Santhosh Hegde and bhoopinder hooda

Karnataka Lokayukta Santosh Hegde talked with Indian Express editor Shekhar Gupta. he was talking about the mining lobby. during that talk he said
"The entire area surrounding the mining area is totally devoid of greenery and has no agricultural activity. People there have no other vocation. God knows what will happen to them when the mining is stopped or controlled. None of them goes to school or college. All of them have been provided with a motorcycle, a cellphone and a daily allowance. Their job is to just go around and see if any stranger has come to that area and to report it. The entire area surrounding the mining area is totally devoid of greenery and has no agricultural activity. People there have no other vocation. God knows what will happen to them when the mining is stopped or controlled. None of them goes to school or college. All of them have been provided with a motorcycle, a cellphone and a daily allowance. Their job is to just go around and see if any stranger has come to that area and to report it."

this statement showed deeper malady which is penetrating the society. what does this development hold for the society as whole. in the process of development there is a section who will loot the nature without any regard and then give a petty share to the others for their loyalty and blind following. at the end of it who is the looser. unknowingly we are the looser. we the society, we the culture we the humanity. Educated ones are not better in this respect. they get bigger share in this loot they are happy with emenities provided them. that ends the story for them. they dont care how it is created and how this creation is in fact a destruction. it is like some children taking out the foundation bricks from the edifice to make a dog house. removal of the brick will not be noticed till the building collapse. There are few who will have forewarning of the collapse and even other place to shelter but those are the people who never belong to the building. In fact they never belongs to any place. they belong to themselves then to the money and thento few counted family members and friends. What about the people who loved the land passionately and had invested their everything thing making that building. they will die with teh collapse of building. the price of that burial ground will allowed to fall and then again it will be bought by a person with lot of money and no love for land. he will make a building and sell it at exorbitant price. he will get what he loved- money. but what about others. no thoughts. we cannot blame the money lovers. but the land lovers are to be blames for letting down their love for the land. love also means being ever vigilant for the object of love. doing everything for it. not for the glory but for the love.

Then i came across the interview with Bhupinder Hooda, CM of Harayana. He has been praised by many for his policy to for land acquisition.

It was titled , "Why should farmers always remain farmers? They should be given other opportunities"

That attracted my attention. Few expert from his interview

-Absolutely. Generation to generation, kya unhi ke naam likha hua hai ki wohi zameen ke saath rahenge? (Why should farmers always remain farmers?). They should also be given opportunities. They should also be treated as other citizens are treated.-

Thank god the original Hindi sentence was also provided and we are not left at the mercy of the biased and little knowledge reporter to enlighten us with the meaning. the translation is bad. it should have been " where it is written that they only have to remain with land". It was told later that they consider land to be their life line. what could be the other meaning of the sentence that that it is no where written that since they have been farmer for all along the generation they have right over the land. we will decide what is to be done with the land beacuse we are policy maker and we are the intelligent. Inside their heart they are waiting for thetime they can grab the land.
Once they get hold of oxygen cylinder they will tell why one has to breath in the fresh air. air has pollution. goverment will controll air. they will purify it and give it to you. if i say that i want to use this air because this is vital for me. they said that see even with so much of air people die. sometime they suffocate inside water and die. but if you take oxygen cylinder you will not die even inside water due to lack of oxygen. apart from that this is made highly purified. there is no polutant. i may say that my family cannot afford this expensive cylinder. tthey said fine they will give me the licence to use the oxygen cylinder for some time, which we consider is your life time. i was left confused while the gas mask was put on my face. if i protest it will be taken away. and i will die. many of my neighbour have already put on. they are jumping in joy.


Because land is their capital.

Yes, that is their capital. For an industrialist, his capital are his industries. He develops them. So, a farmer should also be given opportunities. If he fetches a good price for his land, then he can do something else also. His children should also be able to put up some industries. His children should also have better education. What I mean is that farmers should be treated at par with other citizens.

so what effectively you have done? you have taken capital from farmers and increased capital of the industrialists. you say them to become industrialist, with that 33000/ per year along with apeice of land which he may have to give way to make the road broader so that the bigger car of the industrialist can safely take turn. you never treat farmer at the par with other citizen. you demean them. you dont like them. you love industrialists. you want everyone to convert to industrialist.

Have you found farmers responding favourably? Have people come and thanked you and said, ‘Choudhary saab yeh theekh kiya’?

Everyone is happy and the policy we brought in Haryana is being appreciated by our leaders too.

who are happy? even a drunkard looks happy. but any same man knowns thatthat happiness last all long as the alcohol has controll over him. after the intoxication is over he will realize that he is in worse situation than he was before drinking. but dont worry he will get addicted to drinking and will submit everything he own fo rthe few peg you will offer.

Mr Hooda, two problems remain even in Haryana. First, people say in Gurgaon, Mr Hooda gives us Rs 1.03 crore per acre. He also gives us an annuity. But he gives this land to a developer. The state has the power to change land use. So the moment the land use is changed to commercial or residential use and a 60-storey building is allowed, the value of this land becomes Rs 10 crore per acre. Why am I not getting a part of that arbitrage?

I must clarify, the government never gives land to a developer. HUDA develops it. Developers purchase directly from the farmers. In fact, a licence is given in collaboration with the farmers.

all thsi appears more like technicality to confuse the people in place of being staright and honest.

The point is that agricultural land becomes residential or commercial when you approve it. When that happens, the value of the land goes from x to 5x. Is the farmer getting a part of that arbitrage?

Yes, we have an oustees policy. We give them an alternative plot, some small commercial plot also.

Yo always ahave alternative policy for farmer why not for youself and your industrial friends.

The second problem is of social impact. I know some are very smart farmers who use a part of their money to buy a car and a house but with the rest of it, they go to Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh or even up to Manipur and buy a much larger parcel of land and start cultivating there. In your experience, what percentage of farmers are able to do this and what percentage squander away that money?

As far as farmers from Haryana are concerned, I think most of them go and purchase land in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh. When I go to Chhattisgarh, there are lots of farmers whose land has been acquired, purchased. So I think more than 90 per cent people...

Buy other land?

Buy a car also and that is right. They also have the right to own a car.

so the care is what a farmer need? that is the conclusion by you. farmer need land. what have you done by giving him money is that. he will go and buy large track of land in poor people. making them landless and slave for you in turn. this is much vicious cycle then thought of.

So he gets the money and, say, a multi-storied apartment complex comes up on his land. This farmer, meanwhile, has moved to the hinterland of the same area. They feel like social outcasts. Two worlds come up within the same environment.

That is right but with that, if they get a good price and a good rehabilitation programme, they’ll raise their living standards.

But you are not looking at the possibility to bring them into this development so that they also get an apartment there.

That’s also there because we are allotting plots to them. The plot is given to the farmer according to the size of his land acquired. Small shops are also being allotted to them.

And why must he be condemned to earning Rs 15,000-Rs 20,000 per acre?

He should also be given opportunities, better prospects in life.

Mr hooda he was earing more than that from every acre every ear. you have robbed him of his money and made few people rich. you take taken their blood and pumped in others to make them fat. realize that system cannot go on for longer like this.

Why is this annuity for 33 years?

Because I think that is one generation. Because an old man who has land in his name and his land is acquired, what happens if the money goes to his children? He is left with nothing and so he depends on his children. Suppose there is annuity, then his children will also look after him. He will have confidence in himself.
who has decided this 33 years. it is not about a person. it is about family. ot is about village. it is about culture. it is about sensitivity and it is about honesty. all that was worth 15 K for 33 years.