Opinion Landing a better deal

In contrast,the history of the process of land acquisition for industry in GNOIDA is very different from other regions of UP. With rapid expansion of industries here the UP government in 1991 established an independent body,the Greater NOIDA Industrial Development Authority (GNIDA) for its development. Unlike other parts of UP,where 70 per cent of the land is primarily acquired by private developers after the new UP SEZ Act 2007; the GNIDA acquires 100 per cent of the land and then sells it to private owners,direct acquisition by companies being rare. The Land Utilisation Committee responsible for acquisition,which in most other states is constituted at the state level,in GNOIDA was amended in 2009 to be constituted at the level of the additional district magistrate (land acquisition).

However,the unique feature is that the GNIDA has worked out a transparent and workable land acquisition policy which has ensured the absence of farmer’s protests in a region with high demand for land for industries. Land acquisition in the area,fixation of its value and payment of compensation is done on the basis of a direct negotiation that was undertaken with farmers leading to a deed signed in November 1997,popularly known as Karaarnamavali,that both sides have been observing ever since. Negotiated during president’s rule during 1997 and later ratified for this region by the BJP government,it was signed after much struggle and finally direct negotiation by a six member committee of local officials and five representatives of farmers. Some of its major features were: the compensation rate in 1997 was fixed at Rs 139 per sq yard with an additional 15 per cent of the total compensation amount to start new livelihood ventures; the compensation rates would be revised every year and take into consideration issues like Consumer Price Index; farmers would get back 10 per cent of the total land surrendered as developed land from the GNIDA and farmers could not sell this land until the completion of three years of the date of allotment.

In contrast,during Mulayam Singh’s tenure between 2004 and 2007 Hapur sub-division of Ghaziabad — a much less developed area where land is vital for livelihood — witnessed a violent and organised agitation by farmer’s groups against land acquisition for the company Reliance Energy Generation Ltd. The government had allotted 2,100 acres of land in 2004 in seven villages in Dhaulana block,it was alleged,without any consultation with farmers who came to know about this only when Mulayam Singh laid the foundation stone of the power plant on February 22,2004. Angry villagers felt that the government was colluding with a private company to provide it cheap land at the expense of hardworking and poor farmers. The farmers did not allow the project work to begin and demanded the same compensation as paid by the GNIDA and return of 10 per cent of developed land. However,the government used force to put down the agitation and it was the Supreme Court that finally provided relief to farmers by partly quashing the land acquisition.

Competitive politics between the SP and BSP has also played a role in land acquisition in recent years. The Mulayam Singh government had acquired 1,400 hectares of farmers’ land in 2006 in the GNOIDA region for residential and commercial purposes at the rate of Rs 382 per sq m in 2006,as per the Karaarnamavali. But,when the BSP came to power with a majority in 2007,it revised the compensation rate (as promised in its election manifesto) to Rs 850 per sq m in February 2008. The revised rate was to be implemented from April 2007 but due to agitations in August 2008 it was granted from an earlier date. The area was favoured because Mayawati’s native village of Badalpur falls within Gautam Buddha Nagar district and she was keen to obtain the political support of the farmers who were supporters of the SP during the 1990s. She also wanted to showcase Greater NOIDA as the industrially developed region of UP.

In sum,the contrasting experiences of GNOIDA,Ghaziabad and the Yamuna-Expressway suggest that successful acquisition of arable land from farmers depends upon fair rules,transparent procedures,positive role of officers,adequate compensation and absence of interference by political leaders. The GNOIDA experience clearly holds significant lessons for governments attempting land acquisition.

The writer is professor,Centre for Political Studies,Jawaharlal Nehru University