At a time when land acquisition by state governments for industrial projects is generating controversies, Punjab Government has acquired almost 7,000 acres in the last one year without even a murmur of dissent. In addition, most of this land is arable — an argument often used to vilify land acquisition. The state Government is about to finalise acquisition of another 3,000 acres.

It is not as if Punjab has never faced land acquisition protests. Not long ago, several projects here were left in abeyance due to paucity of land. A notable example is that of the DLF SEZ in Amritsar. Despite having the mandate of PM Manmohan Singh, it never took off.

The change can be attributed to the new acquisition policy, which was adopted by the state Government when the Akali Dal-BJP combine came to power last year. Under this policy, it was decided that the land would be acquired at the prevailing market price. More importantly, the policy announced that a three-member team would be constituted, comprising the district magistrate, MLA and MP of the area, who would determine the market price after talking directly to the farmers. In addition, the Government provided for a 30 per cent displacement allowance. This ensured that complaints of a low market price and not having accounted for future escalations (as witnessed in the land acquisition controversy for Nagpur airport) were prevented.

The policy also provided that if displaced people decide to invest their compensation in buying land elsewhere in Punjab, they will be exempted from stamp duty on initial purchase and entitled to a free tubewell connection.

... contd.