Has Indian democracy gone worse than British administration? The question is obvious with senior leader of Communist Party of India (CPI) Abani Baral’s presentation of a few documentary evidences that confirm ownership of people over the land that is being grabbed forcefully by the Orissa government in India for the POSCO India project.
With a project cost of $12 million, POSCO India is the largest foreign direct investment (FDI) in India planned near Paradeep Port town in Orissa state. As farm lands and betel vines make most part of the project area, there has been strong opposition from people to POSCO steel Project. Citing that the land area where betel vines have been grown belong to the State, the government of Orissa headed by Naveen Patnaik has applied force and sprayed rubber bullets and teargas cells at agitating people just to grab the land and make the project move ahead against the will of the people.
CPI Leader Abani Baral showed a few revealing documents confirming that the ownership of land with betel-vines had been given to the farmers during British days. And, the farmers were entitled to own the lands till they grow betel vines on it. Baral showed a bunch of copies of land record documents dated back to 1922 where in the settlement officer clearly declared ownership of farmers over the land till they grow betel vines on it. But the land is being forcefully acquired by the government on the claim that they are all no man’s land.
It’s ironical that the democratically elected Naveen Patnaik government in Orissa is all set to make the POSCO Project over the same land given to the farmers by the British administration. Doesn’t it mean that the governments of free India give less priority to the welfare of people in compare to the colonial administration of the British days?
However, the leaders from left parties could be successful in pursuing the CM to have a meeting with people who are opposing the POSCO Project. If held, this will be the first meeting in last five years between the CM and representatives of communities that are going to be affected by the project. But, again, CPI Leader Abani Baral is quite apprehensive about the results of such talks as he still doubts that the powerful henchmen (bureaucrats) would come on the way alleging that Bureaucracy is already hand in gloves with POSCO Company.
‘We are having a bureaucracy in the state that is much more powerful than the political part of it. The political parties do not have much reluctance but the bureaucrats are not allowing the government and the Chief Minister to interact with people who are going to be affected by the POSCO Project. The bureaucrats are also opposing to stop the survey works till the issues of people are properly discussed and sorted out’, said Abani Baral.
In a democracy, this is really a matter of concern when the people’s power gets overshadowed by the power of the bureaucracy. Such a situation is definitely fatal to the spirit of democracy.
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