Chhattisgarh minister's son buys farmland for Videocon
Supriya Sharma, TNN | Jun 23, 2011, 01.44am ISTJANJGIR-CHAMPA (CHHATTISGARH): Over the last few months, a "lal batti gaadi" has been spotted in the narrow lanes of Gaud village, carrying Sandeep Kanwar, who villagers identify as "mantri ka beta" (minister's son).
Sandeep is the son of Nankiram Kanwar, Chhattisgarh's home minister. He is also the chief of BJP's Anusuchit Janjaati Morcha or Scheduled Tribes Front, Korba.
In his latest avatar, Sandeep Kanwar has been appointed the public relations officer of Videocon group, which is setting up a 1200mw power plant in Gaud and neighbouring villages of Bhada, Gadapalli, Akaltari, Kewa. Gaud is in Janjgir-Champa, a small district in central Chhattisgarh, an extended landscape of irrigated plains, all set to become India's power hub. Thirty-six thermal power plants are coming up here, the largest cluster of power projects anywhere in the country.
The farmland required for these projects is 960 acres, out of which approval for 198 acres was given by the state government last December. But the buying began much before that and, in the course, a cocktail of corporate and political interests is profiting at the cost of the poor and powerless, with tribal farmers among the worst affected. Kanwar and Videocon are good examples of how the collusion works. Faced with protests, the state industries department was forced to grant a stay to the approval given to Videocon to buy land. And Kanwar himself acknowledges he has erred!
How did they operate? "Sandeep Kanwar comes, holds meetings, and tells us we should sell our land to the company," said Ram Charan, a farmer in Gaud. Since Kanwar travels as an official, often with local patwari, few see him as representing a private company. Villagers say his constant visits have intimidated several families into selling their land.
"Raj ukhar hai (he is in power)," says Mahatma, an old farmer, "His car is marked with phool chhaap (BJP's symbol)." But the minister's son is not just playing the role of a dubious persuader. He has been buying land to help the company circumvent important safeguards for tribal farmers.
According to section 165 (6) of Chhattisgarh's land revenue code, tribal land cannot be sold to a non-tribal without the district collector's permission. Enacted by Madhya Pradesh in 1959, the law seeks to protect vulnerable tribal communities from being dispossessed of their land by powerful groups.
However, over the decades, land agents have perfected a way to get around it: prop up a tribal buyer as a front. He buys small land holdings from several tribals. Once enough land is accumulated, he seeks the collector's permission to sell it to the actual buyer, keeping a small chunk to satisfy the condition that, as a tribal, he has not been reduced to being landless.
As the son of Chhattisgarh's highest ranking tribal minister, Kanwar is the best "front" a company could find. TOI has testimonies of villagers that show Kanwar bought land in their area.
For instance, he bought 4.07 acres from Sonuaram; 6.86 acres from Gulab; 0.35 acres from Sukalu; 0.96 from Radhabai ^ all tribal farmers of Bhada village. Radhabai initially resisted the pressure to sell, till she was told, "Ek parchi mein do naukari (two jobs for one sale deed)". A widow with two sons, she was taken away at night and kept in a dharamshala for four days. "I was allowed to leave only after I had signed the papers," she said. Radhabai feels cheated, but since Kanwar is mantri ka beta, she dare not complain.
While buying land as a "front" is common practice, in this case it seems even pretences have been dropped. TOI has a copy of a document where Kanwar has signed away the power of attorney to one Vishnu Mulay: "I have been appointed as the PRO of Janjgir project by Videocon Industries. Since I am busy with my duties, I am unable to buy land. Hence, I appoint Vishnu Mulay, son of Achyut Mulay, as my attorney. He will buy land on my behalf in Gaud, Akaltari, Bhada, Kewa, Gadapalli, etc."
Mulay is a top Videocon executive and the project director of the Janjgir Champa project. Although the legality of the document could not be confirmed ^ it's signed but not registered ^ it makes for fascinating reading, as Kanwar states: "The payment (for the land) will be made by Videocon."
When contacted, Kanwar said that as the company PRO, he had simply facilitated the purchase of land. But when told about the documents in possession of TOI, he accepted he had bought the tribal land directly. "Since the company can't buy tribal land, I bought it to transfer to the company later," he said.
How does Kanwar acting as a front for Videocon affect poor farmers? Sonuaram sold his entire land of 4.07 acres to Kanwar for Rs 11,21,000. This works out to less than Rs 3 lakh per acre, not even half of Rs 8 lakh, the minimum rate for single crop land under Chhattisgarh's revised rehabilitation policy of 2010.
Not only was Sonauram cheated of fair price, he also lost all claims to rehabilitation, since he sold his land not to the company but to Kanwar. In effect, he cannot stake claim to employment or any other benefit in lieu of land, although his land was taken over by the company: one foot high concrete poles have been dug at the plot corners, painted with VC, for Videocon.
While poor tribal farmers lose out, Kanwar stands to make a neat profit when he re-sells the same land to the company. The company, in turn, reduces its liabilities and rehabilitation responsibilities.
Asked why he was cheating poor farmers of the right price and rehabilitation, Kanwar said, "Galti ho gayi (I made a mistake)." But Kanwar is not the only `front' the company appears to have used. Available records show largescale purchases of non-tribal land by Bodhiram Sahu, and tribal land by Bilam Singh. While Sahu is a minor employee of Videocon, Singh is a resident of Cherpani village in Kawardha district, 200 km away. He features on the BPL list of his village, but records show he has bought land worth lakhs.
Vishnu Mulay, project director, chose to dissociate the company from Kanwar. "He has bought land in his individual capacity, it has nothing to do with the company," Mulay said. Asked about the land bought by Bodhiram Sahu, a company employee, Mulay said, "We're answerable only to the government which will see if we are following its regulations or not."
Officials confirmed that the company's public hearing scheduled for April was postponed. In a letter to the district collector on April 1, the industry department placed a stay on the approval given to the company to purchase land in Gaud, Bhada, Gadapalli and nearby villages. Official also confirmed that complaints led to postponement of the project's public hearing scheduled in April. And the industries department has taken back the "in principle approval" for land purchase.
Sandeep is the son of Nankiram Kanwar, Chhattisgarh's home minister. He is also the chief of BJP's Anusuchit Janjaati Morcha or Scheduled Tribes Front, Korba.
In his latest avatar, Sandeep Kanwar has been appointed the public relations officer of Videocon group, which is setting up a 1200mw power plant in Gaud and neighbouring villages of Bhada, Gadapalli, Akaltari, Kewa. Gaud is in Janjgir-Champa, a small district in central Chhattisgarh, an extended landscape of irrigated plains, all set to become India's power hub. Thirty-six thermal power plants are coming up here, the largest cluster of power projects anywhere in the country.
The farmland required for these projects is 960 acres, out of which approval for 198 acres was given by the state government last December. But the buying began much before that and, in the course, a cocktail of corporate and political interests is profiting at the cost of the poor and powerless, with tribal farmers among the worst affected. Kanwar and Videocon are good examples of how the collusion works. Faced with protests, the state industries department was forced to grant a stay to the approval given to Videocon to buy land. And Kanwar himself acknowledges he has erred!
How did they operate? "Sandeep Kanwar comes, holds meetings, and tells us we should sell our land to the company," said Ram Charan, a farmer in Gaud. Since Kanwar travels as an official, often with local patwari, few see him as representing a private company. Villagers say his constant visits have intimidated several families into selling their land.
"Raj ukhar hai (he is in power)," says Mahatma, an old farmer, "His car is marked with phool chhaap (BJP's symbol)." But the minister's son is not just playing the role of a dubious persuader. He has been buying land to help the company circumvent important safeguards for tribal farmers.
According to section 165 (6) of Chhattisgarh's land revenue code, tribal land cannot be sold to a non-tribal without the district collector's permission. Enacted by Madhya Pradesh in 1959, the law seeks to protect vulnerable tribal communities from being dispossessed of their land by powerful groups.
However, over the decades, land agents have perfected a way to get around it: prop up a tribal buyer as a front. He buys small land holdings from several tribals. Once enough land is accumulated, he seeks the collector's permission to sell it to the actual buyer, keeping a small chunk to satisfy the condition that, as a tribal, he has not been reduced to being landless.
As the son of Chhattisgarh's highest ranking tribal minister, Kanwar is the best "front" a company could find. TOI has testimonies of villagers that show Kanwar bought land in their area.
For instance, he bought 4.07 acres from Sonuaram; 6.86 acres from Gulab; 0.35 acres from Sukalu; 0.96 from Radhabai ^ all tribal farmers of Bhada village. Radhabai initially resisted the pressure to sell, till she was told, "Ek parchi mein do naukari (two jobs for one sale deed)". A widow with two sons, she was taken away at night and kept in a dharamshala for four days. "I was allowed to leave only after I had signed the papers," she said. Radhabai feels cheated, but since Kanwar is mantri ka beta, she dare not complain.
While buying land as a "front" is common practice, in this case it seems even pretences have been dropped. TOI has a copy of a document where Kanwar has signed away the power of attorney to one Vishnu Mulay: "I have been appointed as the PRO of Janjgir project by Videocon Industries. Since I am busy with my duties, I am unable to buy land. Hence, I appoint Vishnu Mulay, son of Achyut Mulay, as my attorney. He will buy land on my behalf in Gaud, Akaltari, Bhada, Kewa, Gadapalli, etc."
Mulay is a top Videocon executive and the project director of the Janjgir Champa project. Although the legality of the document could not be confirmed ^ it's signed but not registered ^ it makes for fascinating reading, as Kanwar states: "The payment (for the land) will be made by Videocon."
When contacted, Kanwar said that as the company PRO, he had simply facilitated the purchase of land. But when told about the documents in possession of TOI, he accepted he had bought the tribal land directly. "Since the company can't buy tribal land, I bought it to transfer to the company later," he said.
How does Kanwar acting as a front for Videocon affect poor farmers? Sonuaram sold his entire land of 4.07 acres to Kanwar for Rs 11,21,000. This works out to less than Rs 3 lakh per acre, not even half of Rs 8 lakh, the minimum rate for single crop land under Chhattisgarh's revised rehabilitation policy of 2010.
Not only was Sonauram cheated of fair price, he also lost all claims to rehabilitation, since he sold his land not to the company but to Kanwar. In effect, he cannot stake claim to employment or any other benefit in lieu of land, although his land was taken over by the company: one foot high concrete poles have been dug at the plot corners, painted with VC, for Videocon.
While poor tribal farmers lose out, Kanwar stands to make a neat profit when he re-sells the same land to the company. The company, in turn, reduces its liabilities and rehabilitation responsibilities.
Asked why he was cheating poor farmers of the right price and rehabilitation, Kanwar said, "Galti ho gayi (I made a mistake)." But Kanwar is not the only `front' the company appears to have used. Available records show largescale purchases of non-tribal land by Bodhiram Sahu, and tribal land by Bilam Singh. While Sahu is a minor employee of Videocon, Singh is a resident of Cherpani village in Kawardha district, 200 km away. He features on the BPL list of his village, but records show he has bought land worth lakhs.
Vishnu Mulay, project director, chose to dissociate the company from Kanwar. "He has bought land in his individual capacity, it has nothing to do with the company," Mulay said. Asked about the land bought by Bodhiram Sahu, a company employee, Mulay said, "We're answerable only to the government which will see if we are following its regulations or not."
Officials confirmed that the company's public hearing scheduled for April was postponed. In a letter to the district collector on April 1, the industry department placed a stay on the approval given to the company to purchase land in Gaud, Bhada, Gadapalli and nearby villages. Official also confirmed that complaints led to postponement of the project's public hearing scheduled in April. And the industries department has taken back the "in principle approval" for land purchase.
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