Nagpur: Frontal organisations have incited locals of Gadchiroli against acquisition of their land for industrial projects like the JSW Group’s steel plant or the airport, thus stalling the process, said district’s co-guardian minister Ashish Jaiswal on Saturday. The counter, he said, is making lucrative offers that would prompt locals to themselves come forward to give up their land instead of being swayed by activists who are outsiders.Jaiswal said he has mooted certain changes in the land acquisition policy for this. He was speaking at a technical meet on mining organised by Vidarbha Economic Development (VED) Council, Indian Mining Managers Association and Mining Engineers Association of India (MEAI), on Saturday.“The strong opposition led to state govt putting the acquisition process on hold. Such delays would only prevent setting up steel industries for adding value to the iron ore mined in the district. This will not only result in iron ore mined in the district going out of the state, but also loss of goods and services tax (GST) payable on the manufacturing due to lack of value addition,” Jaiswal said.Among the changes he has suggested is adopting the relief and rehabilitation policy of Western Coalfields Limited (WCL). “It has a provision of offering jobs along with compensation for land. Even state govt needs manpower, and a similar scheme can be framed for the project-affected persons (PAPs). A land bank can also be created to offer alternative holdings to the oustees,” said the minister.He also spoke of a plan on acquisition through mutual consent, under which the buyer is exempt from stamp duty and the seller need not pay income tax on capital gains. Jaiswal said the chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, who is also the guardian minister of Gadchiroli, has been quite responsive to his suggestions.On the sidelines of the event, he said the agitation is being entirely led by the outsiders for their vested interests. “What right do these elements have to direct the locals to refuse giving up their land,” he said, adding, “It was only because good rates were offered that the work on Samruddhi Expressway could happen in time.”
