company. He wanted land to be taken on lease from its owners, not acquired, so that the owners are able to get a regular and rising return, without losing ultimate possession.
ArcelorMittal representative and its country head for CSR, Sudhir K Sinha, said neither shares in mines nor providing money as remuneration could solve the problem. “How many people even among us understand shares? How do you expect people living in forests to follow the share market?” he asked.
He noted ArcelorMittal had been trying in vain to get some land for mining for seven years. He suggested the amendments being processed for the existing land acquisition legislation provide a set of alternatives, rather than a single solution. Providing mining and other land on lease to companies was one of these possibilities, he said, which should be explored. Dependent and owner families would then get an assured return from the land till the time it was with a company, he said.
Tata Services’ resident director Bharat Wakhlu said the companies should isolate three laws they needed immediately and try to create a consensus on these.
Rajinder Singh of the Tarun Bharat Sangh blamed companies for destroying rivers and grabbing land of hundreds of thousands. He made specific allegations against certain industrial groups in this regard. CII and Ficci also received flak from him and some others for not taking on or outlawing members who were thriving by exploitation of human rights or the environment.
