OBC Reality

OBC Reality

Palash Biswas

(Contact: Palash C Biswas, C/O Mrs Arati Roy, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, Kolkata -&00110, India. Phone: 91-33-25659551)
Email: palashchandrabiswas@gmail.com

http://nandigramlalsalam.blogspot.com/2007/03/team-up-follow-money-india-shines.html

Putting the government on the back foot, in a setback to pro-reservationists, the Supreme Court has stayed the central law providing for 27 per cent reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in elite educational institutions like IITs and IIMs.The court held that the 1931 census could not be a determinative factor for identifying the OBCs for the purpose of providing reservation.A bench of Justices Arijit Pasayat and Lokeshwar Singh Panta, however, said the quota for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes could be implemented by the central government in these educational institutions. It passed this interim order on a batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act, 2006, providing for 27 percent quota for OBCs.

The bench said: "There is no dispute and in fact it was fairly accepted by the additional solicitor general (ASG) that there is need for periodical identification of the backward citizens and for this purpose the need for survey of the entire population on the basis of an acceptable mechanism."

Rejecting the government's move to grant reservation on the basis of the 1931 caste-based census data, the bench said: "What may have been relevant in the 1931 census may have some relevance but cannot be the determinative factor. Backwardness has to be based on objective factors whereas inadequacy has to factually exist.

The petitioners, Youth for Equality and other student bodies, had challenged the law contending that there had never been any determination of educational backwardness on any acceptable basis.The parameters provided in the Backward Classes Act had not been kept in view, they argued, adding that without supportable data the introduction of a statute, which would have the effect of disturbing social harmony, was avoidable. They said the statute had lost sight of the social catastrophe it was likely to unleash and sought quashing of the impugned law.

On December 14, 2006 the Lok Sabha had passed the Bill providing 27 per cent reservation to OBCs in Central-aided educational institutions unanimously with the promise that a bill on unaided institutes will follow January 7 the decision on OBC quotas was notified.But in mid January this year, the Supreme Court put a spanner in the works by ruling that laws included in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution after April 24, 1973, were open to judicial review. In other words, the government would not be able to take so called 'populist' measures. Later in the same month, the Supreme Court asked the Centre to explain why it should not stay the decision to implement 27 per cent quota in higher educational institutions for the Other Backward Classes reacting to a Petition challenging the notification.

Supreme Court’s verdict on the OBC quota is being seen as a big set back to the UPA government especially before the UP elections.

And This Is The OBC Reality IN India!

Orissa drops SEZ project at Kalinga Nagar
KalingaTimes, India - 2 hours ago
Bhubaneswar: Orissa Government has decided to drop one of the five Special Economic Zone (SEZ) proposals that had received formal approval from the Central ...
Kalinga Nagar SEZ dropped The Statesman
Govt to drop one of five SEZs Newindpress (subscription)

Villagers oppose acquisition of land for SEZ near Gurgaon
The Statesman, India - 19 hours ago
GURGAON, March 28: Residents of a village near here today opposed the occupation of land by Haryana authorities for a proposed SEZ to be set up by Mukesh ...

'84 riots: Three get life term

Thursday, March 29, 2007 (New Delhi)
Three people have been sentenced to life imprisonment by a Delhi court for lynching three members of a Sikh family during the 1984 riots.A fine of Rs 5,000 each was imposed on the convicts - Harprasad Bhardwaj, R P Tiwari and Jagdish Giri.However, the court rejected the prosecution's contention that the offence fell under the 'rarest of the rare' category for which the three convicts should get death penalty.

There was no way a Dalit could enter a Brahmin's home or the temples at that time, in the 1850s.
The Muslims got education because learning centres were in madarssas or mosques.Dalits were barred from there too. Only when the British started modern education in 1854 after Charles Wood's Dispatch, (popularly known as the 'Magna Carta' of English education. Wood gave clever recommendation for spread of British governance and education in India through English) did Macaulay's system came into force.In 1857, the British announced that admission should not be denied on basis of caste, gender or class. There were riots in certain parts of India, people burnt schools. By 1890, the British had to start separate schools for untouchables. Some of which exist today, although, for different reasons.Lord Macaulay is the man who also developed the Indian Penal Code and told Indians that everybody is equal before the law. Before him Brahmins used to get away with nominal penalty for a serious crime and for the same crime Dalits could be killed.

Kanshi Ram did everything possible to unite OBCs, Dalits and minorities but Muslims or OBCs didn't accept him as a leader, finally he figured out that it is these (OBCs and Muslims) people, whom he considered as the natural allies of Dalits, were tormenting the Dalits.

Brahmins have been thrown out of the political system so Mayawati has taken them into the Bahujan Samaj!

However, the man who has been in the eye of the storm for his pro-reservation stand, HRD minister Arjun Singh was more guarded in his response to the Supreme Court verdict saying that Centre will explore all legal options.

"I am convinced that the Supreme Court will also get convinced that the law is valid," Singh told reporters after the apex Court ordered staying of the law providing 27 per cent reservation to OBCs in elite educational institutions.

As soon as the apex court delivered its verdict, the reactions poured in thick and fast.

The CPI(M) also had strong words on the judgment with party General Secretary Prakash Karat calling it "unfortunate and uncalled for". But what is the reality of Bengal comrade? Has the West
Bengal ruling left has not stalled the Identification of OBC ? Do they implement  SC ST quota?
Why the left has to enact a Nandigram against muslims while they support sachhar report? Why the dalit, minority, BC, OBC and tribal peasants are being evicted from their land? Why the dalit refugees are most hated in West Bengal? Globalisation and privatisation have made constitutional reservation irrelevent. Then why the Left is so eager for open market economy, SEZ and Neoliberalism destroying the indegineous production system?

Comrades pose in favour of underclasses while in their bases the underclasses are Deprived Most, Dipressed Most and massacred in Marichjahnpi and nandigarm! Over the years there has been a steady liberalisation of the current account transactions, more and more sectors opened up for foreign direct investments and portfolio investments facilitating entry of foreign investors in telecom, roads, ports, airports, insurance and other major sectors. More and more Globalisation means more and more Deaths for Rural India!
Pl Read:
Reservations: The economic factor by Rajeev Srinivasan
http://in.rediff.com/news/2006/may/10rajeev.htm
http://www.indianexpress.com/sunday/fullcoverage/38.html

http://www.indianexpress.com/sunday/fullcoverage/38.htmlGlobalisation is post modern
Manusmiriti, thus all Brahminical parties and governments including the communist ones support the Global Order haeaded by no one else, George W. Bush, the greatest enemy of Man and Nature!

Vidya Bhushan Rawatwrites in his article` Debating Discrimination, Differences And Dissent In Our Part Of The World’

07 February, 2007
Countercurrents.org

`The issue of racial discrimination has been in the news for quite some time. Some Indian pretended that they have been discriminated against in Britain while rarely speaking that India does not have its own house in order. Despite 60 years of independence India has not been able to transform itself into a modern state, in terms of freedom, dissent and life of the common men. Though it may be a great satisfaction for some of us that India surrounded by autocratic military dictators still managed to strive the political democracy but instead of basking on the glory of 'successful democracy', we need to introspect our persistent failures of social life. If democracy has not reached the last man as envisaged by Gandhi or if social life does not convert into a social democracy as envisaged by Dr Ambedkar, Indians all over the world need to investigate that without empowering common man, India can neither claim a powerful nation nor an intellectual giant which many of the commentators do not stop claiming all the time. Pakistan has the same problem though it is not a democratic state yet its ruler claims a secular army and a working democracy on various occasions. Question is democracy is thwarted by the identity politics and undemocratic caste Panchayats. They are a threat but these caste panchayats are now being modernized in the name of new identity assertion among every one from the non-resident Indians to urban Indians under various shades and names. This assertion reinforces and justifies the age-old traditions in the name of culture. It jump on the bogey of victimization as soon as an elite of its own class face discrimination as in the case of Shilpa Shetty but remain conspicuously silent on the issue of its own contradictions and discriminations. Hence the Indians, Pakistanis and the other South Asians would rarely speak on their own track record of discrimination against ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities in their own country. Oppression of women is always justified in the name of culture and vigorously defended.”

The Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) board of the Indian Institutes of Technology, which recently notified the Centre that it would implement the 27 per cent quota for OBCs in phases, will review the issue in light of Supreme Court's order today staying the reservations. The JEE, scheduled for April 8, was to have a nine per cent quota for OBCs in the first phase of the implementation of the reservations in the coming academic year. Following the apex court's order, a top official of IIT- Mumbai said the institute will abide by the ruling and follow directives accordingly. Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh proclaimed on Thursday that Hindus would polarise in favour of the party in India's most populous state, shortly going to poll.Asked what gave him the impression that Hindus will not prefer to vote for other political parties, he said, "Well, they have clearly seen that all other political parties, including Bahujan Samaj Party, Congress and the ruling Samajwadi Party, were blatantly indulging in Muslim appeasement."

The Centre's decision to enforce 27 per cent reservation for OBCs in the elite educational institutions from this year came in for scrutiny in the Supreme Court on Wednesday, which wanted to know how it could be implemented without the determination of relevant data.

"Without relevant determinable data how can we go ahead with the Act," observed a Bench comprising Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice L S Panta.

"Unless and until it is determined by the Centre who is socially and economically backward, this Act cannot really be given effect," the Bench said as the anti-quota petitioners opposed implementation of the law on the ground that a 75-year-old census could not be the basis for identifying other backward classes.

Pro-reservation parties today attacked the Supreme Court judgment staying reservation for backward classes in elite educational institutions and sought Parliament's "intervention" while the Government made it clear that Parliament will stick to the law. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, whose state is a pioneer in the affirmative action and has reservations up to 74 per cent, expressed shock over the judgment. However, Congress and the BJP were ambiguous and not forthcoming in their reactions while anti-reservation outfits hailed the order staying the recent central law providing for 27 per cent reservation for backward classes in IITs, IIMs and central universities.

Former Prime Minister V P Singh, who was responsible for the implementation for backward classes in central services, sought implementation of the law providing for reservation for them in educational institutions, while a fresh census can be made to ascertain the number of people belonging to backward classes.

Indian Justice Party chief Udit Raj said he deplored the judgment which he felt was "meddling" with the law passed by Parliament.

The Youth For Equality, a student grouping which spearheaded the anti-quota stir, welcomed the judgment describing it a "victory of the people and a victory for the common man against politicians, who had tried to divide the society on the basis of caste".

UPA partner CPI came out with the strongest reaction calling the judgment "retrograde" which it said would not help in implementation of policies to ensure social justice and equality. It said the government should have intervened even when the apex court questioned the ninth schedule of the Constitution.

DANGE’S BULLSHIT BOOK
Not many may remember how the corrupt manuvadi marxist Dange left only around Rs. 70 crore (when he died) for his daughter, Roza Deshpande, who was named after Rosa Luxembourg, the German Jewish “communist revolutionary”. Not many may remember the great founder-chairman of India’s Communist Party, Dange, wrote a bullshit book saying that the entire wisdom of Karl Marx is derived from the vaidik Vedanta. For writing this nonsense, he was expelled from the party itself. Such is the treachery of these manuvadi marxists.

Not many may know that Dange’s daughter, Roza Deshpande, is now close to the Hindu prime terrorist party, RSS.

For India’s Brahminical people there is no permanent party. They have only permanent interests. At that time marxism served their interests and today the RSS is serving them better.

Why should we blame Hindu nazis alone? In any case Hindu nazis are our honest enemies who openly reveal their agenda. Editor V.T. Rajshekar rightly calls them “Sacred Brahmins”. Is it any surprise that as Hindu nazis mature politically, they will start mouthing “secular” dialogues to fool the people? The antics of yet another Brahmin marxist called E.M.S. Namboodiripad, the “Modern Shankara” of Kerala, has already been amply exposed and documented several times in Dalit Voice. (V.T. Rajshekar, How Marx Failed in Hindu India? DSA-1988).
http://www.dalitvoice.org/Templates/may_a2006/editorial.htm

SC stay supports social equality: Infosys official
Bangalore, March. 29 (PTI): The Supreme Court's stay on the law providing for 27 per cent reservation for OBCs in elite educational institutions "upholds the right of every citizen for equal treatment", a top Infosys official said today. "The ... More

TN parties protest against SC's order
The Supreme Court's stay on reservations in higher education institutions has resulted in a strong reaction by political parties in Tamil Nadu

The Forward Bloc today described as "unfortunate and unprecedented" the Supreme Court stay on law providing 27 per cent reservation for OBCs in elite educational institutions and asked Parliament to intervene in the matter to set quota regime in place.

Globalisation Resistance In Latin america

Fidel castro and Chavez have been Left icons for indian communists, but none of the communist leaders care enough to study the Resistance of Globalisation in Latin america. Contrarily, after Naxalbari, no communist in India ever liked any affliation with china and maoism. But the follow Chinese line of glabalisation blindly. Why? Venezuela has emerged as an ally of Cuba, the only country in Latin America which has not implemented wholesale privatisation.Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez is almost alone in implementing a left-populist political project in contradiction to neoliberal convention. He is strengthening his base of support among the poor and has won several crucial referenda. As the world's third largest petroleum exporter, Venezuela under Chávez, has revitalised the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. He has encouraged OPEC to raise and stabilise oil prices by restricting production.

Said the CM of Left ruled bengal,  "I take responsibility for the lapses in Nandigram on behalf of the state government. I don't want any more deaths or bloodshed in the state, and I, on behalf of my government, take the full moral responsibility for lapses in Nandigram." But he stays without showing any shame! If you accept the responsibility of a Genocide, whatever may be the circumstances,why don`t you resign? In fact, on the face of it, Buddha may have given into pressure. But reading between the lines, the West Bengal Chief Minister stood his ground. He might have scrapped the project to build a chemical hub in Nandigram but he definitely did not rule out the possibility of it being relocated. Infact, he said that he was awaiting the Centre's communication before announcing its new location within seven days. Cuba is experiencing perhaps the strongest economic growth in Latin America despite the enormous hardships caused by the US-imposed blockade. Cuba resists capitalist globalisation by providing a voice for the Third World countries in the United Nations, condemning the practices of imperialist economic domination such as unequal terms of trade, unserviceable debt and resource plundering, and sets a positive example by providing doctors and teachers to many countries, including offering scholarships for US blacks to study medicine in Cuba.

Cuba also educates and mobilises its people in the streets to oppose capitalist globalisation. In Havana, on October 18, 800,000 people marched to protest the passage of new US laws which tightened food and medicine sales to Cuba.

The Left under Jyoti basu and Surjeet leadership ressisted globalisation and neoliberalism in India. Basu never allowed corporates to play in bengal. Scenerio cahnged with CPIM leadership change.Till the nineties the process of globalisation of the Indian economy was constrained by the barriers to trade and investment liberalisation of trade, investment and financial flows initiated in the nineties has progressively lowered the barriers to competition and hastened the pace of globalisation Now Globalisation is so paced in India that ruling Brhminical zionist imperialist Feudalist fascist ruling class has no hesitation to justify Nandigram genocide!

India opened up the economy in the early nineties following a major crisis that led by a foreign exchange crunch that dragged the economy close to defaulting on loans. The response was a slew of Domestic and external sector policy measures partly prompted by the immediate needs and partly by the demand of the multilateral organisations. The new policy regime radically pushed forward in favour of amore open and market oriented economy.

Those who were against Thundering Spring, now follow Chinese Line!

After a 10-year reign, the CPM 's student wing, Students Federation of India, has been voted out of power from the premier Jadavpur University Arts Faculty Students' Council, with the rival outfit attributing its victory to the outrage over Nandigram violence.

Popular resistance to globalization and neoliberalism in Latin America is extensive and has been increasing both in scale and intensity. The polyarchic neoliberal regimes in Latin America have responded to this increasing popular resistance by relying on two types of measures: (1) tactical measures aimed at suppressing eruptions of popular resistance; and (2) more strategic measures aimed at preventing or at least maintaining within manageable limits the growing resistance to their policies. The United States Government and the main international financial institutions operating in the region have played a major role in both developing the second type of measures and assisting most of the Latin American governments to implement these measures.
From the laboratory of neoliberalism-popularly known as "globalization" -Latin America has transformed itself into a launching pad for resistance. As globalization began to spread its devastation, robust and thoughtful opposition emerged in response-in the recovered factory movement of Argentina, in the presidential elections of indigenous leaders and radicals like Hugo Chavez and Evo Morales, against the privatization of water in Bolivia. Across Latin America, people are building social movements to take back control of their countries and their lives.

Dispatches from Latin America reports on countries from Mexico to Argentina to map the contemporary political and social territory. Drawn from the pages of the well-respected NACLA Report, this collection offers a riveting series of accounts that bring new insight into the region's struggles and victories.

With shrewd analysis rendered in accessible language, Dispatches lays plain the complex and vitally important conditions unfolding in 21st-century Latin America.

"After suffering half a century of vicious military dictatorship and state terror, and the disaster of rigid adherence to the neoliberal doctrines of the "Washington consensus," Latin America has undergone remarkable changes that offer real hope for a better future. Among the most promising signs are the dynamic mass movements that have engaged the traditionally marginalized and repressed majorities in political and social life as nowhere else, with popular assemblies, worker-run factories, participatory budgets, grassroots political activism, and much more.’

The impact of globalization is not felt by in some sort of abstraction worldwide, but by real people in individual countries. They claim:"Having faced the debt crisis in the eighties, Latin America countries have been making determined efforts for over a decade to reform their economies, implement sound economic management, and integrate with the global economy. These efforts redoubled after the Mexican crisis and strengthened further in the wake of the Asian and Russian crises, as external financing dried up and commodity prices slumped. Most Latin American economies have not retreated behind protectionist barriers, nor have they rolled back liberalization measures introduced earlier; instead, they have shown a commitment to act decisively and to carefully adapt their policy stances." (Michel Camdessus, Managing Director IMF 1999)

“Negotiating a free-trade agreement with the U.S. is not something one has a right to - it’s a privilege." [1] This quote from US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick came to mind when the BBC reported former head of Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, US army General Karpinski on policy at the US concentration camp in Guantanamo. Karpinski quoted former Guantanamo commander Major General Miller saying , "At Guantanamo Bay we learned that the prisoners have to earn every single thing that they have." She went on, "He said they are like dogs and if you allow them to believe at any point that they are more than a dog then you’ve lost control of them."
Read in details:
http://www.bilaterals.org/article.php3?id_article=231
http://www.desitterpublications.com/desitter/books/globalizationlatinamerica_toc.pdf
http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?inkey=2-9781904859338-0
http://www.nadir.org/nadir/initiativ/agp/free/imf/movem.htm
http://www.nadir.org/nadir/initiativ/agp/free/imf/movem.htm

Centre not clear on demilitarization: Omar Abdullah
  NDTV Correspondent
Thursday, March 29, 2007 (Jammu)
National Conference President Omar Abdullah said that the Centre was not clear over the issue of demilitarization in Jammu and Kashmir.He was speaking at a rally in Jammu.

Abdullah said PDP does not fully represent the people of the state and the views of other parties will also have to be taken into account before making a final decision on this issue.

"The return of troops is an issue, we have to accept this. But it's not the issue of just one party. It's not only concerning Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and Mehbooba Mufti, but it concerns the people of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh," he said.

Abdullah also said any attempt to discuss the issue only with the PDP will prove counterproductive.

Voice of America
Abbas warns of violence if "hand of peace" rejected
Malaysia Star - 3 hours ago
RIYADH (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas warned on Thursday of violence if Israel rejected a Palestinian "hand of peace", and called for an international conference on achieving peace.

WHDH-TV
Arab leaders urge Israel, world to take peace offer
Boston Globe - 1 hour ago
(LR) Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak, Iraq's President Jalal Talabani and Qatar's Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani talk at the opening ceremony of the Arab summit in Riyadh March 28, 2007.

Democrats turn up the heat on Bush over Iraq
Houston Chronicle - 8 hours ago
By NOAM LEVEY. WASHINGTON - Congressional Democrats, emboldened by their successes in advancing timelines to end the war in Iraq, stepped up pressure Wednesday on the White House to accede to limits on America's military involvement.

The Cuban leader, Fidel Castro, today attacked George Bush's new-found fondness for biofuels, warning that food stocks for millions of people could be threatened.
In his first foray into international politics following months of recuperation from intestinal surgery, Mr Castro claimed that valuable agricultural land in poorer countries could be taken over for biofuel crops destined for wealthier nations.

Mr Castro made his attack in an article for the communist party daily, Granma, which was headlined: "Condemned to premature death by hunger and thirst - more than 3 billion people of the world."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/cuba/story/0,,2045572,00.html
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/americas/news/article_1284332.php/Castro_ends_eight-month_silence_to_slam_US_environmental_policy

There were no crowds, no chants, no garlands. Vanquished Indian cricketers, who till a week ago figured among the pantheon of living gods in a cricket-obsessed nation, slunk back home early Thursday morning needing police help to get out of the airports after a forgettable World Cup campaign.
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/india/news/article_1284458.php/Indian_cricketers_slink_home_under_police_escort__Roundup_

Noam Chomsky: We should bear in mind that a few centuries ago, India and China were the commercial and manufacturing centers of the world. As recently as the 1860s, England was concerned that it could not compete with Chinese manufactures -- one of the reason why it forced Opium on China. What we look at today is the result of a few centuries of violence and conquest, which might be reversed and modified -- surely should be. What China will become is very hard to say. Little is understood about matters of this complexity.

As for "permanent relations," these do not exist. Relations can always change, and always do. But it makes sense to have some kind of relatively orderly framework for international relations, including economic relations. The question is what should they be. Should they be designed for the interests of investors, lenders, manufacturing corporations, investment firms, etc.? Or for the interests of the general population? The answers are complex, and lead to quite different conceptions of how relatively stable relations should be established. There is, furthermore, a very important point that your question brings up. It is now largely conceded that the point of NAFTA was not to yield the economic benefits that were widely proclaimed (and by now disproven). Rather, to "lock Mexico into the reforms" of the 1980s, by arrangements that could not easily be changed if a more democratic government came about. These "reforms" were fine for US investors and rich Mexicans, but a disaster for most of the population. Real wages declines sharply during the "reforms," and have been declining further since NAFTA. These are some reasons to be skeptical about arrangements that are made to appear "permanent."

Washington D.C.: A shift in information results in a shift in the balance of power. Will this theory apply economically and or militarily to the United States if PNTR is passed?

Noam Chomsky: I'm not sure I grasp the question. There are shifts in control over information, some quite significant. One example is the increasing concentration of media control, quite startling over the past 20 years (that includes not just press, but what is often called "popular culture" generally). There are also serious questions about the future of the internet. Like most dynamic sectors of the economy, this is largely the product of the vast state sector, meaning that the public bore the costs and risks for several decades, until it was handed over to private power, as a huge gift from the public (which was uanaware), just a few years ago. What the future of this system will be is now a terrain of struggle. When it was under public control, it was commonly called an "information superhighway." Now the catchword is "e-commerce". Something else we should remember is that for centuries, and particularly in the 20th century, creating "artificial wants" and stimulating wild and harmful consumerism has been quite consciously regarded as an effective device of social control. These are very live issues. I suspect they are not what you had in mind, but that I did not grasp.

Arab leaders urge Israel, world to take peace offer
Boston Globe - 1 hour ago
(LR) Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak, Iraq's President Jalal Talabani and Qatar's Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani talk at the opening ceremony of the Arab summit in Riyadh March 28, 2007.
Importance of the Palestinian Refugee Issue OhmyNews International
Arabs endorse peace plan, warn of nuclear arms race Reuters AlertNet

"
I/II.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/03/28/stories/2007032804310100.htm
Acquisition
of land by Govt for private cos to stop    Harish Damodaran    Bill to be tabled
in the current session of Parliament 
New Delhi March 27
Call it the SEZ-Nandigram effect.  The Centre is all set to table, in the
current session  of Parliament, a Bill that puts a virtual stop on  future
governmental acquisition of lands for private  companies and restricts the
definition of `public  purpose'
 under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894.    Budget Session    "The note proposing
the necessary amendments to the  Act is being circulated among the Ministries
concerned  (Commerce, Water Resources, Power, Environment, Rural  Development,
etc). It would then be put before the  Cabinet and perhaps a Group of
Ministers. The idea is  to place the Bill when the Budget session reconvenes
on April 26," highly placed sources told Business  Line.    The Bill, they
said, plans to dispense with Part VII  of the Act, specifically dealing with
governmental  land acquisitions for `companies' (in the private  sector). This
is in contrast to those made on behalf  of State-owned companies and
departments, purportedly  for `public purposes'.    Holdout Ratio    "Once the
amendment is carried out, there will be no  Part VII. The Government would have
no further role in  acquisitions for corporates. An exception may be made  in
certain holdout case, where the latter has already  bought 90 per
 cent or so of the required land. The  holdout ratio for the Government to step
in may be set  between 10 and 30 per cent," the sources added.    They,
however, clarified that the proposed amendment  would have only prospective
effect and "will not  impact past Government-aided acquisitions, including  for
the already notified Special Economic Zones."    The distinction between land
acquisition for  `companies' and for `public purpose' was originally  made in a
1984 amendment to the Act. While Government  purchase of land in general
requires a declaration  that it is intended for a `public purpose', there is
no such need if the acquisition is made for a  corporate.    Sovereign Power  
"When the 1984 amendment was introduced, there was a  felt need to promote
industries in backwar

posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 11:59 PM