Patwari’s land

In states across the country,land acquisition has become possibly the single most volatile political issue. It is,of course,patently clear that it will not disappear if we look away; India’s cities need to expand,factories and power plants need to be built,and if that is to happen,agricultural land will have to become industrial or urban land. In western Uttar Pradesh,the acquisition of land for Greater Noida has been closely watched; there has been considerable violence there over the past few months,and the Congress has sought to make land acquisition a major issue in the run-up to the state’s assembly elections. And then,last month,the Allahabad high court quashed the purchase of a large swathe of rural land in Noida Extension,though it allowed till August 12 for the government and the affected landowners to reach some out-of-court agreement.

News has now come that an agreement has been signed at Patwari,one of the eleven villages affected. It will involve,of course,more compensation,two-thirds as much again as was paid in the past. Land was earlier acquired at Rs 850 per square metre; instead,landowners will be given Rs 1,400 per square metre now. In addition,the amount of land they will retain of the developed complex has been upped,and their “abadi” land — that part of their holding in which they currently stay — will be regularised. This shows an admirable fleetness of foot,politically. It recognises that objections to acquisition typically centre on a perceived inability to discuss terms in order to get as favourable a deal as possible; and it will reassure,to an extent,homebuyers in Greater Noida,whose confidence in the township is essential for its survival,expansion and vibrancy.

In the absence of an updated legislation,the discourse around land acquisition has become so vitiated,so poisoned by political one-upmanship and short-sighted maneoeuvering,that the central point that individual disputes must be sorted out by discovering and agreeing on a mutually acceptable price seems to be constantly lost. In making a beginning at settling this dispute,as happened with a similar dispute in Noida recently,the UP government has shown the way forward.