SEZ developers may be asked to submit social impact report soon

SEZ developers may be asked to submit social impact report soon

ARUN S
Posted online: Saturday, January 13, 2007 at 0009 hours IST

NEW DELHI, JAN 12: Developers of special economic zones (SEZ) acquiring
large areas of land may be asked to file a social impact assessment
report to the government. The government, on its part, would notify such
tracts of land as “affected zone” (AZ) and also categorise displaced
families as “affected families” (AF). Besides, the developers may also
be directed to provide alternative land, employment in such zones to an
individual in the displaced family.
For those affected families, to whom land or employment is not given,
developers will also be required to give a sum equivalent to 750 days of
minimum agricultural

These provisions were likely to be part of a national rehabilitation
policy to be announced by the government in three months, sources told
FE. The Centre had earlier decided against approving any fresh proposal
for setting up SEZs till a relief and rehabilitation policy was in
place. Several suggestions of the rehabilitaton package suggested by the
National Advisory Council was likely to be incorporated as part of the
government’s SEZ policy and would be made applicable to any SEZ which
caused physical displacement of over 400 families in plain areas, or 200
or more families in tribal or hilly areas, they said.

The proposal is still at the discussion stage and varous ministries are
actively involved in the nitty-gritties. The rehabilitation package
would be the minimum prescribed, while it would be left to the states to
decide if they wanted to increase the size of the package, they said.
Already, states like Madhya Pradeh, Maharashtra and Orissa have a
rehabilitation policy, which offers more benefits than the one proposed
by the NAC. Also, some PSUs like NTPC, NHAI and Coal India have their
own rehabilitation policies.

Among the other suggestions by the NAC are AF owning house in AZ has to
be given a house site free of cost, which would be less than 75 sq mt in
urban areas and 150sq mt in rural areas. AF, who are owners of
agriculture land, would be given alternative land, not more than 1
hectare of irrigated or 2 hectare of un-irrigated land. For all this,
the developer will have to bear the stamp duty and registration fee. In
case of waste land, the affected family will be given Rs10,000 per
hectare for developing such land. Besides, there would be other
provisions, such as each AF will be given Rs 3,000 for building cattle
shed, and each rural artisan or small trader or entrepreneur will be
given Rs10,000.
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