Cutting Corners Ashok Mitra The acquisition of land by state agencies to meet specifications set by private sponsors of industrial projects has emerged as one of the gravest of national concerns. Industry without land to build it upon is inconceivable. Even so, in an overpopulated country where, despite six decades of independence, three-fifths or more of the nation continue to be dependent on agriculture for their livelihood, land acquisition is no easy matter; and this irrespective of the nature of compensation offered. There is a crowding of uncertainty in peasant minds. The process of capitalist development, very often labour-displacing, does not assure those dispossessed from land that a fair number from amongst them would find employment in the factories coming up on the holdings they once tilled. It is a sensitive issue, needing delicate handling. Such delicacy is additionally called for when it is a Left regime long championing the cause of the deprived, land-hungry peasantry