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Journalism of Courage
It8217;s taken a long time coming. But the railways8217; decision to commercially utilise its surplus land is still paradigm shifting, provided it catches on everywhere in the government. Lalu Yadav8217;s plan is that after catering to dedicated freight corridors and other projects, land will be used for such things as construction of budget hotels through public-private partnerships. Not just hotels, many projects in today8217;s India face a land constraint, while the government acts like an irresponsible but possessive zamindar. However, just as holding on to land has problems, utilising it can also become problematic. So some rules should be in place.
Take the railways8217; case. Of 4.23 lakh hectares of railway land, 3.19 lakh hectares is used for core purposes. To utilise the 43,000 hectares of surplus land, a Rail Land Development Authority RLDA will be set up. RLDA will also look at development of stations. However, how insulated will RLDA be from political interference, and will its recommendations be binding?
Third, how transparent is the land allocation policy going to be? Transparency is easier to impart for budget hotels, for which, IRCTC has invited bids on lease and BOT basis. Non-transparency is a more important issue for other forms of commercial exploitation, when competitive bids may not be the best option. Fourth, how will the Railways handle its stipulated social sector obligation? If answers to these questions aren8217;t well thought out, litigation and court intervention may follow. Consequently, an excellent idea may get derailed. But wish Lalu luck. He is the first rail minister who doesn8217;t want to be a zamindar.
