Citizens’ Research Collective on SEZ

Mangalore, March 17, 2008: The breakaway faction of the Krishi Bhoomi Samrakshana Samiti, which is willing to sell land for the Mangalore Special Economic Zone project, formed a committee on Sunday to collectively bargain for a better rehabilitation and resettlement package. The committee has been named Pragatipara Krishikara Hitarakshana Vedike. There were about 60 people during the formation of the committee.

Yashodhara Shetty has been elected president of the committee and the former MLA Vijaykumar Shetty has been named honorary president of the body.

Demands
Speaking to presspersons, Mr. Vijaykumar Shetty said that the new committee had three major demands: land value should be fixed at Rs. 35 lakh an acre, two members from each displaced family should be given jobs in the new project or Rs. 7 lakh in lieu of each job and the SEZ should not have any polluting industries on its premises.

Mr. Shetty said that most of the people who were willing to sell their land were large holders most of who are settled outside the villages.

Asked why they did not form a committee earlier, considering that the anti-SEZ agitation has been going on for more than a year now, the members of the committee said that they were waiting for the right time when the prices for their land were at the highest.

G.K. Pooappa, a member who claims to own 20 acres of land in Permude village, said: “The land is dead investment for us now. We want to get the best price for it and dispose it of.” However, when a journalist pointed out that he actually owned eight acres of land, he retracted from his earlier claim and confessed that he has only 10 acres of land.

Another member, Henry Pinto, said that with rising labour cost and falling prices of agricultural produce, farming was no longer a profitable venture. Some members claimed that small land owners, mostly Dalits, were the ones opposed to the project. “Many of the agitators are not even land losers. They are mostly landless agricultural labourers who are creating trouble for us,” said Durga Prasad, a member.

Mr. Prasad, who is not a land loser but joined the committee in a show of solidarity toward the owners, said: “Most of us are absentee landlords and our farms are being looked after by labourers. The land is not even productive, most of it is dry.”

Earlier, Mr. Vijaykumar Shetty addressed the new committee and said: “Some people might go through hardships because of the displacement, but they must bear it for the betterment of the nation.”

Claim
Despite the meagre turnout on Sunday, the members still stuck on to their earlier claims that 80 per cent of the land holders from the 2,035 acres notified for the Phase II of the MSEZ project were willing to sell their land. They asked for a little more time to prove their majority.

Source: The Hindu