tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3778570096826367144.post684496694319270115..comments2024-03-28T16:09:44.638+05:30Comments on Ground Reality: True Justice: Supreme Court shows the wayDevinder Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05867902048509662981noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3778570096826367144.post-8576094819507117092013-09-03T07:26:49.588+05:302013-09-03T07:26:49.588+05:30IS THE NEW LAND ACQUISITION ACT 2013 better or wor...IS THE NEW LAND ACQUISITION ACT 2013 better or worse?<br />Clause f (viii) of section 3 of Land Acquisition Act (LA Act), 1894 clearly indicates that land cannot be acquired for companies (and companies were defined). With the passage of the new law, agricultural land holdings, wetlands, water holes and bio-diversity could also be acquired for private builders for Factories, real estate & SEZ. The new land acquisition act hailed as farmer friendly Act, should have ensured food security by strictly limiting the acquisition to agricultural dark spots (Dr. Swaminathan, in 2006 did suggest the same).<br />In the new act, if majority (80%) of the owners can be made to surrender the land, private entrepreneurs can buy land. If in a 100 acre area there are 18 people holding 5 acres each and 82 people holding 5-10 cents each, any builder can make some attractive offer to small holder owners who together may own 10acres and acquire the rest of 90 acres even if they are farmland or orchards with water source. In the same way tribal land adjacent to forest too can be acquired for real estate, motels, hotels or luxury farm houses. <br />Till 1996 we considered development to be a priority even when it was not necessarily compatible with environment. The Hon’ble Supreme court of India in 1996 [5 SCC 647: JT (1996) 7 SC 375] ruled that traditional concept that development and ecology are opposed to each other is no longer acceptable. No authority can take any action in the name of development, if it causes injury to environment. The right to clean environment is the fundamental right of the community and that of the future generations and that it cannot be sacrificed in the name of development. <br /><br /><br />It has to be ensured that the NFS bill and the new land acquisition Act do not violate the ruling.Prof(Dr.) RamaKumar,Vhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14434176708404142004noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3778570096826367144.post-39665681497379963032013-09-03T07:20:33.873+05:302013-09-03T07:20:33.873+05:30IS THE NEW LAND ACQUISITION ACT 2013 better or wor...IS THE NEW LAND ACQUISITION ACT 2013 better or worse?<br />Clause f (viii) of section 3 of Land Acquisition Act (LA Act), 1894 clearly indicates that land cannot be acquired for companies (and companies were defined). With the passage of the new law, agricultural land holdings, wetlands, water holes and bio-diversity could also be acquired for private builders for Factories, real estate & SEZ. The new land acquisition act hailed as farmer friendly Act, should have ensured food security by strictly limiting the acquisition to agricultural dark spots (Dr. Swaminathan, in 2006 did suggest the same).<br />In the new act, if majority (80%) of the owners can be made to surrender the land, private entrepreneurs can buy land. If in a 100 acre area there are 18 people holding 5 acres each and 82 people holding 5-10 cents each, any builder can make some attractive offer to small holder owners who together may own 10acres and acquire the rest of 90 acres even if they are farmland or orchards with water source. In the same way tribal land adjacent to forest too can be acquired for real estate, motels, hotels or luxury farm houses. <br />Till 1996 we considered development to be a priority even when it was not necessarily compatible with environment. The Hon’ble Supreme court of India in 1996 [5 SCC 647: JT (1996) 7 SC 375] ruled that traditional concept that development and ecology are opposed to each other is no longer acceptable. No authority can take any action in the name of development, if it causes injury to environment. The right to clean environment is the fundamental right of the community and that of the future generations and that it cannot be sacrificed in the name of development. <br />It has to be ensured that the NFS bill and the new land acquisition Act do not violate the ruling.Prof(Dr.) RamaKumar,Vhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14434176708404142004noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3778570096826367144.post-35386385376001262842011-07-18T00:43:29.279+05:302011-07-18T00:43:29.279+05:30There is a landmark judgment of the supreme court ...There is a landmark judgment of the supreme court 1996 that elaborately discussed the concept of "sustainable development" which has been accepted as part of the law of the land. It would be useful to quote the relevant part : (SCC pp. 657-60, paras 10, 11, 14 and 15) <br /> ... We are, however, of the view that 'The Precautionary Principle' and 'The Polluter Pays' principle are essential feature of 'Sustainable Development'. The 'Precautionary Principle' - in the context of the municipal law - means: <br />(i) Environmental measures - by the State Government and the statutory authorities - must anticipate, prevent and attack the causes of environmental degradation. <br />(ii) Where there are threats of serious and irreversible damage, lake of scientific certainty should not be used as a reason for postponing measures to prevent environmental degradation. <br />(iii) The 'onus of proof' is on the actor or the developer/industrialist to show that his action is environmental benign. '<br /> Prof(Dr) Ramakumar,V.Prof(Dr) Ramakumar,Vnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3778570096826367144.post-40684027674265901492011-07-13T17:18:50.675+05:302011-07-13T17:18:50.675+05:30Ethiopia's is a picture usually painted with s...Ethiopia's is a picture usually painted with shades of hunger, starvation and poverty. I recently visited various parts of Ethiopia, and was stunned to see that the government agricultural/ land use policy hinges on watershed development. The safety net program (eq. of NREGA there) creates work related to improving the soil and water health of farmland. When you drive through the hilly Tigray region in the north, you see that each and every field, big and small, has stone bunds/gully plugs/ such harvesting structures. All of this has been encouraged/ implemented by the government. With this, they say, they hope to reach a state of complete food security by 2020. <br /><br />The Indian agri policy has only managed to move from the failed green revolution paradigm to the present move-the-farmers-into-other-sectors policy. We take pride in our democratic culture and collective intellect as a nation. But we are much inferior to a supposed less-developed country like Ethiopia.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16149692599426298288noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3778570096826367144.post-27663678520346448702011-07-13T17:17:56.930+05:302011-07-13T17:17:56.930+05:30Ethiopia's is a picture usually painted with s...Ethiopia's is a picture usually painted with shades of hunger, starvation and poverty. I recently visited various parts of Ethiopia, and was stunned to see that the government agricultural/ land use policy hinges on watershed development. The safety net program (eq. of NREGA there) creates work related to improving the soil and water health of farmland. When you drive through the hilly Tigray region in the north, you see that each and every field, big and small, has stone bunds/gully plugs/ such harvesting structures. All of this has been encouraged/ implemented by the government. With this, they say, they hope to reach a state of complete food security by 2020. <br /><br />The Indian agri policy has only managed to move from the failed green revolution paradigm to the present move-the-farmers-into-other-sectors policy. We take pride in our democratic culture and collective intellect as a nation. But we are much inferior to a supposed less-developed country like Ethiopia.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16149692599426298288noreply@blogger.com