New formula may compensate land-losers: Arun Maira

KOLKATA - The Planning Commission may moot a new formula to compensate those who have lost their land to mining companies, its member Arun Maira said here Thursday.

“A clear picture is likely to emerge in the next two weeks,” Maira told reporters on the sidelines of a seminar by the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI).

The commission would suggest the plan to the mining ministry shortly. There are proposals like corporates undertaking to spend 26 percent of their profits on land losers or making them shareholders.

“The companies should set aside an amount, which could be in relation to the royalty they pay to the people displaced. That could be paid even before the royalty is paid,” Maira said.

The proposal gains importance in view of the recent row between Vedanta and the environment ministry over mining in Orissa’s Niyamgiri hills.