Gujarat government declares bonus compensation after row over installment from Japan for project
Facing severe protests from farmers across the state and a slew of litigations, the Gujarat government has decided to increase compensation for land to be acquired for the bullet train project by 25%.
Revenue minister Kaushik Patel made this announcement on Thursday and said that the increase in compensation will be paid as per the rates mentioned in the consent award for the acquisition.
The government said that the decision was made following several representations by the farmers.
"We have accepted the representation of farmers who have land in villages falling under urban area authority or urban development authority. They had demanded that they should be paid compensation for the land as per the formula in place for rural area instead of the one that is applicable to land under urban areas. This means the farmers land under such urban authorities will fetch a compensation that is 4 times the market rates and additional 25% compensation will be paid to all the farmers including these farmers against their acquired land."
"Earlier as per the formula decided by the Central government, when land is acuqired in an urban areas, the land owners are paid double the prevailing market rates. If the land is in rural areas we paid them four times the market rate as compensation," said Patel.
He said that the enhanced compensation was being offered because the government does not wish that any farmer should feel cheated since he is giving his land for the project.
"This is the dream project of Narendra Modi and we will make it possible with our sincere efforts. We want to make sure that all farmers get sufficient compensation as per rules and the compensation should be timely too."
Kaushik Patel also informed that the process of land acquisition for 681 hectare area in 196 villages of 8 districts was underway. The process had reached the second phase in 185 villages.
"Indexation formula under Income Tax Act will be applied at the time of paying the compensation to farmers, so that they will get higher compensation without any deduction. New formula of Jantri has been applied for deciding land rates for consent awards been signed between farmers ready to give their land for project and government."
PROS AND CONS OF THE BIG DEAL
ZIPPING ON THE TRACKS: GEARED UP FOR THE SPEED YET?
2022
The year by which the train may start running between Mumbai and Ahmedabad
50 km
the distance between Surat and Bilimora, the stretch on which the first run will happen
20 min
is the time it will take to cover distance between Surat and Bilimora
508-km
Stretch of the project
320 km/h
Speed of the proposed bullet train
3 hours
is the expected journey time between Mumbai and Ahmedabad on the train
Rs 1.10 L cr
is the estimated cost of the project
3,500
is the number of staffers for the project
CONTROVERSIES
- Over 1,000 farmers in Gujarat who will lose their land in the proposed project had filed an affidavit in the Gujarat High Court opposing the project
- They said the land acquisition for the project was in violation of the rules
- It also alleged that the government had amended the rules to ensure that no social impact assessment needs to be done
- Media reports had said Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) had stopped funding for the ambitious project between Ahmedabad and Mumbai
- National High-Speed Rail Corporation Ltd had denied reports that JICA has stopped funding for the project. NHSRCL is nodal agency for execution of projects
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