Protesters against Una SEZ storm meet in Shimla

"The Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in the present scenario would reverse what was achieved over decades through implementation of land reforms to re-distribute over two million hectare of land to the landless." A national conference on economic and social perspectives of SEZs at Indian Institute of Advanced Study (IIAS), Shimla, opened on Thursday morning with this statement made by president of Indian Academy of Social Sciences, Allahabad, S.P. Shukla.

By evening, the academicians got an opportunity to get a first-hand account of threats to people facing displacement through SEZs when a group of people who are agitating against the proposed SEZ at Gagret in Una talked to them through the same platform.

Narender Parmar, legal advisor of Matribhumi Sangharsh Samiti of Una, said the government was not presenting a true picture about the number of farmers who would be displaced by the proposed SEZ of SKIL Infrastructure Limited.

"We have sought information under the Right to Information in which it is clearly mentioned that the SEZ and airport proposed in Una would require 11.5 thousand acres of land, whereas the survey has only been done of 4,000 acres," said Parmar.

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