The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2012 –
The Bill will replace the existing Land Acquisition Act, 1894.
State still holds crucial strings
The first steps towards drafting a new Bill that includes relief and
rehabilitation (R&R) began under the NDA government a decade
earlier. The government fell after readying the R&R policy. The
first UPA government introduced two proposed laws in the Lok Sabha in
2007. But these were redrafted after Jairam Ramesh took over as minister
for rural development. The present version — The Right to Fair
Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and
Resettlement Bill, 2012 — underlines the government's stated focus on
fair compensation rather than fast acquisition
When land can be acquired: For private projects, public-private partnerships (PPPs) and for government projects, provided it is for a public purpose
What is public purpose for land acquisition: Strategic
use by the armed forces, paramilitary, state police; for national
security; for infrastructure projects, including activities listed under
the department of economic affairs (infrastructure section), excluding
private hospitals, private education institutions and private hotels;
projects related to industrial corridors, mining, national investment
and manufacturing zone, sports, healthcare, tourism and space
programmes; housing projects for income groups specified by government,
projects planned for development of village sites, residential areas for
lower income groups in urban areas; projects involving agro-processing,
warehousing, cold storage, marketing infrastructure, dairy, fisheries
and meat processing cooperatives
Pre-condition for acquiring: For a private entity or a
PPP project, state has to conduct a social impact assessment (SIA) and
an environmental impact assessment (EIA), to identify the families who
would be affected if land was acquired. The private entity seeking land
must then get the consent of 80 per cent of the affected families before
it gets the government to acquire land for it. In the case of PPPs, the
entity has to secure consent of 70 per cent of affected families. The
third condition for getting possession of land acquired through state
intervention is payment of compensation and fulfilling of R&R
requirements
Compensation package: Up to four times the market value
in rural areas and twice the market value in urban areas; the Bill
provides compensation to those dependent on the land for livelihood;
where acquired land is sold to a third party for a higher price, 40 per
cent of the appreciated land value (or profit) will be shared with the
original owners. This would be exempt from tax and stamp duty
R&R package: The definition of affected family
includes farm labourers, tenants, sharecroppers and workers in the area
for three years prior to acquisition. The compensation would be Rs 5
lakh or a job, if available, to the affected family; subsistence
allowance of Rs 3,000 a month for one year; miscellaneous allowances of
up to Rs 1.25 lakh for each family
Dispute authority: A Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation and Resettlement Authority to be established
Retrospective clause: Applicable on cases where no land
acquisition award made. In cases where land was acquired five years ago
but no compensation has been paid or no possession happened, the
acquisition process to start again
Lease option: The Bill allows industry to take land on
lease, instead of buying. But the decision rests with the state rather
than the landowner
Why industry is upset: Make the land acquisition
process slower; compensation would raise costs of projects fivefold;
retrospective application clause not favourable
Multicrop farmland: Irrigated farmland out of
acquisition ambit for non-farm uses. But state can decide to what extent
farmland should be protected. The farmer does not have any say in the
matter
Problematic clauses: No guarantee of jobs in R&R
package; compensation calculated according to circle rates much less
than market prices; no protection to farmland; state government to
decide if unused acquired-land should be returned to the farmer or added
to its land bank. This applies even if owners return the compensation
