Special Economic Zones or Super Eviction Zones, asks CPI(ML)

New Delhi, Aug 24 (UNI) The Government should order a moratorium on construction of more Special Economic Zones (SEZs) pending resolution of issues such as displacement of tribal and agricultural communities and exemptions given to corporates, the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) said today.

''The UPA government's move to uncap the number of SEZs and raise it beyond an already absurd level of 150 smacks of...autocratic arrogance and disdain for public opinion and people's livelihood,'' party General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya said in a statement.

The SEZs, he said, had turned into Super Eviction Zones for tribals and sections of the agricultural population.

Instead of showing sensitivity to the public debate on the issue and protests by those losing their land, governments have sought to bulldoze people with lathis and bullets as was witnessed at Kalinga Nagar in Orissa and Dadri in Uttar Pradesh, he said.

Even while it gave green signal for creation of more SEZs, and thus eviction of more people from their lands, the government was yet to table the long-awaited Tribal Land Rights bill in Parliament, he said.

''We call upon the government to put an immediate halt to its disastrous policy of indiscriminately increasing the number of SEZs and impose a moratorium on the construction of SEZs. We also demand enactment of the tribal land rights bill without any further delay,'' he added.

UNI VN YA HS1927