Left fires note to Centre on 145;lopsided growth146;

The Left parties labeled the Centre8217;s position on SEZs as 8216;untenable8217; in a rejoinder note dispatched to the government today. Upset with the 8216;proliferation8217; of SEZ proposals and their 8216;en masse approvals8217;, the Left notes that 60 per cent of the 237 approved SEZs have been cleared in the four states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, while states like Bihar, Chhatisgarh, Himachal Pradesh and the North eastern states have got none. 8216;This points to the lopsided pattern of development, that the first-come, first-served approach adopted by the government, would bring about,8217; the note says, stressing that SEZs could actually aggravate regional imbalance.

The high number of IT SEZs 148 out of the 237 approved has also attracted the Left parties8217; wrath. Even for the 166 in-principle approvals granted by government, the Left parties note that the land area proposed is four times that of the approved SEZs at 1,34,587 hectares and 8216;serious problems regarding land acquisition and displacement are bound to arise in addition to the problems already visible in approved SEZs.8217;

Attacking the government for ignoring their suggestions, the Left parties have warned that political opposition would 8216;snowball8217;, if the government continues to move ahead with the current policy.