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Heeding call for compensation
By Zhao Huanxin (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-03-14 06:25
Farmers who have lost their land have at least one reason not to lose heart -
legislators and political advisers are having serious discussions about their
grievances, and proposing solutions.
"The standards of compensation for acquisition of farmland should be raised,
and the basic net of social security should cover farmers who have lost their
land," national lawmaker Liu Minghua said yesterday.
Liu was among at least 200 legislators who have signed several motions,
submitted during the annual meeting of China's legislature in Beijing, calling
for conscientious efforts to protect the interests of land-less rural residents.
Complaints that farmers were inadequately compensated or lacked subsistence
after their land was expropriated or requisitioned have been on the rise in
recent years, Liu said.
At least 40 million farmers have lost land to real estate development,
industrial zones and other uses, according to a Xinhua report.
The government has tightened screening of development zones of all types to
stop disorderly and unauthorized acquisition of farmland, and strived to ensure
appropriate compensation for expropriated or requisitioned land.
In many regions, when it comes to using land for non-agricultural purposes,
it is usually local governments, not farmers, that have the final say with
regard to price and compensation, Liu said.
Citing his hometown of Chongqing as an example, NPC deputy Liu said a farmer
on average gets only 21,000 yuan (US$2,530) for compensation and resettlement
fees.
"Calculated on urban consumption standards, that sum is just enough for a
little more than three years of living," he said. "Not well-educated and short
of skills, farmers often have a hard time when the money runs out."
Li Yongzhong, a legislator from Guangdong Province, agrees.
The current compensation standards, based on a guideline issued by the
Ministry of Land and Resources last November, promise to pay farmers with a fund
of at most 30 times as much as the average annual output of the arable land in
the previous three years, he said.
The figure is usually a fraction of the value of the land when its use right
is resold to third parties, according to Li.
But sometimes even this modest amount of compensation fails to reach farmers
quickly, according to the two legislators.
The authorities should lay out implementation rules regarding compensation
for farmland acquisition, to ensure farmers have the rights of collectively
bargaining for the amount of compensation for the land to be requisitioned, Liu
said.
Local governments should withdraw from the "land transaction" process and
become a kind of arbiter, he said.
Farmers, upon being adequately compensated, could be trained and use the
money to develop other businesses, he said.
Both Liu and Li proposed a "land for social security" mechanism be piloted to
make sure farmers who have lost farmland have access to basic medical services
and other social welfare - just as urban residents do.
Xu Guanju, a CPPCC member of the country's top political advisory body, said
instead of paying farmers a lump sum, the government of Zhejiang Province is
reserving resettlement fees - part of the compensation package - for an
endowment insurance for farmers.
The insurance, with subsidies from the local budget, will enable farmers who
have lost their land to claim pensions, he said.
Chinese lawmakers have consistently spoken up for farmers that no longer have
land, saying they need to be supported.
At last year's NPC session, 119 legislators called on the authorities to
properly address farmers' complaints.
Part of the outcome is a nationwide drive to clear the arrears in
compensation. By last November, 16 billion yuan (US$1.9 billion), or 91.04 per
cent of the total arrears, had been paid to farmers, the Standing Committee of
the NPC said in February.
(China Daily 03/14/2005 page2)
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