Dhanki, Surendranaar

Gujarat Chief Minister today while speaking at Dhanki near Lakhtar in Surendranagar district said that the government will acquire land only for public projects, and that too when government land or waste land is not available in that particular area.

She said, “Surendranagar wants bypass and local MLA has made representation on this issue for number of time. Similarly Sanand wants bypass, Morbi, Visnagar and other towns seek bypass. This is because transportation has increased. The roads that witnessed 500-truck traffic now witness 5,000-truck traffic. Roads are needed to be widened. Four laning, six laning and expansion of roads is needed to prevent accidents in which children and women are killed.Crops produced in farms need to travel to Mundra and Kandla port and therefore good road is needed. Bypass will be possible only if someone is ready to offer land. Everyone wants to reach Somnath in four-five hours for darshan. Land acquisition for highways and corridors is only for people’s good.”

She further said, “Government will first look for waste land and later look for government land, but when it is not available, government will acquire land.”

She said, “suppose government intends to establish a university for better future of youths, it will first look for government land, but suppose if some more land is still needed, the government will need to acquire land.”

Anandiben gave example of what happened in Ahmedabad district in recent years. She said, “I was representing Detroj-Mandal-Viramgam belt of Ahmedabad district for five years in late 1990s. I had explored that entire area. There was only dust everywhere. Crops would grow in monsoon only if there’s sufficient rain. In Winter and Summer, nothing would grow there. Then Chief Minister Shri Narendra Modi decided to set up Special Investment Region(SIR) there. When locals opposed the idea of SIR, we deserted the idea. One Laljibhai from Surendranagar had taken leadership of agitation. Farmers were not ready to give their land for SIR. Government decided to leave the idea of setting up SIR. We gave only government land to Maruti then after. On the other hand, just before ten days I inaugurated a car manufacturing plant of Ford near Sanand. Those who had earlier opposed land acquisition for SIR in Mandal belt came to meet me there. When I was MLA I had five years long relation with them. They came to meet me and said that after seeing all this development in Sanand they think they are now ready to offer their land in Mandal for SIR. I replied them that we don’t want to acquire your land. If some company comes looking for land, you may offer them your land, but we don’t want to do that.”

“Imagine they today request to offer their land. That’s because they saw how 3,000 youths of Bol village that offered its land for Ford car plant are employed in that plant,” She added.

Chief Minister said, “government never wants to cause harm or damage to anyone. But think, how much land your grand father had, and later how much you owned, and think about future, when land will be divided further in your family, each farmer will end up having 1 acre or half acre piece of land. Will you be able to survive your family? And therefore it is needed that while one family member continues to do farming for which we are laying pipelines and canals, the other family member may get involved in milk production through cattle care and third family member may go to job in local industrial unit.”

Chief Minister further said that Congress is opposition land acquisition because it is interested in poverty only. Congress wants people to continue to live in poverty, the Chief Minister said.

-DeshGujarat

(Details of the project Chief Minister inaugurated today are available on this link)