-PTI The National Advisory Council (NAC) has prescribed a seven-point test for a having a humane legislation on land acquisition and rehabilitation. In a letter to the government, the NAC chaired by Sonia Gandhi, has suggested a check list of seven parameters which includes provisions for a rehabilitation package that is sensitive to the aspirations of the affected people. NAC’s check list Does it discourage forced displacement? Does it minimise adverse impacts on people,...
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Let barren land be explored first: NAC by Smita Gupta
At a time when civil society groups are playing an adversarial role in relation to the Union government, those civil society members who have been given an institutional role in the government have become pro-active: in the last few days, the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC) has written three letters to the government on a range of social sector issues. The three communications relate to the NAC's recommendations on a...
More »The great land grab: India's war on farmers by Vandana Shiva
"The Earth upon which the sea, and the rivers and waters, upon which food and the tribes of man have arisen, upon which this breathing, moving life exists, shall afford us precedence in drinking." - Prithvi Sukta, Atharva Veda Land is life. It is the basis of livelihoods for peasants and indigenous people across the Third World and is also becoming the most vital asset in the global economy. As the...
More »How much will cash transfer cost? by Himanshu
Last week, a group of 40 economists wrote an open letter to United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi arguing for cash transfer as a mode of delivery for the proposed National Food Security Act (NFSA). The letter was carried in detail in several newspapers including Mint. The good thing is that there is now almost a consensus, at least among economists, that whatever be the mode of delivery of subsidy,...
More »Food bill does a balancing act by Zia Haq and Prasad Nichenametla
The food ministry has prepared a new food security bill, reworking an earlier version and reconciling what had been “promised to the people” by the ruling Congress and the government’s fiscal constraints, MoS for agriculture KV Thomas has told HT. In August last year, the UPA government had pulled the plug on a previous draft, after it was found wanting by the Congress leadership. The Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council, which oversees...
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