This is alarming news, but only to be expected from the wrong-headed policies of the Indian state. We should cross-check the projected figures. If true, they can tear apart the social fabric of the country in a few years.
Continue reading ‘India might have 400 million agricultural refugees by 2020′
SEZs: Stirring up a storm along the Indian coast
By Manshi Asher
The SEZ issue is being highlighted as a farmers’ issue, with a rehabilitation policy being worked out for those who will lose their land. But with 80% of approved SEZs in coastal states, what about the thousands of fisherfolk who will lose livelihoods based on the sea, estuaries and coastal systems?
Continue reading ‘SEZs will affect not just farmers but fish-workers too’
The moderately sized Sonegaon airport is set to metamorphose into one of the biggest in the country as a part of the ambitious MIHAN project. While 644 hectares of land in Shivangaon is under acquisition for the airport expansion, over 2,000 hectares have been acquired for the SEZ.
The proposed Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) depot of aviation giant Boeing is a part of the MIHAN-SEZ project, which its executive head R.C. Sinha claims to be the biggest ongoing project in the country.
Kerala CM shows that it can be done: the govt can act on behalf of the disempowered to recover illegally acquired land from companies.
IT special economic zones (SEZ) may find a new anchor. The government is considering setting up special investment regions (SIR) where the IT SEZs could be housed to enable small and medium IT companies avail benefits from both the schemes. Under the SIR scheme, the government would provide basic infrastructure such as roads and power while the SEZ scheme would provide for tax benefits.
An article by Manju Menon, Kanchi Kohli and Divya Badami on Environment and Forest Clearance issues in SEZs
The material here will be familiar to most readers of this blog.
War zones
The present and future of India’s SEZs
Indian policymakers rush headlong towards the discredited model of China’s Special Economic Zones, even as people-power movements pose a challenge.
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