National Rehabilitation, Resettlement Policy to come soon: Raghuvans

New Delhi, Apr 10 (UNI) The National Rehabilitation and Resettlement Policy focusing on providing recompense before aquisition of land would (SEZs) soon come before the union cabinet for clearance, Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh said today.

Visibly dissatisfied with the recent clearance to 83 new Special Economic Zones SEZs by the Commerce Ministry, Dr Singh said his ministry has prepared the draft of the policy and sent it to the Law Ministry for clearance after which it would be considered by the Cabinet and placed before Parliament.

''The policy is ready. It will come before the cabinet soon. Its a matter of days only,'' Dr Singh answered when asked when the new policy would come up.

He said the Land Aquisition Act would be modified so as to provide rehabilitation to the affected person and there will be no forcible eviction only voluntary. However, it would be effective only for SEZ for which land would be aquired once the policy comes into force.

Dr Singh said being the Rural Development Minister he has always taken up the cause of the ''dispossessed'' farmers. ''Gandhi, Gaon aur Garib, main inhin ki baatein karta hoon (Gandhi, village and poor, I take up only the issues concerning them),'' he observed.

When asked whether it was Mahatma Gandhi or Sonia Gandhi he was talking about, Dr Singh jokingly quipped ''both.'' Dr Singh said despite being in the government, he was the first to speak against ''land grabbing'' in the name of SEZ following which a national debate started on the issue of tax concessions being received by Corporate houses and the revenue loss to the government.

UNI