LUCKNOW: Jan Morcha convener and former Prime Minister V.P. Singh on Thursday demanded that the Land Acquisition Act be amended to debar private parties from acquiring farmers' land for developing special economic zones (SEZs). The original form of the Act should be restored and SEZs developed only on wasteland.

Taking a swipe at Congress president Sonia Gandhi's suggestion to Congress Chief Ministers on SEZs at Nainital recently, the Jan Morcha convenor said it implied that only Chief Ministers of Congress-ruled States were governed by the directives while non-Congress Chief Ministers were exempted from the "loot" of farmers' land.

"Lop-sided implementation"

Mr. Singh told reporters that the SEZ document was finalised by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance Government and it was accountable for its lop-sided implementation. Stating that the SEZ issue concerned the entire country and not only the Congress-ruled States, the former Prime Minister demanded the formulation of a comprehensive policy on the subject. A regulatory body should be formed to monitor the acquisition of wasteland .

He announced that the Jan Morcha would launch a country-wide agitation against the acquisition of farmers' land for developing SEZs. If the Jan Morcha was voted to power in Uttar Pradesh or emerged as a coalition partner, a blanket ban would be placed on acquisition of farmland.

Expressing concern at the spate of suicides by farmers, Mr. Singh said recovery certificates issued by nationalised banks for recovering loans and interest had aggravated the problem. He favoured the review of magisterial powers given to banks and said the mounting farmers' debts demanded serious attention from the Government.

Mr. Singh referred to the recent decision of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi to waive interest on cooperative loans, and said some form of waiver should be given to debt-ridden farmers.

He accused the Mulayam Singh Yadav Government of political vendetta against the Jan Morcha leaders and its allies. He alleged that Uttar Pradesh CID sleuths were keeping a close vigil on his Delhi house which prompted him to register a complaint with the Delhi police. Mr. Singh said the Delhi police seized the official vehicle of the U.P. police.

Mr. Singh said that while the State Government had withdrawn the security provided to Morcha leaders Vinod Singh, Arshad Khan and Sakshi Maharaj, the police roughed up CPI (ML) workers in Sitapur and Lakhimpur-Kheri districts on Wednesday . They were demanding job cards for the rural unemployed under the NREGP scheme.

He alleged that false cases were registered against Jan Morcha president Raj Babbar and the Etah district unit chief, Santosh Yadav. Mr. Singh said he would file a complaint with the National Human Rights Commission. Earlier, the former Prime Minister sat on a dharna at the Patel park here in protest against the 22.5 per cent trade tax imposed on diesel by the U.P. Government. He demanded that it should be brought down to 6 per cent.

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