Government decision to auction five lakh square meters of land to repay the nearly Rs 200 crore it borrowed from the bank for settlement opens up strong suspicion of a scam within a scam. The settlement of SEZ promoters itself is riddled with controversy and questions have remained unanswered. From the year 2005 when the SEZ movement started taking shape till now, there has been no transparency in transactions. The government arbitrarily decided to refund the deposit money with nearly an equal amount as interest and it also decided to withdraw FIRs allowing all the accused to go scot free. A crime remained a crime. And here comes the crucial issue of land again.
With a shady background over SEZ, the government cannot cover up its sins of omission and commission by parting away with land which it paid a heavy price to re-acquire. Moreover, if the government couldn’t afford the settlement, why did it rush with a proposal which completely favoured the promoters? If re-acquiring land was the objective, it doesn’t make sense in auctioning part of it to raise money.
Industries Minister Vishwajit Rane’s statement that the ‘meter is ticking’ on payments to the commercial bank, indicates that the government rushed into the proposal without thought and direction. When the settlement was negotiated, the government should have had clarity on how it was going to generate this money given the fiscal crisis it is facing. On the contrary, government was projecting a hunky-dory situation and remained in denial over any financial crunch.
Selling off land cannot be on the agenda, because firstly it is increasingly getting scarce and secondly there is a fierce battle Goans are fighting in the background to save every inch of their motherland. Moreover, the very purpose of settlement with SEZ promoters is defeated if the land is going to be auctioned. It’s an open bid where any of the seven settled SEZ promoters can participate and use part of the same money to get back
the land.
The High Court ruling in 2010 clearly indicated that there were irregularities in SEZ land allotment. It had directed filing of FIRs against then chief minister Pratapsingh Rane, Industries Minister Luizinho Faleiro, IDC Chairman Chandrakant Babu Kavlekar, IDC board of directors, bureaucrats and others. On December 2, 2011 the then Opposition Leader Manohar Parrikar had lodged a complaint with director general of police alleging a Rs 400-crore SEZ scam. The CAG report of 2008 had put the loss to the exchequer at Rs 102 crore in allotting 86 plots while stating there was no transparency in the allotment process. How can all of this be overlooked, FIRs withdrawn, promoters given a bonanza and land auctioned?
It may be impractical for Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to take this entire SEZ issue to its logical conclusion, given the fact that old foes have now turned friends and partners in his government. Interests of the State and its land are being
compromised. It’s time Goans wake up and fight for their land once again.
