Sanjoy Chakravorty
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- May 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780198089544
- eISBN:
- 9780199082438
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198089544.003.0010
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Public and Welfare
This chapter critiques the emerging legal approach to land acquisition on several grounds. First, because it is not based on an understanding of the reality of India’s land markets—which will lead to ...
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This chapter critiques the emerging legal approach to land acquisition on several grounds. First, because it is not based on an understanding of the reality of India’s land markets—which will lead to exploding costs. Second, because it is oblivious of basic principles of economic geography—which will make it India’s most significant regional policy without intending to. Third, because there is an implicit denial of the state’s own culpability in creating the acquisition crisis—creating disingenuous restraints on private capital that do not apply to the state. An alternative approach is suggested. It is based on the principle that there is no single good way to get to the ‘right’ price of land for acquisition in the contemporary political economies of land in India—with its diversity of fragmentations, distributions, ownership structures, contestations, markets, and prices. A more decentralized and less bureaucratic approach is more likely to create outcomes that are just and politically and economically feasible.Less
This chapter critiques the emerging legal approach to land acquisition on several grounds. First, because it is not based on an understanding of the reality of India’s land markets—which will lead to exploding costs. Second, because it is oblivious of basic principles of economic geography—which will make it India’s most significant regional policy without intending to. Third, because there is an implicit denial of the state’s own culpability in creating the acquisition crisis—creating disingenuous restraints on private capital that do not apply to the state. An alternative approach is suggested. It is based on the principle that there is no single good way to get to the ‘right’ price of land for acquisition in the contemporary political economies of land in India—with its diversity of fragmentations, distributions, ownership structures, contestations, markets, and prices. A more decentralized and less bureaucratic approach is more likely to create outcomes that are just and politically and economically feasible.
Stephen K. Wegren
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300150971
- eISBN:
- 9780300156409
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300150971.003.0008
- Subject:
- Sociology, Urban and Rural Studies
This chapter identifies regional differences in land holdings, land expansion, and land fragmentation. It addresses the ways in which land reform developed differently across regions and considers ...
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This chapter identifies regional differences in land holdings, land expansion, and land fragmentation. It addresses the ways in which land reform developed differently across regions and considers whether land reform distributed land to the “right” households in the “right” regions, where agriculture is strong. The chapter then investigates hypotheses to explain regional differences, including household income and household labor.Less
This chapter identifies regional differences in land holdings, land expansion, and land fragmentation. It addresses the ways in which land reform developed differently across regions and considers whether land reform distributed land to the “right” households in the “right” regions, where agriculture is strong. The chapter then investigates hypotheses to explain regional differences, including household income and household labor.
Sanjoy Chakravorty
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- May 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780198089544
- eISBN:
- 9780199082438
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198089544.001.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Public and Welfare
Land acquisition for industry and infrastructure has become a source of major conflict in the last half decade in India. Sites like Singur, Nandigram, Niyamgiri, and Maha Mumbai, and phenomena like ...
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Land acquisition for industry and infrastructure has become a source of major conflict in the last half decade in India. Sites like Singur, Nandigram, Niyamgiri, and Maha Mumbai, and phenomena like the Maoist insurgency are well-known. Some believe that land acquisition is the ‘biggest problem’ in India’s growth path. It is a central political issue in several states. A new land acquisition bill with serious long-term consequences is making its way through parliament. Stories about acquisition are in newspapers and on television every day. This book brings clarity, depth, and understanding to this contentious and chaotic issue. It asks: What are the facts about land acquisition and the related conflicts? How did the situation reach this impasse? What are the ways forward? The explanations are organized around three core themes: the price of land, the role of the state, and changes in land and information markets. The first section is an extensive survey of reality—of land acquisition conflicts (emphasizing selected notorious conflicts), land prices, and agents in the land acquisition process (emphasizing the role of civil society and political parties). The second section explains the origins of the conflicts and the role of the state, especially through the contradictions between the ‘giving’ state (which does land reforms) and the ‘taking’ state (which acquires land). The final section is an analysis of the reality of land markets in contemporary India, especially the rapid rise in the price of urban and rural land, and a critique of the emerging legal and policy approaches to resolving the crisis.Less
Land acquisition for industry and infrastructure has become a source of major conflict in the last half decade in India. Sites like Singur, Nandigram, Niyamgiri, and Maha Mumbai, and phenomena like the Maoist insurgency are well-known. Some believe that land acquisition is the ‘biggest problem’ in India’s growth path. It is a central political issue in several states. A new land acquisition bill with serious long-term consequences is making its way through parliament. Stories about acquisition are in newspapers and on television every day. This book brings clarity, depth, and understanding to this contentious and chaotic issue. It asks: What are the facts about land acquisition and the related conflicts? How did the situation reach this impasse? What are the ways forward? The explanations are organized around three core themes: the price of land, the role of the state, and changes in land and information markets. The first section is an extensive survey of reality—of land acquisition conflicts (emphasizing selected notorious conflicts), land prices, and agents in the land acquisition process (emphasizing the role of civil society and political parties). The second section explains the origins of the conflicts and the role of the state, especially through the contradictions between the ‘giving’ state (which does land reforms) and the ‘taking’ state (which acquires land). The final section is an analysis of the reality of land markets in contemporary India, especially the rapid rise in the price of urban and rural land, and a critique of the emerging legal and policy approaches to resolving the crisis.
Sanjoy Chakravorty
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- May 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780198089544
- eISBN:
- 9780199082438
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198089544.003.0003
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Public and Welfare
This chapter identifies the agents or actors in contemporary land acquisition processes: the traditional buyers (typically the state) and sellers, and the new agents: political parties and civil ...
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This chapter identifies the agents or actors in contemporary land acquisition processes: the traditional buyers (typically the state) and sellers, and the new agents: political parties and civil society. Three issues are of critical importance. First, the extreme and increasing level of fragmentation of agricultural land, ranging from the greatest fragmentation (in Kerala, Bihar, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu) to the least (in Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh). Second, the increasing and inconsistent engagement of political parties (from the Congress and BJP to the Leftist and regional parties) in acquisition processes—favouring acquisition where they have power and resisting it where they do not. Third, the increasing and pivotal role played by a range of civil society organizations (operating at multiple scales, from local and project-specific to international), most critically as information agents that have removed the past information asymmetries that enabled the past injustices.Less
This chapter identifies the agents or actors in contemporary land acquisition processes: the traditional buyers (typically the state) and sellers, and the new agents: political parties and civil society. Three issues are of critical importance. First, the extreme and increasing level of fragmentation of agricultural land, ranging from the greatest fragmentation (in Kerala, Bihar, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu) to the least (in Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh). Second, the increasing and inconsistent engagement of political parties (from the Congress and BJP to the Leftist and regional parties) in acquisition processes—favouring acquisition where they have power and resisting it where they do not. Third, the increasing and pivotal role played by a range of civil society organizations (operating at multiple scales, from local and project-specific to international), most critically as information agents that have removed the past information asymmetries that enabled the past injustices.
