House Committee examines land acquisition records

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Apr 26: A meeting of the House Committee constituted by the Legislative Council to look into the acquisition of 796 Kanals Agriculture Land for Industrial Growth Centers at Rakh Amb Talli, Samba was held today under the Chairmanship of the MLC Ajat Shatru Singh, .
The Committee members MLCs, Vijay Bakaya and Ravinder Kumar Sharma, besides Commissioner Secretary Industries & Commerce, Umang Narula, Commissioner Secretary Agriculture, Shaleen Kabra, Commissioner Secretary Revenue B.A. Runyal, Secretary Legislative Council Mohammad Ashraf Mir, Deputy Commissioner Samba, Mubark Singh, Director Agriculture Jammu Director Industries and Additional Commissioner Jammu also attended the meeting.
The issue of acquisition of land at Rakh Amb Tali, Samba was threadbare discussed in the meeting.
Deputy Commissioner Samba informed the Committee that the process of acquisition of land at the site was initiated in the year 2000.
However, due to non completion of formalities the process lapsed, and the acquisition process was again initiated in 2010.Notifications under Section 4,5,6 and 6-A of the Land Acquisition Act has been already issued. He also informed that out of 796 kanals 773 kanals are rain-fed cultivable and the rest 23 kanals are non cultivable. The Industries Department has deposited Rs. 36.6 crores with the Collector for paying compensation to the land owners.
Principal Secretary Industries and Commerce informed the Committee that due to non- availability of land, most of the entrepreneurs have turned back and established their industrial units in neighboring states like Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.
With the result State has not been able to benefit from the Industrial package granted by the Central Government. He urged the Committee to dispose of the matter as early as possible in view of the urgency involved in establishing the Industrial growth centers in Samba. Commissioner Secretary Agriculture Department also shared his point of view on the issue.
The House Committee inquired from the officers the reasons for non completion of early acquisition process and the causes of delay in finalization of present process. They also emphasized the need to strike a balance between requirements of Industrial sector and Public interests viz a viz Agriculture sector with which 70% of state population was associated.
The House Committee directed the Revenue Department to furnish all relevant details about the acquisition process, the nature of land, the objections raised by the concerned people and also to explain the delay caused in finalization of the earlier acquisition proceedings. It was also asked to furnish this information by or before 7th of May 2012, so that the same is examined in the next meeting.