Farmers to get 80% profit in land

Populism is the buzzword these days in the government and it seems ministries are competing with each other to win the race in UPA. While the mining ministry had proposed that companies will have to share a part of their profits with the people whose land is acquired for mining purposes, rural development minister Vilasrao Deshmukh has proposed a moon to farmers.

Coming as it does in the backdrop of agitation by farmers of Bhatta Parasul in UP whose land is acquired by the Mayawati government, former Maharashtra chief minister is set to win Rahul Gandhi’s heart.

Deshmukh has proposed a new clause in the Land Acquisition bill which is set to be introduced in the coming monsoon session of parliament. He has proposed to raise the compensation to farmers whose land is acquired for commercial purposes to the tune of 80% of profits in the venture.

Since UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and prime minister Manmohan Singh have assured agitators that the new Land Acquisition bill will protect the interests of the farmers, Deshmukh has said land developers will have to give 80% of their profits to the person whose land is acquired. This would ensure that farmers don’t end up selling land at a bargain, which is then exploited by commercial developers.

Deshmukh explained in an interview that he had proposed that 80% of profits be given to those whose land is acquired in addition to the cash compensation given at the time of the acquisition of the land. He said if a farmer is given Rs1 lakh for his one acre of land and later, the same land is sold for Rs30 lakh after development, he or she be given 80% of profits after deducting the development cost and taxes.

It may be mentioned that Haryana was the first state under the Congress chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda which provided for Rs10,000 per year per acre for 30 years to farmers whose land was acquired for any purpose. The land compensation per acre was raised to Rs20 lakh per acre. Mayawati went a step further and raised it to Rs15,000 per acre per year for 33 years.