Kolkata, Feb 2 (IANS) The allegations of forcible land acquisition for several railway projects are ‘distorted and devoid of truth’, the railway ministry Wednesday said in a release.
‘The factual positions on the ground are in total variance from the allegations. Land acquisition is a process where there are significant overtones of resentment and alienation among land losers,’ it said.
‘Sympathetic process and sensitive technical proceedings, thus, commend themselves during the process. After taking the helm of affairs in the railway ministry, it was a priority area of concern for Mamata Banerjee,’ the release said.
Under the instruction of the railway minister, guidelines have been issued to all Zonal Railways for introducing the separate policy enacted under the Railway Amendment Act (RAA), 2008.
The salient features of the guidelines are – no forcible land acquisition, minimum area should be acquired for projects and state-of-the-art technical options should be used to minimise land requirement.
The release comes days after Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee was forced to scrap or hold back some of her dream projects following anti-land acquisition protests.
