Fertile land for SEZs opposed

Special Correspondent

Only barren wasteland should be given

NEW DELHI: Lending voice to the latest political campaign on creation of
Special Economic Zones in the country, the Rashtriya Janata Dal has said
fertile agricultural land should not be acquired for the purpose.

"Only barren wasteland should be acquired for the purpose of SEZs and
not fertile agricultural land," party leader and Union Minister
Raghuvansh Prasad Singh told reporters after a daylong national
executive meeting of the party.. The RJD representatives in the
Government would make their views known at the appropriate forum, Mr.
Singh said, adding that "once the party has passed a resolution it would
be taken up."

The RJD, an ally of the United Progressive Alliance, also said greater
focus was needed in the agriculture sector and all efforts should be
made to make available quality seeds, fertilizers and cheap credit to
the farmers.

The party expressed concern over the rise in the prices of essential
commodities and said efforts should be made to contain their prices. It
said care should be taken to ensure that it was not a "jobless growth."

http://www.hindu.com/2006/10/10/stories/2006101013190300.htm