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For some time now, there has been a debate about special economic zones (SEZs) and if they are really contributing to growth. The recent incidents in various parts of India and rise in Naxal violence makes one contemplate if this scheme is really worth it.

To understand what really goes into the creation of an SEZ, it is important to understand the process and the displacement and dispossession that goes along with it. Three years ago, I was at the receiving end, when the government decided to demolish all buildings for a 20 km stretch because they had identified an area which they planned to turn into an IT tidal park in our neighborhood. So, people woke up one summer morning to find yellow stones placed behind their homes, schools, mills, shops, etc, as the government wished to convert the four-lane highway into eight-lane. By people, I am referring to roughly 100,000 people, most of them retired or young children. Many of them have spent their life-long savings in building the houses they were planning to die in. But there was no notice or warning. This is how it started... We werent sure this was not happening for two years as the yellow stones that marks the area of destruction continued to remain, and during this period, this is what happened.

Uncertainty The most interesting and exasperating thing was that we werent provided any alternatives by the government which had identified an area in our neighborhood as an SEZ. Imagine 100,000 people left in the lurch not sure if they can continue in the school or job, they were in and others not sure if they could continue to live in their own homes. To all of those who were affected, it meant loss of home, employment, and essential services. Some had taken loans on houses and businesses which the yellow stone reminded would be non-existent. So there was pressure from banks to payback the loans. People were thrust into a bubble. The bubble kept rolling, but none of us were sure, when it would burst. Many said they would willingly die or stay in their homes when the bulldozer came to erase their homes and lives. At times, I felt we were in Palestine and not in India!

Some wished to sell their homes along the marked area and move to another city, but couldnt, as there were no takers. Overnight, the value of the buildings along the 20 km stretch had plummeted to zero. Real estate value of areas adjourning the SEZ had shot up in value. Price rise in all commodities was seen expectant of highly paid IT employees. The culture and demographics of the area began to changehuge shopping malls, fast food joints, etc, began to spring up from nowhere. Because of the high demand for a home or a flat in a local area that remained unaffected by the proposed SEZ and highway expansion, the rent rates shot up eight-fold as did the house prices. One needs to remember, the salary for the affected remained the same while for others, the salary itself became a question mark.

Relationships
The appearance of the yellow stones led to chaos in relationshipspersonal and interpersonal. There were husbands whose businesses would be mowed down, while there were wives with jobs in local government institutions that couldnt be transferred. Many families had to think of splitting upat least temporarily, until one of them could get settledfor the sake of their childrens education. The kids were distraught that they couldnt be with their friends anymore or continue to study in the schools they went to. There were teachers in schools and employees in mills, shops, hospitals, etc, who were upset as they were sure they would lose their jobs. Expecting them to retain their standards, at work, while their livelihood remained uncertain became impossible.

Apart from houses, shops, hospitals, schools, and millslucky for us we had a temple which is an ASI protected monument, apart from a church and a mosquewere all marked for destruction to make way for the highway. Since the people in our area took to protesting publicly and some threatened to lie down on the highway and be run-over, the government had to accept the alternate route, as suggested by the locals. In October 2009, the SEZ started with much fanfare that included power cuts in the neighborhood and lighted streets during daytime. Only nine IT companies began operations!

It boggles the mindthe government was willing to displace 100,000 people to help nine companies find a place? Is this growth? What sort of a development does this constitute? At times, I wonder for whom the development isinfrastructure or people. How can so many of us be told to make way for the highway? However, this is just a sample of what happens in a middle-class neighborhood of engineers, doctors, academics, and entrepreneurs, which luckily had a happy conclusion, at least for now. What if the project had been implemented and the death toll had increased as many would have rather died than move? What if this happens in a poor neighborhood where the land is the livelihood and the people are dispossessed and displaced because the government comes up with a SEZ? I cannot even imagine what those people would have to go through. Apart from losing land, there is a high price people pay in relationships with such uncertainty.

What about ethics? Can the government ride rough shod over people and impoverish them in the process, in the name of development and growth? How can it be termed as development of the people who become displaced when their land is seized from them? How can this constitute growth or development? SEZs constitute an inherent danger as they do two things:

• A democratically elected government to act like a dictator in the name of development
• The powerlessness felt by the people transforms into anger and violence against the industry which is set up there, thanks to government pull

Displacement without an alternative leads to loss of identity and irrationality. Im sure the IT industry or the manufacturing sector is not looking for handouts from the government to grow. Private companies are more than capable of setting up their own offices and operations without government tax breaks and land allocation. If they are unable to do so, then they are unfit to compete in the free market economy of the twenty-first century. Unfortunately, todays governments still think like the government of 1950s which believed in a socialist, state-run economy and where SEZs were called industrial development. The land was usually wasteland which was unoccupied or abandoned. Recycling an old idea by just giving it a new name is nothing new to our government. But conditions have changed in the past sixty years. Land has become scarce as our population has quadrupled. Corporations should be able to compete in existing environments and grow instead of falling back on SEZ model promoted by the government. Unless they do so, there will only be artificial pockets of growth and increasing anger towards technology and the IT sector due to indiscriminate urbanization.

This is not a fight of might between the affected and the government. The government should respect the reasonable voices of its people, especially peaceful protesters. Otherwise, we would have to add wanton violence to the growing list of problems faced by the economy. SEZ should stop being special economic zones or they risk becoming showpiece extravagant zilch!

Deepa Kandaswamy
The author is the founder-moderator of the IndianWISE e-group
maildqindia@cybermedia.co.in

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