SEZs must land jobs

 

 

“Chaee na moder Tatar gari, chaee amader bhater hari (we do not need Tata cars, all we need is a bowl of rice)” went up the slogan in Singur. It was the beginning of a violent protest against SEZs in West Bengal. Nandigram followed. Six persons died and 25 injured were in a clash between CPI(M) cadre and the village committee opposing the land deal with Indonesia’s Salem group. The stiff opposition forced West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya to rollback the land acquisition at Nandigram and led Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to promise a fresh SEZ policy with a ‘human face.’

Incidentally, on the basis of per capita income in 2003-04, States have been divided into three categories, the rich States, the middle-income States and poor States. Punjab, Maharashtra, Haryana, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu are rich States, Karnataka, Kerala, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh are middle-income states and Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are poor States. A study ‘Mind the gap – Is economic growth in India leaving some states behind’, says that ‘richer and faster growing States are more effective in reducing poverty and generating employment.’ A comparative study shows that per capita state product in Bihar is Rs 1,010 a month with a population of 82 million, while Maharashtra records Rs 4,853 a month with a population of 96 million. The report says that the slowest growth in States (per capita income in Bihar) is -0.2% compared to the fastest growth in Gujarat at 7.8% a year.

To woo FDI, States have jumped at the opportunity despite the controversies. Finance Minister P. Chidambaram warned of heavy losses due to tax breaks accorded to companies. A large number of politicians are also against pushing the farmers out of their land. CITU General Secretary M.K. Pandhe says FDIs and SEZs will ‘create more unemployment’. According to him, ‘lack of trade union rights and absence of labour laws will only help in exploitation of the working class.’ State governments are pushing for investments, which is good. But the process seem somewhat warped, as land is being grabbed indiscriminately. This is resulting in violence and rendering farmers jobless. Even the compensations are often inadequate. States should take a look at their policies and adopt a human face while pursuing growth.