Mumbai, Feb. 19: Singur may simmer, and Nandigram may be on fire. But in Maharashtra, Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has cobbled an array of options that is designed to blunt the muted voice of protests over the group’s move to acquire land directly from the farmers for two multi-product special economic zones (SEZs) that will straddle 14,000 hectares in an area not very far from Mumbai.
Reliance Industries held out three options to compensate project-affected persons with money or land under a comprehensive relief and rehabilitation package it unveiled today.
The Mumbai SEZ (MSEZ) seeks to provide compensation as well as employment. The package comprises three compensation options. Under the first option, the company will allocate 12.5 per cent developed land in the proportion of the original land holding to the legal landholder at a price to be determined by the Maharashtra government.
The second option is a one-time down payment of Rs 5 lakh per acre of land originally sold. The third option is a lifetime payment at the rate of Rs 5,000 per month. The package will also offer employment to one nominated family member of the landowner and even here there are two options.
The first option seeks to provide training, employment and sustenance allowance. Reliance will provide technical training to the nominated person plus sustenance allowance at the rate of minimum agricultural wages during the training period, that is, Rs 60 per day per family.
On successfully completing training, the nominated person is assured of a job with a monthly salary of Rs 4,000 to 5,000 a month. If the training and employment option is not chosen, the family will get a one time payment of Rs 3 lakh.
A spokesperson for MSEZ told The Telegraph that there will be certain conditions attached to the option under which Reliance will provide 12.5 per cent of the developed land to persons affected by the project, which will be carried out according to the regulations of the state.
“The persons will be provided with a fully developed plot of land that is well connected with essential facilities such as water, drainage and road access. They can use the land for permissible purposes,” the spokesperson added.
