Land Bonding plan for development

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM/KOZHIKODE:  Here is a great idea whose time seems to have come. If implemented, this can go a long way in alleviating the heartburns associated with the acquisition of land for development purpose in the state. The novel concept was presented to the state ministers by a management expert at the session on ‘Governance Insights for Transformation’ held  by the Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode, (IIMK) on Thursday.What the IIM team has proposed is that the government should come up with a development bond-linked scheme where the land-owner continues to benefit from the appreciation of the land cost over the years even after he gives up possession of the land for a project.The idea is to issue interest-bearing bonds on the basis of the land value at the time of a given acquisition, followed by additional bonds at set intervals in future, to coincide with appreciation in land cost. The proposal is understood to have gone down well with Chief Minister Oommen Chandy.“The workshop was not only about attending a class or the ministers donning the role of students and  the IIM faculty being the teachers. The IIM professors put forth  a number of  proposals to address real issues facing the state. And notable among them was a tangible proposal related to land acquisition for development projects. It is a unique bond-linked scheme wherein the land owners continue to benefit from land cost appreciation,” said Labour Minister Shibu Baby John.“As economic enablers, including political awareness, knowledge about rights and  concern about social issues are different in different states and countries, Kerala should have its own policy regarding infrastructure development. Methods or solutions adopted in developed countries will not serve the purpose of the state. We have examined the models implemented by Japan, South Korea and Singapore.Given the political set-up and social infrastructure, such policies may not succeed in the state. Thus evolved the idea of development bond-linked land acquisition policy,” said Prof Abhilash Nair from the Finance faculty at IIMK, who presented the concept to the council of ministers.