An appeal to PM, LARR Ordinance, 2014 by Farmers of Gujarat

The long struggle for the land acquisition related bill resulted in the formulation of the Act, which was accepted and passed in the parliament. With the urgency to appease the corporate, the Government of India acted to haste to modify the provision through an ordinance cutting the fundamental rights of the farmers in their own land. Following is an appeal made by the farmers in Gujarat. to the Hon. PM.

23rd February 2015
To,
The Prime Minister,
Government of India,
New Delhi
Re.: To not give effect to the Ordinance amending the Right to Fair
Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and
Resettlement (LARR) Act, 2013
Dear Sir,

Ever since independence, the poor, the ad ivasis, the rural residents have always,

without exception, been called upon to sacrifice ‘for the development of the

country’. We do not recall a single instance when the urban, educated and well-off

sections of society were ever called upon to make such sacrifices. Decisions about

‘development’ (its definition, parameters, d irection, strategy) have always been

made by the urban upper classes and its victims have always been the rural poor

classes.

The new LARR Act, 2013 was thus a result of much reflection and wide-ranging

d iscussions, and passed by parliament by way of atonement for past sins. Your party

was very much in agreement with the tone and tenor of the Act. Your party’s role

during the parliamentary debate on the Bill and your government’s pronouncements

on the Act after forming the new government are quite contrary. Were the pre election

pronouncements on the Act a strategic act to garner the majority votes of

the rural poor? But if not, and you and your government are truly determined to

work for the rural, farmers, Adivasis, then:

Do not act on the Ordinance, on which three ministers of your

government went to the President to obtain his signature.

Allow it to lapse.

We are farmers; we do not think ‘strategically’, it is not part of our nature. We call

upon you, through this letter, that if the Ordinance is put before the parliament

and passed on the strength of brute majority, then we will be forced to take the

road of non-violent struggle and protest to protect our livelihoods and our rights.

This is because the 3 most important elements of the new Act, which were responses

to the decades and decades of injustice to us, viz. a) consent of affected families

prior to land acquisition, b) Social Impact Assessment, and, c) clear definition of

public purpose, are rendered redundant through the Ordinance.

We hope that you will understand the serious ramifications of this on the country

as a whole and make necessary announcements in this regard as a matter of urgency.

We are also ready to have a detailed discussion with you on this issue at a date and

time convenient to you. If you so wish we could also send you a note detailing our

apprehensions and possible (ill) effects of this measure.

Yours sincerely,

The content clearly mentions the simple demand which can be met either with inhouse review or talks with the farmers. There is no point in creating it an issue against the government. I hope more sincere efforts would be on to resolve the issue..