'Farmers must get proper compensation for land'

Nainital, Sep 23: Sharing the anxiety in certain quarters over the acquisition of land for the development of Special Economic Zones, Congress President Sonia Gandhi today said the farmers must be paid proper compensation for the land acquired and that they should also be made stake holders in the projects that come up.

"Prime agricultural land should not normally be diverted to non-agricultural uses," she said apparently referring to SEZ without mentioning it by name. She was inaugurating a two-day Conclave of the Chief Ministers of the Congress -ruled States here, which focuses on agriculture.

Ms Gandhi said industry undoubtedly required land, but this must be done "without jeopardising our agricultural prospects." Stressing that farmers must get proper compensation when their land is purchased, she wondered whether the farmers could also become stake holders that come up on the land acquired from them.

"Our resettlement and rehabilitation policies must be strengthened and implemented in an effective and credible manner which will inspire confidence in all the people who are displaced, "Ms Gandhi observed.

UNI

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