The Central government should withdraw the Land Acquisition Bill which would pave the way for acquiring lands in rural and tribal areas for development without the consent of the inhabitants, said N. Markandan, former Vice-Chancellor, Gandhigram Rural Institute (GRI).
Delivering the V. Krishnamurthy Endowment Lecture at GRI near here on Wednesday, he said the government should not usurp people’s rights. In a situation where consent of owners was not needed for land acquisition, 80 per cent of rural people would lose their holdings, he said.
The village panchayats must protect the environment and eco-system. Thousands of acres of cultivable lands should not be allowed to be taken away by the government and corporates in the guise of development activities. Forest wealth and water resources must also be protected, he said.
Lopsided development in industrial, agriculture and education sectors had affected the cultural and social fabrics of rural areas. Panchayat-level committees alone should plan and implement development programmes. There must be a bottom-up approach in planning and implementation and not vice-versa, Mr. Markandan said.
Devolution of power to panchayats and making agriculture enticing for youths through modernisation of rural technologies were essential for all-round development of villages, he said.
Since liquor culture had been affecting the health of villagers and ruining the rural economy, the government must bring total prohibition. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme should be modified suitably to make wastelands arable and transferred to the landless poor.
Rural economy could be improved through development of cooperative societies, promotion of organic farming methods and formation of marketing centres. Failure of the cooperative societies was one of the prime reasons that led to large-scale suicides of farmers in Andhra Pradesh, he added.
