Land Acquisition in India: Points for Discussion

Calm down, everyone...time to strategize and reach consensus on important aspects related to Land Acquisition. (The Ordinance is awful, but we can only move towards a solution if we also accept that the 2013 Act also needs changes, and enlist those, just so as to be clear).

Now: Before going into the details and text of the Act and Ordinance, these are the things that need to be understood by law and policy makers, misconceptions cleared, consensus arrived at, and a just law diligently campaigned for:

1. The industrialization of agriculture: Many (not only corporates, but some leftists and elite environmentalists) would argue FOR the industrialization of agriculture. There is much in theory and pragmatism to justify this (don't forget, USSR was all about industrializing agriculture). HOWEVER, what is happening right now, is that the argument in favour of the industrialization of agriculture is being used as an instrument with which to attack democracy, a welfare state, and everything that Constitutions like India's stand for.

2. The understanding (and possible limitations as far as existing legal interpretations go), about who a farmer is: Usually seen as a male land owner/so-called head of family. (Thus, women working on their family farms are left out- that's obviously many times the number of 'farmers'; Rich/large farmers/possibly industrial farming is most often treated on the same footing as the poorest and smallest of farmers; Agricultural labourers are not counted here though they would need to be, on some counts).

3. Unless the personal law relating to property and inheritance (at least as far as Hindu Law goes), is made less hierarchical and more gender-neutral, the impact of those laws on the Land Acquisition Law as it is poised today, will make things even worse for the already disempowered sections of society.

4. Any dilution of the Forest Rights Act will create further havoc for all concerned. There can be no compromise on the Forest Rights Act, as the consensus that the JPC brought about was done in a most thorough manner.

5. The current policy is tilted towards the compulsory acquiring of land in cases where land need not be acquired. (In my humble opinion, If anyone thinks this is the best way to do away with the practice of black money in land transactions, the attempt is totally half-baked, with a lot of injustices overlooked).