National People's Audit of Special Economic Zones

The National People's Audit of Special Economic Zones in India was conducted on 19-20 April, 2010 in New Delhi, at the Nehru Memorial Auditorium. It was organised by a collective of people's movement groups, social and research organisations and academics. This two-day national convention was a culmination of state-level people's audit of SEZs that was conducted in several states of India, through last year (2009-2010).

The National Audit panel comprised of Kuldip Nayar, Devaki Jain, Admiral (Retd.) Ramdas, K. B. Saxena, Meher Engineer, Rahul Bose, Ashish Kothari and Advocate Vrinda Grover. On day one, the panel heard depositions and testimonies of affected people and activists from the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Orissa, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. The second day it focussed on the situation in Tamil Nadu, Goa and Northern Region (Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi) along with an national overview and the observations of the Jury which will be released to the public and media .

The People's Audit, over the last year, has emerged as a process of critical importance to evaluate state policies, their impact on people and implementation, in a manner that is more inclusive and places importance on people's perception and views on the issue. The SEZ policy, enacted in 2005, has been severely criticised for the manner of implementation, dispossession and displacement caused to people, on a large scale. Issues evaluated were those of land acquisition, displacement, environmental impact, compensation, employment generation, livelihood loss and labour rights.

Ulka Mahajan from Jagatikikaran Virodhi Kruti Samiti, Maharashtra presented an overview of the SEZ Act and issues around it. According to her, “the anti-SEZ movement in Raigad against the Reliance promoted Mumbai SEZ, where a historic referendum resulted in 95% farmers saying “NO” to the project is a undeniable declaration of common people's resistance to such 'development' that is being forced upon them.” However she lamented the fact that the result of this referendum was not made public and neither did government officials or corporate representatives attend any of the state audits, proving their lack of interest and emphathy to people's voes.

According to her, narratives from farmers, agricultural labourers and fisher-people across most states was similar. Farmers everywhere are asking “This land - my life, my labour, my work has been providing for me generations. Why should i give up my life and my livelihood? We will continue to fight to save our environment.” She also said that agricultural land was being targeted and all resources, especially water diverted for industrial use. gLaws everywhere, labour and environment protection for example, are being diluted, manipulated, to make way for the SEZ Law.

People's struggles against SEZs in Raigad, Vagholi, Mann andGorai have been successful after immense struggle against all odds. Even others like Shahapur, Dherand, Aurangabad, Nashik, Chakan and Khed SEZs were seeing the results of the combined agitation.

On the resistance against the Mihan SEZ project in Nagpur, an affected person who deposed before the panel talked about corruption and lack of accountability in the Government and corporates. As example he spoke about the CEO of Satyam who despite the scam and allegations had been made the Vice President of the Mihan project. “Approximately 2000 families will be displaced in this project.

As protest, men and women in the village organised a Mundan Andolan (Shaving of the Head). Normally such a ceremony takes place to mourn the loss of a parent. In this case we were mourning the abandonment by the Government, who is considered to be the mai-bapp (mother and father) of all people.”

Sister Cinderella from Gorai discussed land acquisition that was initiated by developers Pan India Paryatan Ltd. for 5740 hectares on Dharavi Island. While it was true that almost 80% of the land was owned by the Government, people still had been residing in these areas for decades. The developers, after the agitation were forced to give up on 5740 hectares and only applied for 120 hectares.

Two Maharashtra state-level panelists also presented their findings to the National panel and raised a few questions. Trilochan Shastry said “A few individuals make laws and policies, completely ignoring the opinions and needs of ordinary farmers and workers in the country. They have to be exposed, or they have to be removed.” Dr Anand Teltumbde said that India was erroneously trying to emulate the SEZ and industrial policy of the western world and China. “However while the China model of SEZ uses only 8.5% cultivable land, the contrast in India is for everyone to see.”

Manshi Asher, activist and researcher, introduced the Gujarat chapter and tried to lay out the details before the audience. “Gujarat is being trumpeted by its Chief Minister as the SEZ capital of India. The first claim is that most of the export revenue earned from SEZs originates from Gujarat while the second claim is that SEZ implementation has been virtually resisatance or protest-free – since no agricultural land has been forcibly acquired from farmers and farmers have either been willing to sell their lands or wasteland land has been allotted to SEZ.”

According to Manshi, who has worked extensively on this issue, “the lie behind the first claim can be nailed on the fact that bulk of the export revenue originating in Gujarat is from the Jamnagar refinery. Also, the other so called successful and high export SEZs were already operational and profitable industry hubs, before being conferred with the status of SEZs. This is a lie that the Government presents to the people and has to be exposed to the all.” For the second claim of the

Government, she said “most land that was originally given to SEZs was acquired decades back, by the Gujarat State Industrial Development Corporation. Obviously there will be no protest for land that was acquired in the 80's and 90's.”

Bharat Patel from the Machimar Adhikar Sangharsh Samiti presented the resistance against the Mundra Port and SEZ which was endangering the livelihoods of over 1000 fisher-families in the region. “The area around the Kutch coast has been labelled as an ecologoically sensitive area in Government and MoEF reports, yet the Adani group proceeded with construction and cutting down of the Mangrove forest without any Environment clearance. This just shows the extent to which there is collusion between the Government and the corporates.”

Testimonies from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Goa were all disturbingly similar in their narratives of how Government officials and land agents adopted manipulative methods to coerce and fool people into selling their lands without their knowledge. Case after case deposed on how District Officials forged signatures, opened fake accounts and transferred the compensation amounts which villagers' had refused to take the same. Mallapa Gowda, a tribal whose land was grabbed after his signature had been forged on the land document, said “I have sweated my whole life and put together a complex irrigation system for my fields, digging a well, putting in piping – I want my land back.”

The Audit was jointly initiated by the National Alliance of People fs Movements (NAPM); the National Campaign for People's Right to Information (NCPRI); Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS); and National Centre for Advocacy Studies (NCAS) as the core group of organizations and jointly organized with state – level groups including Jagtikikaran Virodhi Kriti Samiti (JVKS), Maharashtra; Andhra Pradesh Dalita Samakhya (APDS); Anti-KSEZ Farmers f Committee, Kadali Network, Praja Udhyama Aikya Vedika, Dalita Bahujana Bhoo Parirakshana Samiti, Coastal Corridor Praja Hakkula Parirakshana Samiti in Kakinada; Krushibhoomi Samrakshana Samiti (KBSS), Karnataka; Karaavali Karnataka Janaabhivrudhi Vedike (KKJV), Karnataka; Sirappu Porulaadhara Mandalam Edirippu Iyaikam (SPMEI), Tamil Nadu; SEZ Virodhi Manch, Goa; POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samiti, Orissa; SEZ Virdodhi Manch, West Bengal; Machimar Adhikar Sangharsh Sangathan (MASS), Gujarat; Matru Bhoomi Raksha Sangharsh Samiti, Una, Himachal Pradesh; India Centre for Human Rights and Law (ICHRLN); and the Delhi Solidarity Group (DSG).