Farmers will have a right to decide if their land can be acquired or not for special economic zones in Maharashtra.

This will be true even if farmers are served notices earmarking their lands for acquisition and asking them to appear for hearing before land acquisition authority (normally the district collector), said Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh.

Deshmukh announced in the legislature that there will be no forced acquisition of land for the Reliance Industries' Mumbai SEZ. An empowered group of minister's decision that state governments will have no role in land acquisition has created a confusion in the government circles over land acquisition.

To add to this debate, Raigad district collector maintains that since he has not got received any instruction either from the state government or the Centre on land acquisition, old rules will continue to be valid.

Deshmukh was contacted to seek clarification on the issue. "The purpose of serving notices and asking farmers to appear for a hearing is to earmark the land which the SEZ developer wants to acquire. But if the farmer objects to the acquisition on any ground, no final award will be declared," he said.

India's great rush for SEZs

Under the Land Acquisition Act of 1894, the farmer is served a notice informing him that his land has been earmarked for acquisition.

Subsequently, he is asked to come for a hearing. During the hearing, the land acquisition authority tries to find out if the farmer has any objection to the acquisition process or to the compensation declared.

But even after the farmer objects to his land being acquired, the land acquisition authority can declare a final award notifying the land for acquisition and decide upon the compensation unilaterally.

However, if the farmer objects to acquisition, the government will not move ahead with the final process, Deshmukh clarified.

Meanwhile, speaking to Business Standard, Vaishali Patil, Anti-SEZ Action Committee Convenor, charged, "Chief minister's assurance is nothing but an eyewash. The state government is trying to create confusion over the issue and help Reliance Industries discreetly acquire the land."

If Deshmukh was sincere about his assurance, why no orders of scrapping the land acquisition process have been issued and sent to Raigad district collector, she wanted to know.