Rural development minister Dokka Manikya Vara Prasad has written to chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy requesting him to scrap the VANPIC project and restore the land to the farmers from whom it was acquired. Contending that the intention behind the scheme was to benefit a few individuals rather than the people at large, Varaprasad said VANPIC project is a disgrace on the Constitution. The following is the full text of his letter:
Respected Sir,
This is to bring to your esteemed notice the pathetic plight of the farming community whose land has been acquired for the VANPIC project.
The criminal corporate entity named VANPIC Ports Pvt. Ltd appears to endanger the rich environmental and cultural diversity of the coastal region of Guntur and Prakasam districts. Till date there has been no progress on the project. Moreover, the CBI has revealed that it was the illegitimate brainchild of a corporate criminal gang and politicians and civil servants. According to news reports from the Gulf, Ras al Khaimah (RAK) has neither the experience nor the capability to construct even a single port in its own country. How come such an entity has come to hold 51 per cent of the share in this project? Entering into an MoU with it at the behest of Matrix Prasad was a wrong decision taken by the then administration. Testimonials gathered by CBI resulted in the resignation of a cabinet minister and his incarceration. The driving force behind VANPIC, Mr.Nimmagadda Prasad of Matrix Labs, is behind bars. Crime cannot give rise to a valid contract is a prime principle of modern law of contracts. VANPIC is the outcome of such an illegal and criminal contract which is void ab initio and it is no contract in the eyes of the law. I feel that it is the duty of the Govt. of AP to make a declaration in accordance with the said principle by cancelling the MoU signed by it with the partners of VANPIC Ports Private Limited, ie, Ras al Khaimah, Matrix Labs. etc, and forthwith suspending all operations of the predatory corporate person. In view of the scenario obtaining in the VANPIC case, such a good gesture from the Govt. of AP is long due.
Besides the same, I feel that urgent steps have to be taken to see that all benefits including free electricity, loan facility, crop inurance are extended to all the farmers whose lands were acquired by VANPIC with the aid of GOs issued by the Govt. I would like to underscore the fact that the lands are still in the possession of these farmers, and VANPIC has never taken possession of them. Hence the farmers’ claim that they have every right to cultivate the lands is most reasonable, justified, legally as well as morally.
Of late, I have had the painful opportunity of coming to know the realities of the VANPIC-affected areas and interacting with the victim ryots. VANPIC victims alienated their lands (on paper, of course) under threat, coercion, duress and undue influence. The GOs (for eg, GO No. 31 dt. 11/08/2008) played their role in this unethical land acquisition. Most of the victims did not get full consideration and got less than 50-80% of the agreed amount. Hundreds of crores were pocketed by some local politicians who acted as brokers. Several VANPIC victims told me that one VAO who mediated the land acquisition swindled several crores. It is needless to say that a contract under which full consideration has not been paid is a voidable contract. I sensed that the local farmers are all poised to avoid all contracts with VANPIC. It is the bounden duty of a people's government to help the victims.
It is painful to recollect that all this has happened in a democratic polity with a written Constitution. The grief of farmers stung by VANPIC is all pervading along the entire coastal corridor of Prakasam and Guntur districts. I observed that the local revenue administration is also very sympathetic towards the farmers who are ready to till the lands in the ensuing agricultural season. It is necessary that the government should encourage the ryots and their tenants to make use of the lands which have been lying waste since 2008. It will surely increases foodgrain production and add even to the agricultural output of our state. It will also benefit the BPL people in the area by providing several man-days of work.
One more important fact is that several of the victims belong to SC and BC communities and the lands alienated to VANPIC are assigned lands to the extent of about 7,500 acres which are inalienable under law. In such an alarming context, I request you, sir, to issue a GO reiterating the rights of all the assignees and restoring to them all the rights to their lands. I would like to remind you, sir, that in the 2G spectrum case, the apex court cancelled the agreements. The spirit of the judgment equally applies to the VANPIC case.
It was wrong decision to sell a huge extent of government land to VANPIC. Some 6406.4 acres of government land (GO Ms No. 1110 dt. 15/09/2008) and 5451.06 acres (GO Ms No. 1115 dt. 16/09/2008) in Prakasam and 6796.44 acres (GO Ms No. 233 dt. 21/03/2009) in Guntur district were sold to VANPIC at throwaway prices. Added to this, 2000 acres was permitted by the government through GO. Ms. No. 30 dt. 10/07/2008 to be procured for the port of Vadarevu and an equal extent for Nizampatnam. No port on the earth, either in the past or at present, has such an extent of landholding. I feel that it is high time to reclaim the government lands by the government and use it for the benefit of the toiling masses.
VANPIC violates all the existing environmental laws and the Supreme Court judgment on the coastal environment. I would like to remind you here that the project makes no environmental sense and has no permission from the Ministry of Environment. Any decision to restore in the coastal corridor the pre-VANPIC state will be welcomed by all sections of the people particularly by inhabitants of the coastal corridor.
Sir, VANPIC is a nightmare. VANPIC is a disgrace to the Constitution of India. There has been a sustained agitation against VANPIC by the victims till date. The sooner the people are rescued from VANPIC, the greater their respect for the government established by law.
Thanking you sir,
Sincerely,
(Dokka Manikya Varaprasad)
