Fact-finding or False-finding?
Bangalore,dhns: The legislative assembly witnessed a heated exchange of words between the ruling and the Congress members as some members of ruling described the “fact-finding committee” of the Congress party as “false-finding committee.”
The Congress had set up the Committee to find out the facts on land acquisition for the townships and special economic zone at Nandagugi. Speaker’s had to make several requests before he succeeded in pacifying the Congress members, who wanted the other side to withdraw their remarks.
Evolve universal policy: Katta
Admitting that formation of SEZs only around metros and other major cities is resulting in excessive exploitation because of concentration of industries, Major Industries Minister Katta Subramanya Naidu has requested the Union government to evolve uniform policy for the country allowing SEZs only in most backward areas of states.  In a letter written to Union Commerce Minister Kamal Nath, Mr Naidu said such policy should also prescribe a uniform method for acquisition of land for SEZs, independent of the industrial or general land acquisition laws prevailing in different states.
He has also requested the Union Government to include rehabilitation policy for the land losers, methodology to fix fair compensation and possible ways of making the farmers or land owners as stakeholders in the SEZs. Mr Naidu stated in the letter that waste land, wherever available, should be used for the SEZs in the backward districts. SEZs can also be approved on waste land near the coast which provide good transportation facility.
Meanwhile, Mr Naidu urged the Union govt to adopt a clear policy, at the earliest for allowing those interested in setting up SEZs while also studying the district-wise capacity of each state for distributing the SEZs equally across the each state.
‘SEZs at the cost of farmers’
The Opposition in the legislative assembly on Tuesday alleged that the ruling JD(S)-BJP coalition has been engaged in real estate business under the guise of formation of satellite townships and special economic zones (SEZ) at the cost of farmers’ interest.