The Communist Party of India (Marxist) will spearhead a nationwide stir against dilution of the 2013 Land Acquisition Act by several States and for return of the land acquired for Special Economic Zones (SEZs), which remained a non-starter for years together, according to its Polit Bureau member B.V. Raghavulu.
The party would take up the cause of farmers in Prakasam district, from whom over 22,000 acres were acquired for the Vadarevu and Nizampatnam Industrial Corridor (VANPIC) project in 2008. “I will myself lead the stir in Prakasam pressing for return of the land, after the March 9 MLC polls,” he said.
The mega infrastructure project comprising development of two seaports and an industrial corridor had remained a non-starter for different reasons and so was the case with the SEZs for which land had been acquired from farmers in different parts of the State. The government should ensure return of the land to the farmers.
The party would also take up the cause of the small and marginal farmers, including Dalits, whose land was being acquired for the Donakonda industrial corridor, he said. When the farmers in Amaravati were provided compensation for different types of land, including land assigned for Dalits and grazing land, there was no reason for denying fair compensation under the Land Acquisition Act to the Dalits in Donakonda, he added.
Gujarat, Jharkhand and Telangana, among other States, had enacted pieces of legislation to undo the farmer-friendly provisions in the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in the Land Acquisition Act.
“The party will bring together farmers cutting across party lines for a big struggle on the lines of the Bhoo Adhikar Andolan for retention of progressive clauses like consent and fair compensation to protect the interests of landholders,” he said.
