Dispur siding with industrialists!
By our Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI, July 28: The shrinking agricultural land in Assam is set to shrink fast henceforth, with the State cabinet on Monday paving the way for easy conversion of agricultural lands into industrial plots.
The State Cabinet yesterday approved the conversion of agricultural lands into industrial lands, if there is no agricultural activity on a land for ten years. The Cabinet said that the district authorities can give green sigl for the conversion of an agricultural land without any agricultural activities for ten years or more into industrial land.
Though the government has taken such a step apparently to stop the rampant purchase of agricultural lands by industrialists for industrial purposes, there are allegations that this move is set to give a section of unscrupulous industrialists undue advantages.
The move, according to a section, may even let brokers have a free run to connive with government officials to falsely show agricultural lands as not being used for agricultural activities for ten years or more. There is every likelihood of malpractices by unscrupulous people, taking advantage of the legislation to be ected as Dispur has no exact records or data of agricultural lands which are no longer being used for agricultural activities in the State.
Various reasons are responsible for agricultural lands not being used for agricultural activities. They may be lack of water and irrigation facilities, loss of fertility of the soil, fincial problems on the part of farmers, etc. Agricultural lands in the State have been shrinking as new industries continue to spring up, and newer roads, tiol highways and railway lines ske their ways through agricultural lands in the State.
The bottom line is that if the new land Act to be ected is not implemented true to its letter and spirit, it may boomerang.