By Rupa Subramanya Dehejia
Who today in India is making the most vociferous case to let the markets function and for the government to play facilitator rather than bully?
I'd argue it's not any bureaucrat, policy wonk or columnist in Delhi, but a group of farmers protesting in nearby Uttar Pradesh against their government's approach to land acquisition for the Yamuna Expressway project. The project, when completed, will create a six-lane, 165-kilometer freeway that will cut travel time from New Delhi to Agra to two hours from at least four. Last week, as protests flared, at least four people, including two policemen, died in the violence.
This is the next chapter in an ongoing saga, punctuated by the arrest of Rahul Gandhi, a Member of Parliament and office bearer of the Indian National Congress who last year had promised to be the farmers' "soldier in Delhi". Mr. Gandhi has been released on bail.
Last September, in the wake of violent protests over the same project, the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati announced a new land acquisition policy which would raise the amount per square meter each farmer would receive, although crucially this would remain set by the government.
So what do the farmers want and does it make sense? And can their actions be construed as anti-development?
Unlike in some other disputes such as the Vedanta bauxite mining project in Orissa that the government rejected, the issue here is not principally about farmers or tribals not wanting to sell their land. The farmers' objection is that the government's approach of fixing the price grossly undervalues their land, which will presumably jump exponentially in value when c [...]
Posts
