The quest for the common mans low cost car has unfurled and unleashed a can of worms that is not too unsurprising in current day India. As the world grapples with the role of private capitalistic entrepreneurship guised in the shroud of development in a communist state, the experience of the Tatas in West Bengal is amusingly awkward and borders on being almost senile. The very fact that we as a nation still refer to the archaic laws set in the 1800's to acquire land from farmers to further the cause a 21st century feat of engineering is in itself a reflection of the cross roads at which India stands today.
Is it perhaps time that we as a nation take a fresh perspective on the laws of the land and thereby the Indian constitution and perhaps provide a clearer context making it more relevant and less susceptible to interpretation.
As is often stated, mathematics is the only language that ensures no misinterpretation across the world, the need to arrive at a set of governing rules that truly lays down clear guiding principles is the need of the hour. This need would be even more felt as the country hurtles towards quantum levels of infrastructural development and industrialization in the upcoming decades.
The debate on the allocation and methodology of allocation of natural resources including land, water, minerals and even manpower for industrialization vis a vis agrarian purposes would continue to rage till a clear debate and policy is established that spans the Union and the states uniformly. As SEZs across the country meander their way through public outcries, disputes, agitations and accolades in the same breath, the need for coherent policies and guidelines to cater to the objectives of industrialization and environmental protection is all but apparent.
The Tatas indeed have an economic objective to commence production in October 2008, in West Bengal or elsewhere. But the moot question would be if that objective would be met inspite of rather than with the relevant forces of the state. In the melee and flutter created in Singur, we appear to be forgetting the advances made successfully by some other states in India in inviting and establishing industries from the private sectors with a bounty of long term sops. Quite clearly there are portions of this jigsaw puzzle that appear to be working in silos, but require to be woven together.
It is obviously clear that for large scale industries and SEZs to successfully emerge, the need for related infrastructure would also arise. These would require the acquisition and development of land, large chunks of which would be in private ownership and in agricultural use.
The government would do well in having a five point agenda as follows...
1. Establishment of clear land ownership titles : This has been spoken and debated at length, but quite clearly huge gaps exist in India today. A fundamental building block, as reinforced by Hernando de Soto, is in the establishment of clear ownership records
2. Define a policy for conversion of agricultural land to non agrarian purposes
3. Have agricultural output targets for each state, ensuring that decisions on industrialization are balanced with meeting the nutritional needs of the people
4. Have a clear environmental conservation policy, else we have another amazon rainforest in the making
5. Define a sale conversion process ensuring that the government is not directly participating in the transaction but merely enabling the same........
Is it perhaps time that we as a nation take a fresh perspective on the laws of the land and thereby the Indian constitution and perhaps provide a clearer context making it more relevant and less susceptible to interpretation.
As is often stated, mathematics is the only language that ensures no misinterpretation across the world, the need to arrive at a set of governing rules that truly lays down clear guiding principles is the need of the hour. This need would be even more felt as the country hurtles towards quantum levels of infrastructural development and industrialization in the upcoming decades.
The debate on the allocation and methodology of allocation of natural resources including land, water, minerals and even manpower for industrialization vis a vis agrarian purposes would continue to rage till a clear debate and policy is established that spans the Union and the states uniformly. As SEZs across the country meander their way through public outcries, disputes, agitations and accolades in the same breath, the need for coherent policies and guidelines to cater to the objectives of industrialization and environmental protection is all but apparent.
The Tatas indeed have an economic objective to commence production in October 2008, in West Bengal or elsewhere. But the moot question would be if that objective would be met inspite of rather than with the relevant forces of the state. In the melee and flutter created in Singur, we appear to be forgetting the advances made successfully by some other states in India in inviting and establishing industries from the private sectors with a bounty of long term sops. Quite clearly there are portions of this jigsaw puzzle that appear to be working in silos, but require to be woven together.
It is obviously clear that for large scale industries and SEZs to successfully emerge, the need for related infrastructure would also arise. These would require the acquisition and development of land, large chunks of which would be in private ownership and in agricultural use.
The government would do well in having a five point agenda as follows...
1. Establishment of clear land ownership titles : This has been spoken and debated at length, but quite clearly huge gaps exist in India today. A fundamental building block, as reinforced by Hernando de Soto, is in the establishment of clear ownership records
2. Define a policy for conversion of agricultural land to non agrarian purposes
3. Have agricultural output targets for each state, ensuring that decisions on industrialization are balanced with meeting the nutritional needs of the people
4. Have a clear environmental conservation policy, else we have another amazon rainforest in the making
5. Define a sale conversion process ensuring that the government is not directly participating in the transaction but merely enabling the same........
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