ET reported that the Indian government is exploring the option of creating a fund through contribution from steel companies, the annuity from which would help meet the livelihood requirement of those affected by projects.
The government hopes that through this measure it would be able to acquire land more easily for steel projects while giving a more humane face to industrialization.
The annuity is proposed to be created at the company level. The government would keep a watch over the performance of this fund.
Mr Vir Bhadra Singh Indian steel minister in an exclusive interview told ET that “We are in favour of giving annuity benefit to project-affected families from the earnings of projects that lead to displacement of native people and affect the livelihood of others.”
Another official of the steel ministry said that “The annuity model would ensure that even without directly or indirectly participating in the project, the affected families could hope to get regular income.”
An official of a leading private sector steel company who attended the meeting with the minister on the subject said that “While steel companies agree in principle to the concept of annuity, we need to study the proposal carefully.”
The current rehabilitation and resettlement policies aim at providing lump sum payment of affected families with some basic infrastructure facilities. But these do not provide sustained livelihood in most cases.
Many proposed Greenfield projects are held up because of opposition from local people to land acquisition. In fact, in Orissa 14 mega steel projects worth INR 200000 crore are delayed as companies have been able to acquire a mere 14,130 acres against a requirement of nearly 45,600 acres.
(Sourced from Economic Times)
