-The Indian Express   The Supreme Court has said that it amounts to “fraud” on the part of the government to forcibly acquire land under the guise of a public purpose, only to have the property transferred to real estate developers or companies for their use.   A Bench of Justices G S Singhvi and S J Mukhopadhyaya held that the State cannot use its power to compulsorily purchase or acquire land of a...

The 12th Plan Approach Paper looks upon land more as raw material for mining and industrialisation than as a source of livelihood for the poor. DESPITE a fast economic growth, more than 60 per cent of the population of India is still dependent on land. The 12th Plan Approach Paper, however, looks upon land not as a source of livelihood for the poor but as raw material for mining and industrialisation....

Proposed law against interests of displaced, say activists Civil society groups have taken exception to the exemption of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) Act from the proposed National Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (NLARR) Bill 2011, saying it would deny “whatever little benefits” assured in the Bill to those displaced by these SEZs. These groups wonder if the move to make the SEZs and 15 other laws inapplicable was deliberate, aimed at favouring...

The Planning Commission's Approach Paper to the Twelfth Plan sticks with the neoliberal agenda despite claims of inclusive growth. INCLUSIVE was one word that came up time and again in the early announcements of the Planning Commission on the Twelfth Five-Year Plan. “Faster, Sustainable and More Inclusive Growth” was the slogan coined for the Plan and there was the promise of widespread consultations as never before as part of the processes...

Any new system for the socio-economic progress of Dalits and other vulnerable sections must not lose sight of Special Component Plan goals. THE Planning Commission's “Approach to the 12th Five Year Plan” deals with the Scheduled Castes (S.C.s) briefly in a portion of Chapter 11 titled “Social and Regional Equity”. It, however, significantly mentions the need to devise a new system that can overcome the difficulties experienced with regard to the...