Full Description
Land is a subject of great conflict and debate in India. Over the past decade, the debate has focused on land acquisition, which some have called India's biggest problem. Land and the issues related to its acquisition have heavily influenced electoral verdicts and political fortunes in various parts of India. A new law for acquisition was created by the left-of-center Congress-led UPA government in 2013, which was immediately sought to be amended (unsuccessfully) in 2014 by the newly elected right-wing BJP-led NDA government. These differing visions on acquisition have often been simplified into opposing camps: people-friendly vs. business-friendly; o<"populist vs.neoliberal". Much of the general discourse on land remains similarly polarized.
At the core of the debate are serious issues of justice and history intertwined with politics and economics. These debates over land are already prominent in contemporary India and are expected to become even more so in the coming decade given the anxieties over rural distress and the problem of livelihoods. Social, economic, and political turmoil over land will become more visible as India struggles to address the serious challenges of satisfying the aspirations of a burgeoning young population with growing lack of work. As land-based incomes stagnate or dwindle for rural communities and alternative earning options remain vague and limited, while changing land use from agriculture to more productive alternatives remains fraught with conflict, popular politics and public policies in India will have to stay engaged with the debate on land at their core.
Contents
Introduction. Reframing the Land Debate in India: Bringing the Market Back into a Political Discussion - Sanjoy Chakravorty and Amitendu Palit 4
PART 1. THE CHALLENGE OF LAND 34
1. Land, Poverty and Displacement: The Indian Malady - Abhirup Sarkar 35
2. The Dilemma of Balancing Growth and Social Justice: A Retrospective View on Agriculture, Land, and Rural India - Subrata Mitra 61
3. Debating Land: Indian Parliament and the Question of Land - Ronojoy Sen 88
4. Land Acquisition in India: The Political-Economy of Changing the Law - Sanjoy Chakravorty 115
PART 2. A VARIETY OF LAND MARKETS 141
5. How the Market Mechanism Can be Utilized in Land Acquisition: Case Studies in Foshan and Sanand - Yinghong Huang 142
6. Land Making and Industry Making in Tamil Nadu - Sojin Shin 169
7. Unpacking the Double Movement: Contentious Land Acquisition in India - Manjusha Nair 187
8. Locational Politics of Land: Antagonistic Cooperation in Western Maharashtra - Sai Balakrishnan 211
PART 3. A RANGE OF LAND POLICIES 234
9. Land Market Distortions in India - K.P. Krishnan, Venkatesh Panchapagesan, Madalasa Venkataraman 235
10. The Effect of Urban Land Use Regulations on Density: The Case of Selected Indian cities - Kala Seetharam Sridhar 266
11. Towards a Market for Land in India: Post LARR Development Makes it Necessary - Subhomoy Bhattacharjee 298
12. Land in India: Meddling in Muddled Markets - Amitendu Palit 318
Bibliography 335
Contributors 354
