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Public sector and government projects were not the only purposes for which land was forcibly acquired by the state. Rather states acquired land for private companies, too, on the pretext of pubic purpose in the interest of states. Even in the Nehruvian
period, land was being acquired for private industry by state governments. A landmark judgment (R. L. Aurora Vs. State of U.P., 1962) of the Supreme Court held that the government could not justify acquiring land for a textile machinery manufacturer as a 'public purpose'. It further declared that, "the Land Acquisition Act did not contemplate that the Government should be made a general agent for companies to acquire lands for them for their private profit."

That might have been an opportunity to revise the injustices of the Act, but the Nehru government chose to do the opposite. The immediate response of the government was to amend the law through the 'Land Acquisition (Amendment) Act 1962' to allow land to be acquired for a company, "which is engaged in or is taking steps for engaging in any industry or work for a public purpose." This was applied with retrospective effect and superseded the earlier Supreme Court judgment. Thus, the Nehruvian era state succeeded in preserving its authority for acquiring land for private industry.

Further modifications were made to the law during the Indira Gandhi regime by the 'Land Acquisition (Amendment) Act 1984'. This provided some minor relief for persons whose land was to be acquired in the form of an improved solatium, and with some time limits on the acquisition process. However, the major demand that 'public purpose' be clearly and unambiguously defined and limited in the law was not addressed. Instead, the inclusive definition of 'public purpose' was widened to include acquisition of land for 'planned development' and subsequent sale to private enterprise. With this, the death knell for original possessors of land was completely rung; once the government set eyes on someone's land and intended to acquire it, it mattered very little what the purpose was.

Special Economic Zone (SEZ) is a geographical area / zone that has economic laws which are more liberal in a country than the normal economic laws. The first of its kind was introduced in the 80s by the Government of China. The most successful SEZ in China was Shenzhen Village which turned out to be a city wherein the population rose to ten million within 20 years. The concept of SEZ was followed by other developing countries in 90s onwards including countries like Russia, Philippines, North Korea, Ukraine, India, Iran, Poland, Kazakhastan and Jordan, etc. In United States, SEZ is called as Urban Enterprise Zone (UEZ). It is being estimated that there are about 3000 SEZs in pipe-line / commenced till the year 2007 spreading over approximately one hundred and twenty countries.

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Dr. Gursharan Singh Kainth started his career as Lecturer at Post Graduate Dept. of Economics, Government College, Gurdaspur, and later at Khalsa College; Amritsar, specializes in Quantitative & Development Economics. Has the distinction of serving Punjab Agricultural Univ, Ludhiana, for more than 2 decades and remained Director-Principal of Saint Soldier Management & Technical Institute, Jalandhar. Currently, heading GAD Institute of Development Studies, Amritsar, a self-financed research institute. Has been honoured with various awards, including Guru Draunacharya Samman, Vijay Rattan Award, etc.
Article posted on January 17, 2009.