This refers to Ashok Lahiri's article "That old majority rule" (December 3). Based on Marquis de Condorcet's "jury theorem", Lahiri proposes to decide land acquisition for private and public-private partnership projects by acceptance by simple majority. He premises that every project affected household (PAH) has the same objectives of "development, growth, employment generation and poverty alleviation" in mind in deciding whether to agree to part with its land or not. These are long term-goals and in reality, PAHs decide after factoring in the immediate, specific questions of emotional attachment to the land, possibility of survival on compensation received and prospects of rehabilitation. Answers to these questions could vary from individual to individual.
A simple majority in that case could prove to be fragile in implementing the scheme. Acceptance by a high majority, say, 75 per cent, makes execution more smooth. Alternatively, why not use the parameter of land size instead of number of PAHs?
Y G Chouksey Pune
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