Why land acquisitions will remain difficult

Activist Anna Hazare is on a two day protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi - this time against the changes brought about by the NDA government to the Land Acquisition Act. His agitation, like the earlier ones against corruption, will get support of the Opposition, thanks to vote bank politics. Hazare's charge is that the changes to the land acquisition law brought about by the NDA government through an ordinance after the winter session is anti-farmer, is meant to benefit industry and will lead to land grab by the government.

No one can quibble about the need to acquire land for various development projects - new townships for rising urban population; roads, highways, railway lines and airports; schools, colleges and hospitals; mines and power plants; and factories and office complexes. 

But the dependence on land for livelihood is huge in India - more than half of the country's population engaged in some occupation are either farmers or farm hands, according to Census 2011 data. Many of these people are not trained to do any other work to earn a living. The money they are offered for their land is often too little and their livelihood becomes uncertain once their land is gone. That's what makes land acquisition a highly emotive and difficult issue.

Consider the numbers. Working population of India is about 40 per cent of the country's population at 481.89 million individuals. Of these, over half claim that they are either cultivators or agriculture labour - that's 263.1 million people. The number of people engaged in agriculture, not counting their dependents, is more than the population of the Indonesia, world's fourth most populous country.

Of these 263.1 million, 55 per cent are agricultural labour, who may not possess an inch of land, are very poor and mostly illiterate. Acquisition of agriculture lands hurts this set of people a lot more than the land owners - they get no compensation and they will be without work, forcing them deeper into poverty.

One could argue that not all 263.1 million are totally dependent on agriculture. Many of them take up other work between the sowing and harvesting season - often as unskilled workers in cities and towns - to supplement their income, and more so when crops fails due to vagaries of weather or disease. Ownership of land also gives people a sense of security that no petty job can provide.

Finding alternate source of income after agriculture land is acquired is difficult for most the farmers and farm hands. Most of them have low levels of education and possess no other skills to make a transition from farming to another activity. Equipping people with skills that will help them earn a living with dignity, helping them start new ventures and offering fairer compensation for land taken away could make land acquisitions a little easier.