NEW DELHI // Tens of thousands of poor Indians calling for land reform ended their march to Delhi yesterday after the rural development minister Jairam Ramesh agreed to draft a land policy to help marginalised communities.
The 35,000 protesters - mostly low-caste labourers, small-scale farmers and tribal people - gathered from across India eight days ago in Gwalior, intending to march 350 kilometres to the capital.
The marchers, led by an activist organisation Ekta Parishad, had insisted that for India's poor the ownership of land to earn a livelihood should be a fundamental right.
Mr Ramesh met activists in Agra yesterday to sign an agreement on land reform and although it fell short of Ekta Parishad's demands, he pledged to draft a national land reforms policy and push state governments, which control land distribution, to help the landless poor.
The proposed measures include the provision of agricultural land to India's vast numbers of rural, landless poor, who have felt little benefit from the country's economic rise since the 1990s.
After the agreement was signed, the marchers dispersed, although PV Rajagopal, the founder of the Ekta Parishad, said: "If nothing happens in six months, we will assemble here in Agra and march to Delhi."
Activists claim corporations and industries continue to acquire land, often by force and against the public interest, while hundreds of thousands of agricultural labourers, tribal people and villagers from the Dalit caste are landless.
"There is no substitute or alternative to land-based livelihoods at this point of time in India," said Subodh Wagle, a professor of resource policy at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai. "There is a vast population that is dependent on land.
"There is a huge amount of distrust of the corporate sector. We have to find a rational way to allocate land in a democratic manner where people will get their due share."
DL Sheth, a senior fellow at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies in New Delhi, said that the issue of land reform had now become crucial in India for two reasons.
"Private companies are surreptitiously hoarding land … that can justifiably be given to those willing to till the land," Mr Sheth said. "And the great pace at which cultivatable land is becoming urban land is alarming."
Ekta Parishad has lobbied the federal government for land reforms for months.
An agreement had seemed in sight in early October. But Mr Rajagopal told the Economic Times after that meeting that "the government backed out at the last minute … It was almost finalised, but … the government did a U-turn".
Land acquisition in India is, at present, governed by an act dating back to 1894. A new piece of legislation, titled the land acquisition, rehabilitation and resettlement bill, is designed to bring the act up to date.
Introduced into parliament a year ago, the bill is under review. It is this bill that Ekta Parishad and other civil society groups will now make submissions for.
Among other clauses, the draft bill requires that industries must acquire rural land at four times its market value, and that 80 per cent of the people living on a tract of land must approve its acquisition.
Siddharth Singh, an economist who runs the opinion page at the business newspaper Mint, agreed with some of Ekta Parishad's demands, such as the fast-track tribunals. He also admitted that the acquisition of agricultural land for suburban housing projects was a matter of concern.
He said, however, that unlike housing projects, when industries acquire land, "they're contributing something back to the economy. If you go in for this kind of process, where industries find it hard to acquire land, it'll cause very serious problems for both agriculture and industry".
"If you have a rule saying that land can be acquired only at four times the market price, then employment-generating small and medium industries will be priced out," Mr Singh said. "The only people who will be able to buy land are large groups like the Tatas and the Ambanis."
But Mr Sheth argued that small landowners were, at the moment, being cheated of a fair price for their land, with the government facilitating such sales as "some sort of paid agent".
"This is not just about poverty but about hunger and dignity," Mr Sheth said. "These are the issues that he [Mr Rajagopal] is trying to highlight."
ssubramanian@thenational.ae
sbhattacharya@thenational.ae
* With additional reporting by Agence France-Presse
UAE Falcons
Carly Lewis (captain), Emily Fensome, Kelly Loy, Isabel Affley, Jessica Cronin, Jemma Eley, Jenna Guy, Kate Lewis, Megan Polley, Charlie Preston, Becki Quigley and Sophie Siffre. Deb Jones and Lucia Sdao – coach and assistant coach.
Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
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Find the right policy for you
Don’t wait until the week you fly to sign up for insurance – get it when you book your trip. Insurance covers you for cancellation and anything else that can go wrong before you leave.
Some insurers, such as World Nomads, allow you to book once you are travelling – but, as Mr Mohammed found out, pre-existing medical conditions are not covered.
Check your credit card before booking insurance to see if you have any travel insurance as a benefit – most UAE banks, such as Emirates NBD, First Abu Dhabi Bank and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, have cards that throw in insurance as part of their package. But read the fine print – they may only cover emergencies while you’re travelling, not cancellation before a trip.
Pre-existing medical conditions such as a heart condition, diabetes, epilepsy and even asthma may not be included as standard. Again, check the terms, exclusions and limitations of any insurance carefully.
If you want trip cancellation or curtailment, baggage loss or delay covered, you may need a higher-grade plan, says Ambareen Musa of Souqalmal.com. Decide how much coverage you need for emergency medical expenses or personal liability. Premium insurance packages give up to $1 million (Dh3.7m) in each category, Ms Musa adds.
Don’t wait for days to call your insurer if you need to make a claim. You may be required to notify them within 72 hours. Gather together all receipts, emails and reports to prove that you paid for something, that you didn’t use it and that you did not get reimbursed.
Finally, consider optional extras you may need, says Sarah Pickford of Travel Counsellors, such as a winter sports holiday. Also ensure all individuals can travel independently on that cover, she adds. And remember: “Cheap isn’t necessarily best.”
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Winner: Commanding, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar.
7.40pm: Handicap Dh190,000 (D) 2,000m
Winner: Grand Argentier, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.
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8.50pm: The Entisar Listed Dh265,000 (D) 2,000m
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10pm: Handicap Dh185,000 (D) 1,400m
Winner: Midnight Sands, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.
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The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
The biog
Siblings: five brothers and one sister
Education: Bachelors in Political Science at the University of Minnesota
Interests: Swimming, tennis and the gym
Favourite place: UAE
Favourite packet food on the trip: pasta primavera
What he did to pass the time during the trip: listen to audio books
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Coming soon
Torno Subito by Massimo Bottura
When the W Dubai – The Palm hotel opens at the end of this year, one of the highlights will be Massimo Bottura’s new restaurant, Torno Subito, which promises “to take guests on a journey back to 1960s Italy”. It is the three Michelinstarred chef’s first venture in Dubai and should be every bit as ambitious as you would expect from the man whose restaurant in Italy, Osteria Francescana, was crowned number one in this year’s list of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants.
Akira Back Dubai
Another exciting opening at the W Dubai – The Palm hotel is South Korean chef Akira Back’s new restaurant, which will continue to showcase some of the finest Asian food in the world. Back, whose Seoul restaurant, Dosa, won a Michelin star last year, describes his menu as, “an innovative Japanese cuisine prepared with a Korean accent”.
Dinner by Heston Blumenthal
The highly experimental chef, whose dishes are as much about spectacle as taste, opens his first restaurant in Dubai next year. Housed at The Royal Atlantis Resort & Residences, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal will feature contemporary twists on recipes that date back to the 1300s, including goats’ milk cheesecake. Always remember with a Blumenthal dish: nothing is quite as it seems.
Australia tour of Pakistan
March 4-8: First Test, Rawalpindi
March 12-16: Second Test, Karachi
March 21-25: Third Test, Lahore
March 29: First ODI, Rawalpindi
March 31: Second ODI, Rawalpindi
April 2: Third ODI, Rawalpindi
April 5: T20I, Rawalpindi
Jawan
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How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.