The ever-energetic Jairam Ramesh has unveiled a new land acquisition policy for discussion. He has taken on the difficult task of changing an old law whose implementation has led to a sorry mess in Nandigram, Singur and Noida, to mention only a few of the recent cases that have hit the headlines. India’s policy regime for managing land rights and land transactions is totally dysfunctional. Greedy politicians in state governments have...
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Foodgrains productivity up-govt by Ruchira Singh
The productivity of foodgrains increased to 1,921 kg per hectare in 2010-11 from 1,756 kg/hectare in 2006-07 as a result of the implementation of various development programs, a government statement said on Monday. This information was given by Harish Rawat, Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Processing Industries in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, the statement said. The yield of rice was at 2,240 kg per...
More »Ways Of Owning, Ways Of Belonging by Neha Bhatt
Why we are doing this story * Tribal lands are under pressure across India. In Orissa, they have been holding out against big corporates like Vedanta and Posco. *** From afar, the fumes rising from factory chimneys in Gujarat’s industrial belt make them seem like skyscrapers on fire. It’s a grey rust-and-chemicals stretch that they call, without irony, the Golden Corridor. It extends all the way from the north of Ahmedabad, through...
More »Only 19 projects were denied green clearance from 2008 to Aug 2011 by Nitin Sethi
Are environmental clearances delaying Industrial Development in the country? Some in the government might claim so and argue for further easing of green norms but government data shows otherwise. In the past three years, the rate of rejection of projects for environmental clearance was an insignificant 1.13%. Out of the 1,689 projects that the environment ministry decided upon from 2008 up to August 2011, only 19 were rejected. The ministry...
More »Opposition slams govt over bill scrapping land restoration
The UP government has deepened the ongoing controversy over land acquisition in the state by bringing the Uttar Pradesh Urban Planning and Development (amendment) Bill 2011 which was passed by the Assembly on Thursday. The bill seeks to remove a provision that gave landowners the right to ask for restoration of their acquired land if it was unused for five years. Section 17 of the UP Urban Planning and Development Act 1973...
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