Sanand
Sanand Taluka
This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
Central tdluka of Ahmadabad District, Bombay, lying between 22 47' and 23 7' N. and 72 5' and 72 32' E., with an area of 361 square miles. It contains one town, SANAND (population, 6,783), its head-quarters ; and 83 villages. The population in 1901 was 63,053, compared with 81,363 in 1891. The density, 175 persons per square mile, is less than the District average. Land revenue and cesses in 1903-4 exceeded 2 lakhs. Except for an undulating strip of land on the west, Sanand forms the centre of a rich plain of light soil with well-wooded fields ; in the south and west is a bare stretch of black soil.
2015: Land acquisition windfalls for farmers
The Times of India, Dec 08 2015
Bharat Yagnik & Kalpesh Damor In Sanand, the factory hand could be a crorepati
Factories in motown Sanand are faced with an unusual HR problem -handling crorepati employees. There has been a windfall of Rs 2,000 crore for land owners in and around Sanand, where the Gujarat government acquired more than 4,000 hectares over the past seven years. Many locals, who turned crorepatis overnight, work as machine operators, floor supervisors, security personnel and even peons in several units here. As many as 150 workers, out of the 300 employed at Raviraj Foils Ltd in Sanand, have deposits of more than Rs 1 crore in their banks even as they draw salaries ranging from Rs 9,000 to Rs 20,000 per month.
“Retaining labour is a major challenge for us. We have to be very cautious in dealing with workers as these jobs are no longer their primary source of income. Only carrot policy works, stick has to be spared,“ says Jaydeepsinh Vaghela, chairman and MD of Raviraj Foils. Sanand has seen rapid industrialisation after relocation of Tata Motors' Nano plant from Singur in West Bengal in 2008.Around 200 big and small companies have set up units in the estate run by Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation, which acquired land in villages like Bol, Hirapur and Khoraj. Those who got hefty compensation parked their money in land, gold and bank deposits.
Before Nano drove into Sanand, only two banks operated nine branches with deposits worth Rs 104 crore.Bankers say over the past few years, 25 banks have established 56 branches here, handling deposits worth Rs 3,000 crore.
“There are many units that employ crorepati workers. At one point of time, they were hit with high attrition as workers quit jobs after receiving crores of rupees for their land. Thankfully , many have got back to work,“ says Shailesh Thakkar, secretary of Sanand Industries Association.
Parixit Patel, MD of Nami Steel, employs around a dozen crorepatis. “We have high networth individuals in our security and machine operations.Most of them work to keep themselves constructively occupied rather than earn money,“ says Patel, who sold his other firm, Parixit Industries Ltd, to a Dutch company in 2013.“There were about 50 such crorepati workers in that company when we exited,“ he says.
Loaded with cash, most beneficiaries went on a buy ing spree, picking up expensive cars and gadgets, only to realise that an idle mind is the devil's workshop.
“After I received money , I quit my job to watch Cricket World Cup 2011. India won the Cup and the tournament was over. I was left with a lot of money and no work. A man without work is nothing less than a live bomb,“ says Jagatsinh Vaghela, 38, who resumed his job as a pump manager in the same firm from where he had resigned. Vaghela earns a salary of Rs 18,000 per month.
Narendrasinh Barad, a store officer with Rs 11,000 monthly salary , had received Rs 4 crore for his land. “Two of my relatives quit their jobs after they got money . I decided to continue working as it keeps me busy ,“ says Barad, 29.
Similarly , Dharmendrasinh Vaghela gets more than Rs 60,000 interest income from Rs 2 crore fixed deposit his family has. However, the 31-year-old continues to work as a grinding machine operator for Rs 15,000 per month.
