Land acquisition law likely in coming session

It was proposed as a panacea for all land acquisition disputes and agitations accompanying industrial development in India.

The amended Land Acquisition Act, 1894, pending before a parliamentary committee, will in all likelihood see the light of day whenever the monsoon session of Parliament is called.

At a meeting of the standing committee on rural development today, it was decided that the last hurdle, the report on the Bill, would be finalised by September 3-5.

The committee, according to its member, CPI(M) MP Hannan Mollah, may decide to make the provisions for compensation to the displaced more liberal.

For example, the definition of affected persons eligible for compensation will extend to all those who derive sustenance from the land, directly or indirectly. Ownership will not be the only criteria.

Also, the time ceiling for eligibility may be liberalised from the current five years to three years’ association with the land in question.

Sources said the bar for project size for mandatory social impact analysis might also be lowered. At present, the proposed lower limit in the plains is 400 affected people while it is up to 200 people in hills and tribal areas.

 

THE NEW LAW’S HIGHLIGHTS...

The Land Acquisition Act, 1894, is being amended to more strictly define the term “public interest” to exclude any land acquisition for private parties.

In instances where land has to be acquired by the government for contiguity purposes, the private parties will have to acquire 70 per cent of the land themselves.

Land rights will be extended to tenant farmers, artisans and those indirectly drawing sustenance from the land in question.

Compensation could take the shape of jobs and shares in the company setting up the plant.

Part of the land acquired has to be handed over after development to the displaced to build homes.

Since December 2007, the committee has received over 300 representations proposing over 60-65 amendments to both the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, and the Resettlement and Rehabilitation Bill.

The Minister for Rural Development, Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, had written to both Speaker Somnath Chatterjee and committee chairman Kalyan Singh for fast-tracking the measures.

“If the report is tabled in the beginning of the session, I will table the Bills within two days and hopefully get it passed. If the Bills had been in place earlier, I am sure incidents like Singur and Nandigram would not have occurred,” said Singh.