Kashiram Rana, 69, Bhatia Janata Party's veteran member of Lok Sabha from Surat, has a sharp political nose.
Currently he is the convenor of the five-member strong Sub-Committee of Standing Committee of the Lok Sabha which has been entrusted the job to survey farmers' agitation against Special Economic Zones.
His long-nurtured ambition to become chief minister of Gujarat was shattered by Narendra Modi's smarter political manoeuvrings.
Advocate Rana got elected to the Gujarat Legislative Assembly in 1975 and has been a Member of Parliament since 1989. While remaining a firm Modi critic within the party forum he is enjoying what comes his way. This was evident when he travelled to Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Orissa, Gujarat and Maharashtra.
In the last two months he has been carefully listening to farmers' grievance, he is pacifying agitated farmers, and sometimes agreeing with farmers who are against SEZs.
In the coming Budget session, the sub-committee's report on SEZs will be submitted before Parliament.
In an exclusive interview to with Managing Editor Sheela Bhatt he spoke boldly while travelling from Khalapur, Raigadh to Mumbai. While alleging that SEZs have the potential to become a real estate scam, he also expressed his concerns about food security of India if a substantial chunk of agricultural land is given away to industries.
What are the terms of reference of your sub-committee on SEZ?
We have been asked to look into the reasons behind the opposition by farmers against SEZs. We have been told to find the alternatives. We may suggest some alternatives if farmers simply refuse to give away their land. We are trying to understand what the farmers' wishes are and what the government should do.
It is up to government to accept our suggestions or not, but our job is to convey the farmers' feelings to the government. We will examine SEZs from all angles. The Standing Committee of Commerce is examining it since last three months, we will add our findings to it. Our report will be the perfect to guide the government and the country (on SEZs).
How did you go about it?
We have toured Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Kerala, Orissa and Karnataka where many more SEZs have been approved compared to other States. We visited each one of them and met the farmers there.
How have farmers in different States reacted to SEZ?
In Haryana, Reliance wants 25,000 hectares of land to set up a variety of projects. The Haryana government is giving full support to Reliance. Land in Haryana is very fertile. It is not a small issue to give away such fertile land. Farmers have got a good offer and most of them are giving it away happily.
We saw that farmers who are not ready to give their land, are being cajoled by other farmers to sell out for a little more money.
Overall, farmers are not upset with the SEZ in Haryana because they were getting Rs 5 lakh (Rs 500,000) per acre before the SEZ arrived. Now they are being offered Rs 22 lakh (Rs 2.2 million) per acre!
In Gujarat we went to Jamnagar. Here, Reliance wants to expand and needs 2,200 hectares of land. Reliance has proposed Rs 3-4 lakh (Rs 300,000-400,000) per acre. We asked these farmers if they have any problem in giving away their land to Reliance.
I also feel that maybe those farmers had been 'managed' and were brought before the committee. It is possible that the 'other side' of the farmers' problem may not have reached us. However, the committee met with the farmers and asked many questions covering all angles. In Gujarat, farmers are not agitating against Reliance because they are getting a good price of their land.
However, farmers are not really thinking much about the future. They are not thinking in the terms of the land that belonged to his family for generations, and now it will go away forever.
He looks at the money that he is getting for the land worth Rs 50,000. We have seen in some cases that those farmers who are getting a good price are also buying land at other places. That's a good thing to do. Overall in Gujarat and Haryana, farmers are not complaining much.
The Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation had acquired farmers' land in a big way. Now, GIDC is giving land to those who want to create SEZs. Like, GIDC gave land to create the Gems and Jewellery Park in Surat.
In Gujarat, 23 SEZs have been approved. Four are active and two of them -- at Surat and Kandla -- started before the SEZ Act came into force. Mundra SEZ is active now but there is no opposition or protest there. The rest of the SEZs are still looking for land.
We also visited Kerala and Orissa. Kerala has an acute shortage of land.
But, GIDC bought land at cheap rates and now they are earning in millions. Why should poor farmer not earn out of it, too?
Yes, that suggestion is under consideration. However, many farmers have gone to the court to ask for more compensation. In Maharashtra, they have proved that the land that was sold to the government for less than Rs 5,000 has now been sold to Reliance at Rs 60-70 lakh (Rs 6-7 million)!
But in Andhra Pradesh, some 100 km from Hyderabad, farmers are protesting and are very upset with the SEZ. Around 50 per cent of the farmers are opposing it. None of them wants the government to intervene on their behalf. They say, 'let industrialists come directly to us.' In Karnataka also, opposition to SEZs is quite strong.
What are the most common arguments against SEZs?
Their opposition to SEZ is absolute because they say, 'our land is our mother. Land is our life. It is our culture. It holds the future of our children.' At some places farmers want more compensation.
What is your opinion on SEZs?
My personal opinion is that for the growth of the country, industrialisation is necessary. To create jobs, industries are a must. But SEZs can't be an excuse for land-grabbing. In the name of SEZ, loot of public money can't be allowed. It is wrong to do so.
In one case in Maharashtra, we saw that government approval was obtained in three days flat, instead of the normal process that lasts two months. How is such a thing allowed?
Industrialization can't be at the expense of the growth of agriculture. The idea of SEZs came into force during our National Democratic Alliance government. In China, only six SEZs are there: they are only in coastal areas and they are too huge and have submerged scores of villages.
India's implementation of the SEZ policy is improper. Only wasteland and saline land should be offered for SEZ or the land already available with the government should be used.
Private cultivable land should not be given to industrialists. Yes, if you are eyeing agriculture land, farmers' trust should be won before you take away their land.
On the one hand, you are making farmers homeless, unemployed and restless. On the other, you are giving employment to some in a new factory. . . but this will not necessarily create more employment than we already had. Already the country is facing an agriculture crisis.
It is possible to increase our per-hectare yield. Farmers are not utilising land properly. It's a wrong argument when SEZ guys claim that the current crop is yielding less money than what they are offering.
I believe private developers should not be allowed to purchase land from farmers. It will give a free hand to millionaires with deep pockets to buy land from poor farmers wherever they want, at whatever price they want.
Rich guys buy land from the poor at a certain price which is guaranteed to increase five- to ten-fold in a decade or so. How can you allow this? This should not be allowed at all under any circumstances. This is one kind of temptation to farmers and to government officers of revenue departments. They issue orders of sale deeds under temptation and farmers too succumb to this, ignoring their long-term interests.
This provision of SEZs will be exploited and misused. If you really believe that you want to give justice and protection to the underprivileged, then government intervention in land trade is necessary.
But you only said that farmers don't want the government to dabble with them.
Yes, they are saying so only because the government is offering lesser money than the industrialists. The government should become practical and when it uses the law to acquire land, farmers should be given the market price. If necessary, the government should amend the Land Acquisition Act.
What is your view on the status of the SEZ issue after visiting so many farmers?
I think that the government's policy of implementation of SEZs is wrong. You have approved 235 SEZs without the developers having any land. That has created havoc.
Everything is left to the State government. There are promises of FDI (foreign direct investment), but the actual figures are quite low. Land developers have easier access to land. The main defect in this process is that without verifying the situation on the ground, SEZs are being allowed. SEZs should not be allowed under pressure.
In Maharashtra, one SEZ is allowed in an area where initially the government did not want development. We don't need so many SEZs. We should run 20-25 SEZs, study the effect and then we should go ahead.
Overall, I saw in Indian States that the productivity of land is quite low and the government is not coming forward to help farmers. It is wrong to then say that since land productivity is low, let that land go to SEZs. . . we haven't exploited the land which can fetch two to three times of produce that it does now. People want good irrigation facilities. . . Indian farmers have the capacity and the intellect, but they don't have equipment.
Many farmers told me, 'Give us irrigation projects and we will turn wasteland into gold.' Industrialisation is the latest fad in India. . . we are talking about increasing exports by any means, but if you give the same support and the same motivation to farmers, they can work wonders too.
If SEZs are given permission without applying thought, there is a possibility of a big farmer backlash in the country. If the government moves ahead the ignoring the farmers' sentiments, they will protest strongly. Singur is not an SEZ, but farmers have reacted strongly. And in Nandigram, farmers have forced the Communist party to back off.
In different States, the language of the farmers is harsh. They told us, 'We will create Singur here ,too.' Many farmers, still, have an extraordinary feeling of belonging for their land. They say that the land is their mother. 'We don't sell our mother. We can't kill or abandon our mother.'
When are you submitting your report?
During the Budget session. I think in today's situation our recommendatory report is very much needed. Farmers have lasted since centuries on Indian soil. They produce and survive. It is natural for them to feel strongly about this and thus they are against SEZs.
When you displace them, they will be angry. Land is their bread and butter. When you displace farmers, their source of earning dries up. Imagine the status of Mukesh Ambani and Anil Ambani if their property is seized by the government and they are brought to footpath? It is difficult even for them to create the same assets with merely cash in hand.
You will certainly feel for the loss of your property, the cash compensation given to you, notwithstanding.
I think keeping in mind these sentiments, the government was forced to accept that agricultural land will not be taken away for SEZs.
Let me tell you, this hike in price of real estate is not a natural event. Developers are utterly commercial-minded and they are manipulating land prices. At this rate, the common man will never get a house to live in. There is heavy land speculation around all the proposed SEZs in India. Land prices in these areas are hitting sky-high levels. There is one village near Mumbai where land developers are blocking land mass by paying Rs 10 crore (Rs 100 million) per acre. How can you accept and allow such a thing?
Are SEZs a real estate scam?
I would say it is not yet a scam, but it is turning into one.