Skip to main content

Demand to return land acquired from Gujarat farmers and handed over to industrialists: Apex Curt order fallout

Tata Nano factory off agricultural land in Gujarat
By Our Representative
The Supreme Court judgment to hand over Tata Nano land, acquired by West Bengal's Left government in 2006, to the farmers (click HERE) is all set to trigger similar demands being made in Gujarat. The Khedut Samaj, Gujarat (GSK), has fired the salvo by declaring that the BJP government has been acting almost in the same way as the Left had a decade ago, indiscriminately acquiring land for “public purpose.”
In a communique, GKS said, the “Gujarat government is not an exception from greed and shortsightedness”, with the Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC), a state government agency, having acquired “thousands of acres of land in Gujarat, only to hand it over to industrialists.”
GKS has further said, the land in a large number of cases has remained unutilized, adding, with the latest Supreme Court judgment it is clear that all this was done to help the private corporate houses in Gujarat, too, and as the Supreme Court judgment says, illegally. “The judgment exposes the government-corporate nexus, smacking of conspiracy of land grab”, it added.
Asking the farmers to come forward and start the process of "regaining" their land thus acquired and lying unutilized, as they did in West Bengal, Sagar Rabari, who leads the KSG, said, “The unutilized land was sometimes acquired in the name irrigation projects, sometimes by the GIDC, and sometimes for private industrial houses under the public purpose garb.”
Pointing out that the KSG is ready to take up the cause of the farmers, the communique said, “It is time farmers woke up and unite and ask the state government to return their unutilized land. If the farmers demand their land back, KSG will provide them required guidance and help, including filing cases in courts.”
Calling the Supreme Court verdict “historic”, KSG said, it is not an isolated case. “In the Greater Noida case, the land handed over to the builders by the UP government was also ordered to be returned to the farmers”, it added.
Talking to Counterview, Rabari said, “If the farmers of Sanand, about 12 km from Ahmedabad, are ready to come forward to demand their land back, KSG would surely support their cause.”
He added, “While the state government gave over most of the land to the Nano factory in Sanand from its huge plot of the Anand Agricultural University in Sanand, roughly 60 farmers were also adversely affected, as their land was acquired by the GIDC in the same way as the Weste Bengal Industrial Development Corporation did for Nano in 2006.”
Following the agitation led by Mamta Banerjee, then in the opposition, against land acquisition in 2006 for the Tata Nano small car factory, Ratan Tata, chairman of Tata Group, decided to shift the factory to Gujarat after then chief minister Narendra Modi offered Tata soft loan of Rs 20,000 crore to transfer the unit to Gujarat.
“While in West Bengal it was WBIDC, in Gujarat it is GIDC”, noted Rabari, adding, “Both have operated almost in the same way.” It is not just the Tata Nano to whom the acquired land was handed over in Gujarat, Rabari said, adding, “A similar policy has been adopted for acquiring land in Jamnagar for Reliance and Essar, and for Adanis in Kutch.”
“Land was similarly acquired in Kevadia Colony to build the Sardar Sarovar dam on river Narmada way back in 1970s”, Rabari said, adding, “Now that the dam is near completion, the government is thinking of putting up a tourism project there. The tribals there are agitating, want their unutilized land back. Same is the case with the Dharoi dam, whose acquired land for the colony is lying idle, as nobody lives in there. It should be given back to farmers.”
Giving an example of how the Gujarat government has been treating farmers, Rabari said, “The Narmada canal network near Ahmedabad was to pass through the Jundal-Chandkheda area. A huge tract of land was acquired from 80-odd farmers."
"However", he added, "Because of pressure of urbanization, the canal's location was shifted one-and-a-half kilometres away the city – at Sughad village near Adalaj. The acquired land remains unutilized. Yet, as the state government doesn't want to part with the land to hand it over its earlier owners, farmers,  because the land prices have shot up drastically."

Comments

Sagar Rabari said…
Well said Rajivbhai.
Dipak Dholakia said…
As far as farmers were concerned The Marxist government in Wb and the BJP government in Gujarat did not behave differently. India has seen only one continuous government since 1991 though Prime Ministers have changed. Time for people to draw their own agenda and compel political parties to accept and implement it.

TRENDING

Reducing emission? India among top nations whose coal as energy source going up

By NS Venkataraman*  The State of the Global Climate report by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) confirmed that the year 2023 was the warmest year on record, with the global temperature of 1.4 degree celsius above pre-industrial 1850-1900 base line.

Lockdown 'total failure' of science more than of politics: Open letter on 4th anniversary

Counterview Desk  In an open letter to fellow academicians, scientists and medical practitioners in India, marking the fourth anniversary of India's lockdown (25 March 2024), the Managing Committee* of the Universal Health Organisation (UHO) has insisted on the need to "repair two years of immense damage to science".

Insider plot to kill Deendayal Upadhyay? What RSS pracharak Balraj Madhok said

By Shamsul Islam*  Balraj Madhok's died on May 2, 2016 ending an era of old guards of Hindutva politics. A senior RSS pracharak till his death was paid handsome tributes by the RSS leaders including PM Modi, himself a senior pracharak, for being a "stalwart leader of Jan Sangh. Balraj Madhok ji's ideological commitment was strong and clarity of thought immense. He was selflessly devoted to the nation and society. I had the good fortune of interacting with Balraj Madhok ji on many occasions". The RSS also issued a formal condolence message signed by the Supremo Mohan Bhagwat on behalf of all swayamsevaks, referring to his contribution of commitment to nation and society. He was a leading RSS pracharak on whom his organization relied for initiating prominent Hindutva projects. But today nobody in the RSS-BJP top hierarchy remembers/talks about Madhok as he was an insider chronicler of the immense degeneration which was spreading as an epidemic in the high echelons of th

Magnetic, stunning, Protima Bedi 'exposed' malice of sexual repression in society

By Harsh Thakor*  Protima Bedi was born to a baniya businessman and a Bengali mother as Protima Gupta in Delhi in 1949. Her father was a small-time trader, who was thrown out of his family for marrying a dark Bengali women. The theme of her early life was to rebel against traditional bondage. It was extraordinary how Protima underwent a metamorphosis from a conventional convent-educated girl into a freak. On October 12th was her 75th birthday; earlier this year, on August 18th it was her 25th death anniversary.

Savarkar 'criminally betrayed' Netaji and his INA by siding with the British rulers

By Shamsul Islam* RSS-BJP rulers of India have been trying to show off as great fans of Netaji. But Indians must know what role ideological parents of today's RSS/BJP played against Netaji and Indian National Army (INA). The Hindu Mahasabha and RSS which always had prominent lawyers on their rolls made no attempt to defend the INA accused at Red Fort trials.

'Flawed' argument: Gandhi had minimal role, naval mutinies alone led to Independence

Counterview Desk Reacting to a Counterview  story , "Rewiring history? Bose, not Gandhi, was real Father of Nation: British PM Attlee 'cited'" (January 26, 2016), an avid reader has forwarded  reaction  in the form of a  link , which carries the article "Did Atlee say Gandhi had minimal role in Independence? #FactCheck", published in the site satyagrahis.in. The satyagraha.in article seeks to debunk the view, reported in the Counterview story, taken by retired army officer GD Bakshi in his book, “Bose: An Indian Samurai”, which claims that Gandhiji had a minimal role to play in India's freedom struggle, and that it was Netaji who played the crucial role. We reproduce the satyagraha.in article here. Text: Nowadays it is said by many MK Gandhi critics that Clement Atlee made a statement in which he said Gandhi has ‘minimal’ role in India's independence and gave credit to naval mutinies and with this statement, they concluded the whole freedom struggle.

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah*   The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

'Wrong direction': Paris NGO regrets MNC ArcelorMittal still using coal-based steel

By Rajiv Shah  A new report by Paris-based non-governmental research and campaigning organization, Reclaim Finance, has blamed the MNC ArcelorMittal – formed in 2006 following the takeover and merger of the western European steel maker Arcelor (Spain, France, and Luxembourg) by Indian-owned Mittal Steel – for using use “climate destructive” metallurgical coal for its projects in India.

Attack on foreign students: Gujarat varsity's reputation, ranking at stake, say academics

Counterview Desk  Expressing anguish over the attack on international students in Gujarat University hostels, a letter claimed to have been signed by 122 current and former academics has asked the Gujarat Vice Chancellor, Dr Neerja Gupta, to provide emotional support to the attacked students and to ensure their physical safety.  

Poor private sector engagement 'impacting' carbon pricing policy in Global South

Counterview Desk  The joint report by Environmental Defense Fund and Observer Research Fund, "Navigating Carbon Pricing: The G20 Experience and Global South Prospects", delves into the complex landscape of carbon pricing, examining its application within the G20 nations and the potential implications for emerging economies in the Global South.  The report claims to provide insights and recommendations for effective carbon pricing strategies in diverse economies.  A note: The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and Observer Research Foundation (ORF) have launched the Navigating Carbon Pricing: The G20 Experience and Global South Prospects” report. The report delves into the complex landscape of carbon pricing, examining its application within the G20 nations and the potential implications for emerging economies in the Global South. The report offers a comprehensive analysis of various carbon pricing instruments currently in existence, providing valuable i