Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 73
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Code Context


        trigger_error($message, E_USER_DEPRECATED);

    }
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 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php.'
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deprecationWarning - CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311
Cake\Http\ServerRequest::offsetGet() - CORE/src/Http/ServerRequest.php, line 2421
App\Controller\ArtileDetailController::printArticle() - APP/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line 73
Cake\Controller\Controller::invokeAction() - CORE/src/Controller/Controller.php, line 610
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 120
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 94
Cake\Http\BaseApplication::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/BaseApplication.php, line 235
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/RoutingMiddleware.php, line 162
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/AssetMiddleware.php, line 88
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php, line 96
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Http\Runner::run() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 51
Cake\Http\Server::run() - CORE/src/Http/Server.php, line 98

Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 74
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Code Context


        trigger_error($message, E_USER_DEPRECATED);

    }
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 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php.'
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deprecationWarning - CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311
Cake\Http\ServerRequest::offsetGet() - CORE/src/Http/ServerRequest.php, line 2421
App\Controller\ArtileDetailController::printArticle() - APP/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line 74
Cake\Controller\Controller::invokeAction() - CORE/src/Controller/Controller.php, line 610
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 120
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 94
Cake\Http\BaseApplication::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/BaseApplication.php, line 235
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/RoutingMiddleware.php, line 162
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/AssetMiddleware.php, line 88
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php, line 96
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Http\Runner::run() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 51
Cake\Http\Server::run() - CORE/src/Http/Server.php, line 98

Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Code Context
            if (Configure::read('debug')) {

                trigger_error($message, E_USER_WARNING);

            } else {
$response = object(Cake\Http\Response) {

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		&#039;id&#039; =&gt; (int) 3192,
		&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;Displacement&#039;,
		&#039;subheading&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;KEY TRENDS&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;bull; Section 105 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, which provides for excluding 13 Central legislation, including Land Acquisition (Mines) Act 1885, Atomic Energy Act, 1962, Railway Act 1989, National Highways Act 1956 and Metro Railways (Construction of Works) Act, 1978, from its purview, has been amended for payment of compensation with rigours $&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; The amendments have now relaxed the requirements of consent and Social Impact Assessment survey for projects in following areas: 1. Defence and defence production; 2. Rural infrastructure (including rural electrification); 3. Affordable housing; 4. Industrial corridors; 5. Social infrastructure projects including PPPs in which ownership rests with the government $&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;bull; The Standing Committee report on Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011 (submitted on 17 May, 2012) recommended that land may not be acquired for use by private companies and PPPs. The Committee recommended including &amp;ldquo;infrastructure projects&amp;rdquo; within the definition of public purpose. Since sale and purchase of land is a state subject, the threshold for R&amp;amp;R provisions shall be fixed by the states and not the central government. Restriction on land acquisition should also apply to any land under agricultural cultivation. No central act should be exempted from the provisions of the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011 and necessary amendments should be brought in those Acts to bring them at par with this Bill. The Committee recommended that if acquired land is left unutilized for 5 years, the land should be returned to the land owners &amp;alpha;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; India is the third largest dam builder country in the world. It now has over 3600 large dams and over 700 more under construction*&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; Displacement due to dams in India has been variously estimated. Fernandes, Das &amp;amp; Rao (1989) claimed that Indians displaced by dam projects numbered 21 million*&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; Available estimates of people displaced by large and medium dams in India show that the 140 dams for which such figures are available, have displaced over 4.4 million people*&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; Many researchers estimated that the number of people displaced due to big projects comes between 10 and 25 million. In an influential 1989 study, Fernandes, Das and Rao provide an estimate of some 21 million displaced persons. Scholar-administrator Dr. N. C. Saxena, places his estimate of persons displaced by big projects since 1947 at nearly double this figure &amp;mdash; 50 million**&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; India has adopted the policy of promoting the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) for faster industrial development. It needs about 50,000 hectares of agricultural land for SEZs and 1.49 lakh hectares for all projects which include also industrial, mining, irrigation and infrastructural projects***&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; The Land Acquisition Act, 1894 of India is the primary legislation that provides for acquisition of land***&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; Since independence at least 50 million people in India have been displaced by dams, mines, thermal power plants, corridor projects, field firing ranges, express highways, airports, national parks, sanctuaries, industrial townships, even poultry farms@&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Sources:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;$&amp;nbsp;Amendments to the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, Press Information Bureau, dated: 29 December 2014 (Please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Land_act_amendments.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Land Act amendments&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access)&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;alpha; &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Summary%20of%20the%20Standing%20Committee%20recommendations.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Summary of the Standing Committee recommendations&quot;&gt;Standing Committee Report Summary&lt;/a&gt;, PRS Legislative Research&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;* Large Dam Projects and Displacement in India,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;**&amp;nbsp; Planning Commission titled Dams, Displacement, Policy and Law in India,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/art_dam.pdf&quot;&gt;http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/art_dam.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;*** Environment of Land Diversion, Displacement and Rehabilitation: A Study of Indian SEZs,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;@ The destruction of &amp;#39;development&amp;#39; by Jaideep Hardikar, Infochange&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;amp;do_pdf=1&amp;amp;id=6161&quot;&gt;http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;amp;do_pdf=1&amp;amp;id=6161&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;**page**&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Second Ordinance 2015.pdf&quot; title=&quot;The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Second Ordinance 2015&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access [inside]The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Second Ordinance 2015[/inside], dated 30 May, 2015&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Second Amendment) Bill 2015.pdf&quot; title=&quot;The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Second Amendment) Bill 2015&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access [inside]The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Second Amendment) Bill 2015[/inside]&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/RFCTLARR%20Act%20(Amendment)%20Ordinance,%202014.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Amended Land Acquisition Act&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access [inside]The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Ordinance 2014[/inside], promulgated by the President on 31 December 2014&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Land_act_amendments.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Land Act amendments&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access the [inside]Amendments made in the&amp;nbsp; Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013[/inside]. Source: Press Information Bureau, dated: 29 December 2014&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;The salient features of [inside]The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013[/inside], which repeals the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 are as follows (Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/files/file/Act_Land_Acqusiition_2013.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp; to access):&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; Payment of compensation upto four times the market value in rural areas and two times the market value in urban areas.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; Rehabilitation and Resettlement is an integral part of the land acquisition. No family will be displaced before rehabilitation.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; A social impact assessment study to be done compulsorily in all cases of land acquisition irrespective of extent of area.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; The definition of &amp;lsquo;affected families&amp;rsquo; has been extended to include not only the land owners but also others dependent on land for their livelihoods like agricultural labourers, tenants.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; To ensure transparency and participation, the Act provides for consent of at least eighty and seventy percent of the land owners in the cases of land acquisition for Private and Public Private Partnership Projects respectively.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; In Scheduled Areas consent of the Gram Sabhas/ Panchayats / Autonomous District Councils is mandatory in all cases of land acquisition.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; To safeguard food security and to prevent arbitrary acquisition, the Act directs the States to impose limits on the multi cropped irrigated land that can be acquired.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; In case, land remains unutilized after acquisition, the new Act empowers States to return the land either to the owner or to the State Land Bank.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/LAAR%20Bill%20as%20passed%20by%20LS.pdf&quot; title=&quot;LARR Bill as passed by LS&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access [inside]The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2013[/inside] that was passed by the Lok Sabha on 29 August, 2013.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;In order to access the [inside]Draft National Land Reforms Policy (dated 18 July, 2013)[/inside], prepared by Ministry of Rural Development, please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Draft_National_Land_Reforms_Policy_July_2013.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Draft Land Reforms Policy 2013&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
The &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Standing%20Committee%20Report%20on%20LARR%20Bill%202011.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Standing Committee report on LARR 2011&quot;&gt;report by the Standing Committee&lt;/a&gt; on Rural Development pertaining to Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (LARR) Bill 2011 was tabled in the Lok Sabha on 17 May, 2012. As per the [inside]Standing Committee Report 2012[/inside], the salient features of the LARR Bill 2011 (now renamed as Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill) are as follows:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(1) New integrated legislation dealing with land acquisition and rehabilitation &amp;amp; resettlement while repealing the Land Acquisition Act, 1894.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(2) Exemption to 16 Central Acts specified in Fourth Schedule from the ambit of the Bill.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(3) Defining the term affected family, which includes both the land losers and livelihood losers.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(4) Provision of R &amp;amp; R benefits in case of specified private purchase of land equal to or more than 100 acres in rural areas and equal to or more than 50 acre in urban areas&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(5) Provides Social Impact Assessment (SIA) study in all cases where the Government intends to acquire land for a public purpose.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(6) Provides for formation of a Committee under the Chief Secretary for examining proposals of land acquisition where land sought to be acquired is equal to or more than 100 acres.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(7) Putting limitations on acquisition of multi-crop land for safeguarding the food security.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(8) Institutional mechanism for R&amp;amp;R in the form of institutions of Administrator for Rehabilitation and Resettlement, Commissioner for Rehabilitation and Resettlement, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Committee at project level, the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation &amp;amp; Resettlement Authority at State level and National Monitoring Committee at Central level.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(9) Provisions of consent of the 80 per-cent affected families for land acquisition for certain projects.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(10) Provision for enhanced compensation to the land owners and rehabilitation and resettlement entitlements.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(11) Provision of 25 per-cent on shares as part of compensation in cases where the Requiring Body offers its shares to the owners of land whose land has been acquired.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(12) Restricting the &amp;lsquo;urgency clause&amp;rsquo; for land acquisition for Defence of India or National Security or for any other emergency out of natural calamities.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(13) Specified timelines for payment of compensation and provision of rehabilitation and resettlement entitlements.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[inside]Recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on LARR 2011 Bill[/inside]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
It has been noted by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on LARR 2011 Bill that despite the Government having more than two years time for wider consultations with all stakeholders i.e. between the constitution of Fifteenth Lok Sabha 01.06.2009 and introduction of the LARR Bill, 2011 in September, 2011, it initiated the process of consultation only on 29 July, 2011 when the Draft Bill was put on Department of Land Resources (DOLR, http://dolr.nic.in/) &amp;quot;website&amp;quot; for consultations and the comments thereon were sought by 31 August 2011. The Cabinet approved the Draft Bill on 5 September, 2011 and the Bill was introduced in Lok Sabha on 7 September 2011, leaving little time at the disposal of the Government to seriously consider the suggestions received from various stakeholders.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Although the Government was late by over two years in bringing the LARR Bill again they gave little time to the stakeholders, including Central Ministries and State Governments concerned to submit their views and also to consider the same. Consultation by the Standing Committee with the State Governments, some of the Central Ministries concerned like Ministries of Urban Development, Panchayati Raj, Tribal Affairs etc. revealed that that their views are at variance with the DoLR in respect of contents of the Bill. This compelled the Standing Committee to invite suggestions from the general public, industry, farmers, NGO&amp;#39;s, experts, Central Ministries, State Governments etc.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The following key issues having relevance to the provisions of the LARR Bill 2011 came up during discussions held with various stakeholders:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
A. Doctrine of Eminent Domain and Acquisition as &amp;#39;Public Purpose&amp;#39; for private corporations, Public Private Partnerships (PPPs).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
B. Powers of the Central Government vis-&amp;agrave;-vis State Governments in legislation for sale/purchase of land and R &amp;amp; R provisions&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
C. Role of Institutions of self government-established by Parts IX &amp;amp; IX A of the Constitution in land acquisition and R&amp;amp;R&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
D. Applicability of LARR Bill, 2011 in Scheduled Areas (Schedules V and VI of the Constitution)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
E. Special provisions to safeguard Food Security (Clause 10)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
F. Exemption of 16 Central Acts from purview of the Bill (Clause 98 &amp;amp; Fourth Schedule)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Standing Committee report on LARR 2011 has provided the detailed discussion on these above-mentioned issues. The suggestions given by the Committee regarding these issues are being provided here.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;A. Doctrine of Eminent Domain and Acquisition as &amp;ldquo;Public Purpose&amp;rdquo; for Private Corporations, Public-Private Partnerships&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Amendment done to section 4 of the original Land Acquisition Act 1894 in 1984 by inserting the words &amp;ldquo;or for a Company&amp;rdquo; after &amp;ldquo;any public purpose&amp;rdquo; extinguished any differentiation between acquisition for a State purpose and &amp;ldquo;acquisition for a private enterprise&amp;rdquo; or &amp;ldquo;State enterprise&amp;rdquo;. What the Courts could interpret from this amendment is that any notification of acquisition issued under section 4 need not specify whether the acquisition is for a &amp;ldquo;public purpose&amp;rdquo; or for &amp;ldquo;a Company&amp;rdquo;. This move led to massive acquisition of land by the State for Companies.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Standing Committee report has alleged that the LARR Bill, 2011 &amp;ldquo;seeks to permit, and even facilitate, the acquisition of land by the Government for private companies&amp;rdquo;. By agreeing with the Government of India appointed Expert Group Report (under the Chairmanship of D. Bandyopadhyay) on Development Challenges in Extremist Affected Areas, the Committee report has mentioned that displacement of people happened due to large scale acquisitions. The Standing Committee has suggested that &amp;ldquo;instead of reverting to the classical concept of Eminent Domain or diluting it, the present 2011 Bill extinguishes the distinction in the original 1894 Act between acquisition by the State for a State purpose from purchase of land by a Company for a private purpose by including &amp;ldquo;Public Private Partnership projects&amp;rdquo; and &amp;ldquo;private companies&amp;rdquo; in the definition given in clause 2(1)(b) and (c), as well as 3(za)(vi)(B) and 3(za)(vii) respectively, subject only to their producing &amp;ldquo;public goods or the provision of public services&amp;rdquo; and &amp;ldquo;the provision of land in the public interest&amp;rdquo;, it being entirely left to the executive to determine what is the &amp;ldquo;public interest&amp;rdquo; or &amp;ldquo;public goods&amp;rdquo; or &amp;ldquo;public services&amp;rdquo;.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Standing Committee has recommended that land acquisition should not be for use by PPPs and private companies. Public purpose should be limited to state sponsored projects as defined in Clause 3(za)(i) to (vi)(A). The Committee has asked for deleting the provisions relating to acquisition of land for private companies and PPPs [(Clause 3(za)(vi)(B) and (vii)]. The Committee has recommended that Clause 3 (o) (v) which gives wide discretion to the government to define infrastructure projects should be deleted. The Committee has suggested that infrastructure projects should be included in the definition of public purpose.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Committee has rejected those sub-clauses of Clauses 2 and 3 that place wide discretion in the hands of the executive to define &amp;ldquo;public purpose&amp;rdquo; and &amp;ldquo;infrastructure projects&amp;rdquo; for for-profit enterprises. It, therefore, has asked for deletion of Clauses 2(1)(b) &amp;amp; (c), 2(2)(b), 3(o)(v), 3(za)vi)(B) and (vii). It has recommended that all cases of land acquisition must entail obligations for adequate compensation, rehabilitation and resettlement to all land losers and other affected persons.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
While questioning the role of Indian State in carrying out land acquisition for Companies in the name of &amp;ldquo;public purpose&amp;rdquo;, the Standing Committee has given the example of countries like USA, Japan, Canada, EU, Australia etc. where private purchase of land and not State acquisition, is the standard. In most developed countries, there is no provision in the laws for State acquisition of privately held land for profit-making private enterprises or for public-private enterprises, the Committee report argued.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;B. Powers of the Central Government vis-vis State Governments in legislation for sale/purchase of land and R&amp;amp;R provisions&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Clause 2 (2) (a) of the LARR Bill 2011 provides that R&amp;amp;R provisions are mandatory for all private purchases if the land purchased is over 100 acres in rural areas and 50 acres in urban areas. However, the Standing Committee has recommended that since sale and purchase of land is a State subject, State legislatures have the discretion and flexibility on whether there should be R&amp;amp;R and if so prescribe a threshold for R&amp;amp;R provisions. The Committee report said: &amp;quot;State legislatures, bearing in mind the provisions of this Act, may by law provide for R&amp;amp;R provisions on sale/purchase of land. Limits/ceiling for the purpose shall be fixed by respective States keeping in view the availability of the land and density of the population.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;C. Role of Institutions of self government established by Parts IX &amp;amp; IX A of the Constitution in land acquisition and R &amp;amp; R&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Criticizing the provision in the LARR Bill 2011, where the role of Gram Sabha is limited to consultation during the time of land acquisition, the Committee has suggested that the role of local institutions of self-government should be broadened so as to ensure centrality of these institutions in the planning and implementation of the Bill, with a view to making the entire process of land acquisition and R&amp;amp;R participative, transparent and pro-people in accordance with the letter and spirit of Articles 243G and 243W of Parts IX and IXA of the Constitution. Under Articles 243G and 243W of Parts IX and IXA of the Constitution, State legislation is required to specifically empower local institutions of self-government so as to undertake both planning and implementation of &amp;quot;economic development and social justice&amp;quot;. &amp;ldquo;Beyond merely &amp;quot;consulting&amp;quot; Gram Sabhas, consensus or, at least, consent by the majority of Gram Sabha members (or equivalent body in urban areas where these have been constituted) should be obtained in all matters pertaining to LARR&amp;rdquo;, emphasized the Committee report. The decision making process regarding issues such as land acquisition, review of R&amp;amp;R schemes, determination of compensation, and any dispute regarding the compensation awarded should be entrusted on local elected authories. The Committee has recommended that the Expert Group evaluating the Social Impact Assessment (SIA) report should also have one or more members nominated from the affected Gram Sabha.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;D. Applicability of LARR Bill, 2011 in Scheduled Areas&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Standing Committee report has found that the &amp;ldquo;provisions of the LARR Bill 2011 in respect of areas covered under Schedules V and VI of the Constitution have not been dealt with separately but through provisos to some of the clauses besides being mentioned in the Schedules of the Bill, particularly the Second Schedule&amp;rdquo;.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Committee has recommended that alienation of land or land acquisition in Scheduled Areas should be avoided as far as possible. In case of unavoidable land acquisition for public purpose projects, &amp;ldquo;special provision should be made for increased compensation and resettlement and rehabilitation provisions that enforce stricter conditions such as relocation in a similar ecological location, with communities being mandatorily relocated together so as to preserve the economic opportunities, language, culture and community life of the tribal communities&amp;rdquo;. Consent or approval by majority of Gram Sabhas and Autonomous District Councils (ADCs) should be made mandatory in case of land acquisition. Independent and neutral persons should be present in order to watch the proceedings of discussions within the Gram Sabhas/ ADCs so as to ensure that the process of &amp;lsquo;consent seeking&amp;rsquo; is transparent. It has been recommended that PESA provisions must be strictly observed and indicated in all related provisions in the LARR Bill, &amp;ldquo;particular care being taken to ensure that Panchayats at the appropriate level and the Gram Sabhas are specifically endowed with powers to prevent alienation of land and to take appropriate action to restore any unlawfully alienated land, as provided for in Section 4m (iii) of PESA&amp;rdquo;.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;E. Special Provisions to safeguard Food Security (Clause 10)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Provisions under the Clause 10 of the LARR Bill want to protect irrigated and multi-cropped land from land acquisition so as to ensure food security. Only under exceptional circumstances a maximum of five per cent of irrigated multi-cropped land may be acquired in a district with certain conditions such as: &amp;ldquo;whenever multi-crop irrigated land is acquired under sub-section (2), an equivalent area of culturable wasteland shall be developed for agricultural purposes&amp;rdquo;. However, the Standing Committee on LARR Bill 2011 is of the opinion that food security is not confined to producing rice and wheat in irrigated land. Cultivation of nutritional coarse grains, pulses and oilseeds in dryland or rain-fed areas cannot be neglected. Hence the Committee has recommended that &amp;ldquo;in Chapter III, all provisions regarding &amp;ldquo;irrigated multi-cropped land&amp;rdquo; be replaced by &amp;ldquo;any land under agriculture cultivation&amp;rdquo; so as to ensure safeguard for food security in a full measure&amp;rdquo;.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;F. Exemption of Central Acts from Provisions of the Bill [Clause 98 and Fourth Schedule]&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Clause 98 of the LARR Bill 2011 made sure that the proposed Act shall not apply to the land acquisition processed under various Acts in the Fourth Schedule, which are listed below:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
1. The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958.&lt;br /&gt;
2. The Atomic Energy Act, 1962.&lt;br /&gt;
3. The Cantonments Act, 2006.&lt;br /&gt;
4. The Damodar Valley Corporation Act, 1948.&lt;br /&gt;
5. The Indian Tramways Act, 1886.&lt;br /&gt;
6. The Land Acquisition (Mines) Act, 1885.&lt;br /&gt;
7. The Metro Railways (Construction of Works) Act, 1978.&lt;br /&gt;
8. The National Highways Act, 1956.&lt;br /&gt;
9. The Petroleum and Minerals Pipelines (Acquisition of Right of User in Land) Act, 1962.&lt;br /&gt;
10. The Requisitioning and Acquisition of Immovable Property Act, 1952.&lt;br /&gt;
11. The Resettlement of Displaced Persons (Land Acquisition) Act, 1948.&lt;br /&gt;
12. The Special Economic Zones Act, 2005.&lt;br /&gt;
13. The Coal Bearing Areas Acquisition and Development Act, 1957.&lt;br /&gt;
14. The Electricity Act, 2003.&lt;br /&gt;
15. The Railways Act, 1989.&lt;br /&gt;
16. The Works of Defence Act, 1903&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
It has been suggested by various organizations and State Governments during the consultation with the Standing Committee that &amp;ldquo;by keeping out the 16 Central Acts outside the purview of the Bill, under which Central Government acquires land for Central Projects, almost 95 percent of land acquisition would be outside the purview of the Bill&amp;rdquo;. Some of the State Governments complained that while Central Government sought to exempt all Central Acts from the purview of the Bill, they wanted to impose the same on the State Governments. Therefore the Standing Committee has recommended not exempting any of these Central Acts from the purview of LARR Bill. The Committee has suggested that necessary amendments should be brought in these Central Acts so as to bring them at par with the LARR Bill 2011.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Definition of &amp;quot;affected family&amp;quot;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Clause 3 (b) &amp;amp; (c) of the LARR Bill 2011 defined &amp;quot;affected family&amp;quot; to include (i) landowners; (ii) agricultural labourers, tenants who have been working in the affected area for three years prior to the acquisition; (iii) tribals and forest dwellers; (iv) families whose livelihood for the previous three years is dependent on the forests or water bodies; and (v) families who have been given land by the state or central government. The Standing Committee has recommended that within the definition of affected family:&lt;br /&gt;
* &amp;ldquo;Tribals&amp;rdquo; should be substituted by &amp;ldquo;Scheduled tribes&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
* &amp;ldquo;Traditional rights&amp;rdquo; should be substituted by &amp;ldquo;forest rights&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
* &amp;ldquo;Affected people&amp;rdquo; should be substituted with &amp;ldquo;affected family&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
* &amp;ldquo;Three years&amp;rdquo; in the definition should become &amp;ldquo;three years or more&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Clause 3 (m) of the LARR Bill 2011 defined family includes a person, his or her spouse, minor children, minor brothers and sisters dependent on him. The Standing Committee has recommended that widows and divorcees and abandoned women should be considered a separate family.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;R&amp;amp;R entitlements&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
R&amp;amp;R entitlements provided to displaced families under the LARR Bill 2011 include among other things: (i) land for a house as per the Indira Awas Yojana in rural areas or a constructed house of at least 50 square metres plinth area in urban areas; (ii) a one-time allowance of Rs 50,000 for affected families; and (iii) the option of choosing either mandatory employment in projects where jobs are being created or a one-time payment of Rs 5 lakh or an inflation adjusted annuity of Rs 2,000 per month per family for 20 years. The Standing Committee has recommended that the monetary components in the R&amp;amp;R entitlements given in Schedule II in the Bill should be indexed to inflation.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Under the LARR Bill 2011, every resettled area is to be provided with certain infrastructural facilities which include roads, drainage, provision for drinking water, grazing land, banks, post offices, public distribution outlets, etc. However, the Standing Committee has recommended that the infrastructure facilities should be decided on a case by case basis.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Unutilized land &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Clause 95 on unutlized land of the LARR Bill said that if an acquired land is left unutilised for a period of 10 years from the date it was acquired, it shall be returned to the Land Bank or the appropriate government. The Standing Committee has recommended that this period should be reduced to five years and if left unutilised, the land should be returned to the land owners. The Committee has also asked for clearly defining the term Land Bank in the LARR Bill 2011.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Urgency provisions&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The LARR Bill 2011 said that if land is acquired in urgency, an additional 75 percent compensation shall be provided. The Committee asked that in cases of urgency it should be clarified that the extra compensation would be 75 per cent of the total compensation package/ solatium calculated. Under the LARR Bill 2011, if a land is proposed to be acquired under the urgency provisions, a Social Impact Assessment (SIA) may not be conducted. The Committee has recommended that a notice should be issued if SIA is not conducted in an acquisition under the urgency provisions.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Compensation package&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Under the LARR Bill 2011, compensation for the land acquired shall be based on the higher of (a) the minimum land value, specified in the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 for the registration of sale deeds; and (b) the average sale price of the higher priced 50% of all sale deeds registered in the previous 3 years for similar type of land situated in the vicinity. In rural areas, this amount would be doubled. The value of the assets (trees, plants, buildings etc) attached to the land being acquired will be added to this amount. This total amount will then be multiplied by two to get the final compensation amount. In cases of the urgency Clause, additional 75 per cent compensation would be offered.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Standing Committee has recommended that the term &amp;ldquo;market value&amp;rdquo; should replace &amp;ldquo;minimum value&amp;rdquo;. In addition, a multi-member land pricing commission or authority should be constituted by appropriate government to finalize the cost of land acquisition state wise/area wise. Award given for the land acquired should be treated only as compensation and not as a base for circle rate for subsequent acquisitions so as to allay the fears of corporate sector regarding a speculative price spiral. Also, 12 per cent interest per annum should be paid in addition to the compensation from the date of the notification till the date of the award.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;**page**&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;
&lt;div&gt;According to the National Advisory Council 2, &lt;a href=&quot;http://nac.nic.in/press_releases/25_may_2011.pdf&quot;&gt;http://nac.nic.in/press_releases/25_may_2011.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[inside]Suggestions for Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill 2009 &amp;amp; Resettlement and Rehabilitation Bill, 2009[/inside], &lt;a href=&quot;http://nac.nic.in/pdf/working_group_proposal_for_larr.pdf&quot;&gt;http://nac.nic.in/pdf/working_group_proposal_for_larr.pdf&lt;/a&gt;: &amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The NAC has recommended that it is upto the states to decide the extent of percentage of the total land to be acquired by them. In principle, the NAC disagrees with the 70:30 formula.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Acquired land non-performing for five years should be returned to original owners is another recommendation of NAC, which has been also well received.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Giving freedom to the industry to acquire land directly could result in large scale cheating and deception in tribal and poor areas of India.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The NAC has recently asked for consolidating the Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill 2009 and Resettlement and Rehabilitation Bill, 2009 under the title Land Acquisition, Resettlement and Rehabilitation Act, 2011. The NAC wants a combined Bill instead of two separate bills since both the Bills are intrinsically inter-related, and having two separate Bills may lead to possibility of amending one without amending the other, and selective application of provisions of each Act, thereby defeating the purpose of providing justice and relief to those displaced.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Passing of separate bills will set in motion fragmented processes, causing confusion, delays, and therefore avoidable distress and suffering for the people. According to the NAC, a separate R&amp;amp;R Bill won&amp;#39;t be required to address displacement due to natural disasters and communal and caste violence since there are separate laws being enacted for Natural Disasters and Communal Violence.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The NAC thinks that the proposed Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill, 2009 does not explicitly mention the poor, and incorporates infrastructure and strategic interests. It has a provision for state acquisition of land for private for-profit companies. Section 5 of the Land Acquisition (Amendment Act) Bill, 2009 is silent on the nature of public interest proposed and the financial, social and environmental costs and benefits associated with a project.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Compensation&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;div&gt;&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Project Affected Families (PAFs) can make a choice in the way compensation is offered- i.) as a lump-sum amount; ii.) 30% as a lumpsum amount, and the rest as an annuity at the rate of 12% interest escalating every year for 33 years; or iii.) The total value as an annuity at the rate of 12% interest escalating every year, for 33 years. The latter two would be adjusted for inflation by escalating every year by 10%.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Share-croppers, landless labourers, artisans et al should receive ten days&amp;rsquo; minimum wage per month for thirty three years when land is acquired by the State for &amp;lsquo;public purposes&amp;rsquo;.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; For such persons, there would be additional provisions for homestead land, training and employment rehabilitation in the rehabilitation and resettlement package.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The NAC has emphasized that lawfully recorded tenants and sharecroppers should be compensated (and paid solatium) for the parcels of land that they are losing, on an 80%:20% basis with the landowner being given 20%, which should not be less than four times their current income.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; A minimum of 5% shares should be distributed (equitably) free of cost to PAFs (increased by 5% for every additional 100 acres acquired). If the Government is allowed to acquire land, then land owners and non-land owners who depended on that land should enjoy four times their present monthly income after acquisition.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The NAC has proposed that compensation for those who lose land will be six times the registered sale deed value including solatium.&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Rehabilitation and Resettlement&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;div&gt;&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The NAC has demanded transparency, public consulting, and prior informed consent during the process of land acquisition. The legal rights of Project Affected Families (PAFs) to challenge the entitlement cannot be withdrawn as it has been done under R&amp;amp;R Bill, 2009. Section 11 of the R&amp;amp;R Bill, 2009 needs to be amended so that all compensation must be paid and R&amp;amp;R for all affected persons must be completed in all aspects at least 6 months before taking possession.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Section 3(b) (ii) of the R&amp;amp;R Bill, 2009 does not mention the extent to which affected families have been deprived of their primary source of livelihood.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; All individual entitlements, such as land for land (where applicable), housing, employment and training opportunities, should be compulsorily offered to all PAFs irrespective of size of acquisition as per the NAC. Compulsory provisions for land for land are non-negotiable in case of all tribal and dalit families (to discourage acquisition of tribal and dalit land) and all irrigation projects. There should be an authority like the Auditor General of Displacement and Rehabilitation (AG-DR) to find out after 5 or 10 years of displacement as to what is the present condition of those displaced.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Instead of the Government notifying what amenities are to be provided in resettlement sites as per the Section 30 of the R&amp;amp;R 2009 Bill, basic amenities like roads, safe drinking water, hygiene, educational facilities, community hall, and basic irrigation facilities should be present at resettlement sites. Every PAF family (and not just the BPL homeless families) should be given a built house and homestead land title.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Consent of 70 percent of the affected families in a gram sabha before acquisition is compulsory. A National Commission for Land Acquisition, Resettlement and Rehabilitation (NCLRR) should be established to assess extent of displacement based on the Social Impact Assessment (SIA) and and urgency clause for land acquisition should be used for purposes such as defence, national security and safety of lives as per recommendations of the NAC. The SIA would assess the social and environmental impacts from the project, and the R&amp;amp;R plan drawn up.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;According to the [inside]Standing Committee Report on the Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill 2007[/inside]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;http://prsindia.org/uploads/media/Land%20Acquisition/scr1226484896_SC_Report_Land_Acquisition_Bill__2008.pdf&quot;&gt;http://prsindia.org/uploads/media/Land%20Acquisition/scr1226484896_SC_Report_Land_Acquisition_Bill__2008.pdf&lt;/a&gt;: &amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Optimum size of land required for a project needs to be determined so that excessive acquisition of land doesn&amp;#39;t take place.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; There should be some legislation like Forest Conservation Act 1980 so that agricultural land can be protected like forest land.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; There is an urgent need to develop wasteland where agricultural land is acquired.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Since displacement leads to traumatic psychological and socio-cultural consequences, multiple displacements of affected families need to be avoided.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; States should declare the area where the tribals are rehabilitated as Scheduled Area. Land rights of tribals and forest dwellers should be recognized as per the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 so that they are compensated and rehabilitated during the process of land acquisition.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The details of the property to be acquired viz. khasra numbers in rural areas and quarter number in urban areas should be identified and widely publicized through prominent local English, Hindi and regional language newspapers. There is a need to avoid complications arising due to inadequacy of communicating the intent of acquisition through notification especially in hilly, tribal and remote areas. In order to circulate notification on rehabilitation and resettlement, the Government should rely on newspapers in local vernacular.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Affected persons should be provided 60 days from the date of publication of the notification to object to the acquisition of land.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Social Impact Assessment study should be done for all projects that displace physically more than 400 families in plain and 200 families in hilly, tribal and scheduled areas (same as NAC recommendation).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Highest price of sale deed as indicated in the sale deeds of the last three years plus 50 per cent of the said highest price should be the criteria for assessing and determining the market value of the land. For tribal areas, the highest price of a sale deed of the adjoining non-tribal blocks/ village for the last three years plus 50 per cent should be the criteria for assessing and determining the market value of land.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Non agricultural land having valuable mineral resources underneath should be properly evaluated for granting compensation.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; A share of the economic benefits earned due to setting up a project in a land, which is acquired should go to the affected families.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Issue of shares and debentures as part of the compensation is impractical and as such issue of shares and debentures should be over and above the admissible compensation. The rate of solatium should be increased from thirty per centum on market value to sixty per centum on market value.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Land Acquisition Compensation Disputes Settlement Authorities (a kind of Ombudsman) at the Centre and State level should be created for the disposal of disputes, which remain pending in the courts of law.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Record of large tracts of unutilized land available with various Ministries needs to be kept before further land acquisition.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
**page**&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;According to [inside]A CITIZENS REPORT CARD ON SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONES[/inside] prepared by civil society organization, South Asia Citizens&amp;#39; web:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sacw.net/IMG/pdf/CITIZENSREPORTONSEZs.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.sacw.net/IMG/pdf/CITIZENSREPORTONSEZs.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;THE NUMBERS&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Total amount of land to be acquired across India: 150,000 hectares (the area of National Capital Region). This land - predominantly agricultural and typically multicropped - is capable of producing close to 1 million tons of foodgrains. If SEZs are seen to be successful in the future and more cultivated land is acquired, they will endanger the food security of the country.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The latest available statistics on Special Economic Zones show that the Board of Approvals at the Ministry of Commerce, the central body authorised to clear SEZ proposals, has approved 578 SEZs of which 315 have been notified.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * An analysis of figures up to 8th December 2008 displays a continuation of the pattern which has been evident since SEZ Act in 2005.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * As of December 2008 the Central government gave formal approvals to a staggering 552 SEZs in 19 states; 272 of these have been notified. (As of April 2009 the total number of Formal approvals was 578 and notified SEZs were 330)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * With the significant economic slow-down towards the end of 2008 for the first time we started to see companies applying to de-register/denotify SEZs and it remains to be seen what the net effect will be.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The overwhelming part of SEZs continues to be in information technology and related industries. 181 notified SEZs exist for IT companies representing 66% of the total number of SEZs. Additionally there are 341 formally approved and 11 in-principle approvals.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * With all the different SEZs taken together at various stages of approval the IT sector still accounts for more than half at 55% of the total. The second largest sector will be multi-product with 9% of the all zones.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Andhra Pradesh tops the list of notified SEZs with 57, followed by Tamil Nadu on 44 and Maharashtra on 43.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Maharashtra has the most SEZs waiting to be notified however with 104 formally approved and 34 in principle, compared to AP&amp;#39;s 99 and 2 respectively and Tamil Nadu&amp;#39;s 66 and 18.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * These three states thus account for almost half of all the SEZs in the country. The share is especially significant among the already notified SEZs with 144 out of the total 274.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Even more imbalanced is the spread of SEZs when one considers the locations within each state. 48 out of the 99 formally approved SEZs in Andhra Pradesh are in or close to Hyderabad, while 34 of 66 formally approved are similarly in or close to Chennai.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The main number of SEZs can thus easily be characterised as being in the IT-sector and in one of primarily Western or Southern cities.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * This said, almost every state has tried to get a couple of SEZs to be established within their territories includingtiny Dadra &amp;amp; Haveli&amp;#39;s 4, and Pondicherry&amp;#39;s 1 formally approved zones.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * 53 multiproduct SEZs are at the in principle approval stage meaning they might soon become formally notified. These are the zones which require really large areas of land and have been contentious on the issue of displacement.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Recently the rule preventing larger SEZs than 5,000 hectares was lifted which lead the Adani group to apply for and get granted a merger between the 3 zones of (4498 + 2658 + 2648 hectares) it had created next to each other at Mundra in Gujarat to avoid the land ceiling&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Among the actually operating SEZs the biggest ones apart from the Mundra zone(s) in Gujarat is APIIC 2,206 ha SEZ in Visakhapatnam and the Kakinada SEZ 1,035 ha both in Andhra Pradesh and the Navi Mumbai SEZ 1,223 ha in Maharashtra&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * With the many really large multi-product SEZs in the In Principle category these cover an area of 1.22 lakh hectares, or 869 hectares per SEZ on average.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;ISSUES OF CONCERN&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 1. Large scale requirement of land and Forced Acquisition of Land - India is almost unique in its concept of creating SEZs on demand: i.e. the location, size and nature of the zone is explicitly determined not by state economic policy but by the demands of private capital.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 2. Despite issuing of guidelines by the Ministry of Commerce and the EGoM, that no forced acquisition of land will take place for private SEZs on 15th June 2007, nearly all states are using the Land Acquisition Act 1894 to acquire the land for developers of SEZs and that too in the absence of any provision for rehabilitation&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 3. In some states like Tamil Nadu and AP the governments are even using the urgency clause - 17/4 of the LAA to acquire land compulsorily.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 4. It is argued that much of the land being diverted for SEZs is already available with the State Industrial development Corporations (IDCs). While this is a fact, it needs to be specified that in many cases lands which had previously been acquired by IDCs and are now being transferred to SEZ developers also used the Land Acquisition Act.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 5. These sales are obviously at much higher rates than their original acquisition price from the farmers.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 6. The issue of compensation at market value, even to land owners is meaningless as the scales are heavily weighed in favor of private buyers and Government owned Industrial corporations, who are the informed negotiators in deciding the package&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Landless and Agricultural labourers displaced without compensation-&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 1. Almost 80% of the agricultural population in India owns only about 17% of the total agriculture land, making them near-landless workers. Far more families and communities depend on a piece of land (for work, grazing) than those who own it outright. However, compensation is being discussed only for those who hold titles to land. No compensation has been planned for those who do not.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 2. In states like Gujarat a large part of the land being diverted to SEZs is in the category of common or gowcher land (referred to wrongly as&amp;#39;wasteland&amp;#39;).Since these lands are &amp;#39;common lands&amp;#39; with no individual titles, they are transferred without even consulting the local communities and panchayats.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 3. Temple or Panchami land in Tamil Nadu and Waqf board lands in Andhra Pradesh are other examples of Public lands that have been expropriated and privatised for SEZs.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 4. The most outrageous acquisitions are taking place in Andhra Pradesh which has the highest number of SEZ approvals, in the form of acquiring assigned lands (allotted to Dalits and Scheduled Tribes) for SEZs. . This has been seen clearly in places like Polepally, Kakinada, Chittoor and Anantapur where SEZs are proposed.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Destruction of Agro-based and rural economies-&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 1. The bulk of land being acquired for SEZs is fertile, agricultural land, especially in case of the multi-product zones. Agriculture Scientists have estimated that close to 1.14 lakh farming households (each household on an average comprising five members) and an additional 82,000 farm worker families who are dependent upon these farms for their livelihoods, will be displaced.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 2. The total loss of income to the farming and the farm worker families, then, is an astounding Rs.212-crore a year. These were the estimates in 2006 after the initial SEZ approvals which are now multiplied three-fold.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Creation of exploitative employment opportunities and working conditions resulting from nullification of labour protection laws -&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The SEZ policy of the government transfers all the powers of the state Labor Commissioner to the Development Commissioners of the SEZs.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The power in the hands of the development Commissioner to declare SEZs as &amp;quot;public utility services&amp;quot; under the Industrial Disputes Act would mean that in SEZ areas workers will have no rights to strike or even to form unions and organize collectively to bargain for better wages or working conditions.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;ECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The Ministry of Finance conducted a study, and came up with the figures that the cumulative revenue loss from tax holidays to SEZs over the period 2004-05 to 2009-10 is estimated to be 1,75,487 Cr.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The Ministry of Finance conducted a study, and came up with the figures that the cumulative revenue loss from tax holidays to SEZs over the period 2004-05 to 2009-10 is estimated to be 1,75,487 Cr.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * In its performance audit-report on indirect taxes for Union Government tabled in parliament on 11 March 2008, the CAG brought 370 SEZ units under scanner with a limited objective to verify if they had complied with existing Customs Act, Rules, notifications etc. The review brought out systemic as well as compliance weaknesses that caused lost revenues to the tune of Rs.246.72 crores.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Stated objectives remain unfulfilled?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce has admitted that 40% of the SEZs approved may never really &amp;quot;take off the ground&amp;quot; (Panos-Kalpavriksh media dialogue on SEZs -December 2008). Additionally the figures of 3.5 lakhs employment and 90,000 crores investment generated by SEZs are being questioned on their authenticity and efficacy since these have to be established through a detailed and independent evaluation.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Further the conditions of contract labour in SEZs are the most pathetic. Wages in existing SEZs are often below minimum. Sen and Dasgupta in a May 2007 survey found that in the NOIDA SEZ workers were getting Rs.80 a day for 9 hours of work. Likewise in Falta in West Bengal.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Indian policy has very little regulation on the activity within a zone. Notwithstanding claims of export-orientation, the only requirement imposed on SEZ units is a vague need for them to have a &amp;lsquo;positive net foreign exchange balance.&amp;#39; Even that only applies to industrial units in the zone. If the goal of SEZs is indeed exports surely a more stringent clause than merely &amp;quot;positive net foreign exchange&amp;quot; for the SEZ as a whole ought to be applied.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * It needs to be mentioned further that a great recession in the world economy is not a good omen for promoting SEZs, which will produce for an increasingly shrinking and protected export market. Also, it&amp;#39;s not specified what happens to a developer whose SEZ does not meet the export requirement.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Just like it&amp;#39;s not specified what the procedure for denotification is. The recession - and the accompanying demand for denotification by developers like DLF (SEZs) is exposing this loophole. In such cases what happens to the land? Will it be returned to farmers? If so, how?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The SEZ Act (Section 9, 11, 12 and 31) takes power back to the center and bureaucracy (by creating &amp;#39;Board of Approvals&amp;#39; and &amp;#39;Development Commissioner&amp;#39; and &amp;lsquo;SEZ Authority&amp;#39;, whose accountability is not certain.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The fact that the SEZs would have their own regulations, the rights for environmental and labour related clearances, security arrangements, means that they would be &amp;#39;self contained privatized autonomous entities&amp;#39;, where existing constitutional rights would be difficult to exercise.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The creation of separate courts for SEZs ridicules the existing judicial system. There is no clarity about how elections will be conducted, and what happens to the governing authority of the Gram Sabha/ Municipality, under the 73rd/74th amendments.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * There is no transparency in the guidelines formulated for selection, modification and rejection of SEZ proposals by the BoA.The Chairman of the Administrative reforms committee, M Veerappa Moily&amp;#39;s report on SEZs states that &amp;#39;We need to restructure the Board of Approval by putting in people who are objective and can take a balanced view.&amp;#39;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The Commerce Ministry had made public announcements of various studies/ comparison of SEZ with other countries. Mr. Kirit Somaya filed an RTI regarding this, and in the answer that was given stated - &amp;quot;study of export of nearby countries of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka was done. No other studies or scientific analysis available.&amp;quot;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The SEZ Act was passed in haste without much public debate.In both houses of Indian Democracy has passed this bill was passed within a day (10th and 11th May 2005) with virtually no discussion, undermining many of the objections that were raised.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Further, information that has been demanded from the Ministry of Commerce on the approved projects under the RTI Act, 2005 has been denied on the clause of maintaining &amp;quot;trade secrets&amp;quot;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * There is great deal of ambiguity and contradictions when one compares how environment clearances are dealt with in the EIA notification and the SEZ legislations.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * While it is units with the SEZs which are exempt from Environment Clearance public hearings, the SEZs itself are required to under go public hearing. However, there are cases like the Mundra SEZ where the Ministry of Environment has recommended that Public Hearing be exempted for the creation of the Multi Product SEZ.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;The CAG report on the Goa Industrial Development Corporation, referred to the Government of India in June 2008, concluded (direct quotes):&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Corporation deviated from its established role, of acquiring and allotting land directly to the entrepreneur, by allotting land to developers for further allotments by them&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Allotments were made without any transparent selection procedures&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Allotments to SEZs were made without publicising, that too before the State Government formulated its SEZ policy&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Land acquired for small and medium scale industries under IGC (Industrial Growth Centre) Scheme was allotted to SEZ violating GOI guidelines&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Revision of premium rate of Verna Phase IV (industrial estate proposed to house SEZs) only after major chunk was allotted at lower rate, tentatively fixed, resulted in loss of Rs. 36.89 crore&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Allotment of land contiguous to the land allotted to four SEZs at lesser rate resulted in loss of Rs. 39.47 crore&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Allotment of 14.36 lakh square metre land to two SEZ developers without adopting approved formula resulted in loss of Rs 17.76 crore&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;(Source: The Comptroller and Auditor General of India, Goa State Report, Chapter VII Government Commercial and Trading Activities)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;POINTS RAISED BY PARLIAMENTARY STANDING COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 1. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce of the previous government under the Chairman ship of Murli Manohar Joshi submitted its 83rd report on the &amp;#39;Functioning of SEZs&amp;#39; to the parliament on 20th June 2007.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 2. The most critical recommendation made by the committee included the need to &amp;#39;pause and ponder&amp;#39;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 3. The report clearly expressed concern about the fast pace at which approvals have been granted by the BoA despite apprehensions raised from all quarters.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 4. Parliamentary Standing committee slammed the Ministry of Commerce on the ground that at the time of the release of the 83rd report there were 152 formal approvals and 82 notifications by the Board of Approvals and there was no effort to put a halt on the approvals despite the committee&amp;#39;s recommendation to hold approvals till amendments were put in place.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 5. By the time the ATR was presented in the Rajya Sabha the total number of approved SEZs had crossed 500. The MoC has merely stated that it was in the process of getting a &amp;#39;scientific evaluation&amp;#39; done on the performance and impacts of SEZs.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 6. Most importantly the report criticised the escalation of displacement as a result of the large SEZs leading to displacement and speculation in many situations.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 7. Some of the other recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee which were brushed aside by the Ministry of Commerce in the ATR include:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 8. Region wise cap on the SEZ approvals to allow for balanced regional development of SEZs.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 9. Imposition of restrictions on unnecessary social infrastructure Linking of fiscal incentives to exports&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp; 10. Tax concessions in SEZs are similar to STPs and EoUs - then why is there are a need for SEZs?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp; 11. Re-look at delegation of Labour Commissioner&amp;#39;s powers to the Development Commissioner&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp; 12. 83rd report of the parliamentary standing committee on commerce &amp;#39;on the functioning of Special Economic Zones&amp;#39;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;**page**&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Paper presented at the National Seminar on &amp;#39;Special Economic Zones: Engines of Growth and Social Development for India: Present Problems and Future Prospects&amp;#39; (16 - 17 October &amp;#39;08 at Hyderabad) organised by the Department of Sociology, Osmania University.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sacw.net/article574.html&quot;&gt;http://www.sacw.net/article574.html&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;SEZ Act-2005&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cnisbss.org/Newsline/PDF/SEZ/SEZ%20Act,%202005.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.cnisbss.org/Newsline/PDF/SEZ/SEZ%20Act,%202005.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Fact Sheet on Special Economic Zones by GOI- MINISTRY OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://sezindia.nic.in/writereaddata/updates/FACT%20sheet.pdf&quot;&gt;http://sezindia.nic.in/writereaddata/updates/FACT%20sheet.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;List of operational SEZs&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://sezindia.nic.in/writereaddata/pdf/ListofoperationalSEZs.pdf&quot;&gt;http://sezindia.nic.in/writereaddata/pdf/ListofoperationalSEZs.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;List of Formal Approvals granted under the SEZ Act,2005 &lt;a href=&quot;http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp&quot;&gt;http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;In principle approvals granted under the SEZ Act, 2005- &lt;a href=&quot;http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp&quot;&gt;http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Statewise distribution of SEZs approved under the SEZ, Act, 2005- &lt;a href=&quot;http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp&quot;&gt;http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Sectorwise distribution of SEZs approved under the SEZ Act, 2005- &lt;a href=&quot;http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp&quot;&gt;http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;[inside]A critique of the National Policy for Rehabilitation and Resettlement (2007)[/inside] by Priyanca Mathur Velath,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;amp;do_pdf=1&amp;amp;id=7235&quot;&gt;http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;amp;do_pdf=1&amp;amp;id=7235&lt;/a&gt; show&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; *&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt; On October 11, 2007, the Union Government announced the National Policy for Rehabilitation and Resettlement 2007 (NPRR 2007), replacing the National Policy on Resettlement and Rehabilitation for Project-Affected Families, 2003.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The new policy fails to examine the process of displacement, which is taken for granted. The draft makes no attempt to question the need for displacement in the first place, or to seek out and actively promote non-displacing or least-displacing alternatives.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The timing and true intention of the new policy along with govt.&amp;#39;s declaration to amend the outdated Land Acquisition Act of 1894 are suspect.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Attempt to redefine the &amp;lsquo;public purpose&amp;#39; under the amendment to the land acquisition act actually favours private interest and big companies over the poor and marginalised.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Under the 2007 policy it has become simpler to required land for big companies as well as strategic and public infrastructure projects.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * &amp;#39;Public purpose&amp;#39; has been redefined to allow the state government to acquire land for a private company, association or body of individuals, provided it is &amp;#39;useful for general public&amp;#39;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * &amp;#39;Land for land&amp;#39; principle in the 2007 policy suffers from ambiguity, as land is being offered as compensation but &amp;#39;to the extent that government land is available in resettlement areas&amp;#39;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The policy outlines a number of benefits such as scholarships for the education of eligible people from affected families; preference for groups of cooperatives of affected persons in the allotment of contracts and other economic opportunities in and around the project site; housing benefits to landless affected families in both rural and urban areas; and wage employment to willing affected persons in construction work on the project. But the &amp;lsquo;employment guarantee&amp;#39; to one person from each nuclear family is &amp;lsquo;subject to the availability&amp;#39; of vacancies and &amp;lsquo;suitability of the affected person&amp;#39;. Such qualifying clauses as &amp;quot;if available&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;as far as possible&amp;quot; are widely used by project authorities and policymakers to shirk responsibility.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Conducting a Social Impact Assessment (SIA) has been made mandatory in the policy, but only if more than 400 families have been displaced in the plains areas and 200 in tribal, hilly and other scheduled areas. Why is the SIA mandatory only in projects above a certain size?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * There are provisions in the 2007 policy to introduce a Land Acquisition Compensation Settlement Authority (at the local level, removed from normal civil courts, to assist quick disposal of cases involving compensation disputes), a standing relief and rehabilitation authority at the district level, an ombudsman at the state level (to monitor rehabilitation under any project), a national monitoring committee and national monitoring cell (for effective monitoring of implementation of resettlement plans, with which state governments will have to share information) and a national rehabilitation commission (which will be empowered to exercise independent oversight over the rehabilitation and resettlement of affected families). Aggrieved persons can appeal to the high court and above against settlements decided by the Land Acquisition Compensation Settlement Authority. But the policy does not answer the crucial question as to whether these committees and commissions are empowered to stop a project from proceeding if there are indeed any discrepancies or issues of inadequate resettlement.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Resettlement rights must be guaranteed before any project begins and, in the event of faulty or inadequate resettlement, the project should be stopped from proceeding any further and the project developers held accountable. NPRR 2007 does not address any of these issues; nor does it give displaced persons &amp;lsquo;first rights&amp;#39; over the benefits of the project in question.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Positive points about the National Policy for Rehabilitation and Resettlement:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * This policy makes an important announcement that land acquired by the government will revert to the government in case the proposed project does not take off within five years of the acquisition. Since land is often acquired in excess of what is needed and later handed over to the developers for extraneous purposes like building hotels, parks and golf courses, this new clause is a positive one.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Another creditable clause in the new policy is that if the land is sold after the project has taken off, 80% of the net profit earned from the sale goes to the original landowner. Also, that land acquired for &amp;lsquo;public purpose&amp;#39; cannot be changed to any other purpose.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;The study by Planning Commission titled [inside]Dams, Displacement, Policy and Law in India[/inside],&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/art_dam.pdf&quot;&gt;http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/art_dam.pdf&lt;/a&gt; show:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * With the adoption of policies for planned development after freedom in India, a major priority for policymakers was the harnessing of the country&amp;#39;s water resources for irrigation and power. Large storage works such as the Bhakra, the Hirakud, the Tungabhadra and the Damodar Valley Dams were amongst the earliest projects undertaken in the post-Independence period in the country.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * A formidable body of independent empirical research into many of these large dams has established how their social, human and environmental costs have been ignored or grossly understated in the planning of these projects. Of the very many neglected costs of the big dams, some of the most grave are the social and human consequences of displacement.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * There are no reliable official statistics of the numbers of people displaced by large projects since Independence. Many researchers place their estimates between 10 and 25 million. In an influential 1989 study, Fernandes, Das and Rao provide an estimate of some 21 million displaced persons. Scholar-administrator Dr. N. C. Saxena, places his estimate of persons displaced by big projects since 1947 at nearly double this figure - 50 million.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * From the inception of planning of most projects, through various stages of displacement and resettlement, it is to be expected that those likely to be negatively affected by the projects would be consulted and kept informed in such a way as to enable them to best rebuild their ravaged lives. This, however, is very far from being the case. The studies have revealed that the level of information that the oustees had regarding the dam, submergence and subsequent displacement due to them, is lamentably low.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * It is only in recent years that, chiefly under the impact of people&amp;#39;s movements, project authorities, state governments and international funding agencies have accepted responsibility for rehabilitation-one that extends beyond the payment of monetary compensation for expropriated individual assets and the provision of house sites. This neglect of rehabilitation assumes the gravest aspect when seen in relation to older projects, particularly those that commenced or were concluded in the first three decades after Independence.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * It has been observed that the driving objective of project authorities has not been to prepare and assist the families to relocate and to make a gradual and less painful transition to their new habitats. Instead frequently the only objective is to vacate the submergence zone of what are perceived to be its human encumbrances, with the brute force of the state if necessary. The evacuation of the villages was carried out with brutal insensitivity towards the feelings of the villagers who, not unnaturally, were bewildered and distressed at being forced out of their homes.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Resettlement sites are often inhospitable in a number of ways and their locations are selected without reference to availability of livelihood opportunities, or the preferences of displaced persons themselves.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * With the destruction of community and social bonds, the displaced are mired in anomie and a profound sense of loneliness and helplessness. The inflow of money creates greater pressure on family bonds. The outcomes are psychological pathologies and alcoholism, common among displaced populations.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Arguably the most culpable aspect of state-induced impoverishment of displaced populations is the phenomenon of multiple displacements. It has been documented, for instance, that as a direct result of the lack of co-ordination between the multiplicity of irrigation, thermal power and coal-mining agencies in Singrauli, most oustees have been displaced at least twice, and some three or four times in a matter of two or three decades.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * A frequently neglected, but extremely serious problem, is the unwillingness of host populations to accept resettled oustees in their midst.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The vast majority of tribal people displaced by big projects face danger of extinction as traditionally they depend more on natural resources. They are pushed inexorably into a vortex of increasing assetlessness, unemployment, debt-bondage and hunger.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Any loss of access to traditional sources of livelihood - land, forest, sea, river, pasture, cattle or saltpan land - marginalizes women on the labour market. Women not only suffered in terms of health and nutrition, they also lost the capacity to provide a secure future for their children.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Another extremely vulnerable group of oustees is oustees without land, including landless agricultural workers. The only legal reparation to displaced persons recognised by the statutes in India is compensation for loss of assets that are compulsorily acquired by the state for what the state designates as a `public purpose&amp;#39;. However a landless family dependent on the acquired land for their livelihood may be most severely pauperised by the displacement because it loses its only source of economic survival. However, the law and most ehabilitation policies still do not recognise this profound vulnerability.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;**page**&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;[inside]Opposition to Big Dams: Lessons for Policy[/inside]&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Even before Independence, there were instances of anti-dam struggles such as the one led by Senapati Bapat in opposition to the Mulshi hydroelectric project in the Western Ghats.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The first large river valley project in India, Hirakud, resulted in widespread protests in 1946 after the initial notifications. People also launched a struggle against the Rihand project in 1963-64. However, such early protests could not be sustained, partly because of their failure to attract larger alliances, under the overwhelming influence of the nationalist rhetoric of nation-building that accompanied the construction of large dams in India.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The success of the mobilisation against the Silent Valley project, resulting in the decision to shelve the project in 1983, led to a new phase in the history of resistance to big dams in India.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Other notable early struggles against big dams were local movements opposed to the Suvarnarekha, Koel Karo and Srisailam projects.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The most celebrated protest movement against big dams so far has centred around the mega Sardar Sarovar Project on the river Narmada. A number of protest groups gathered under the leadership of activist Medha Patkar and in 1988, local resistance organisations federated into a common platform known as the Narmada Bachao Andolan (Save the Narmada Movement).&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * A significant development has been the revival of struggles by people displaced by dams completed years ago, such as on the Bargi (completed 1990), Koyna (1964), Tawa (1975) and Mahi-Kadana (1978). We have already noted the success at Bargi and Tawa to secure fishing rights for cooperative societies of oustees in the dam reservoirs.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * By ensuring that these voices are heard, these movements have succeeded in compelling governments, both central and state, and powerful funding agencies like the World Bank, to rethink their policies on displacement and rehabilitation.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Opponents of big dams have argued that big dams are part of a development strategy that intrinsically impoverishes and disempowers the poor. The opponents to big dams in India have also challenged the dominant orthodoxy that development,especially state-induced development, by necessity entails the human costs of displacement or involuntary resettlement.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Another important issue in the debate around big dams in India is the question of whether the state should retain the power to compulsorily acquire private land for development projects without the consent of the owner or owners of such land.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The next issue in the debate is the nature and extent of state responsibility for the rehabilitation of the displaced. It is chiefly under the impact of people&amp;#39;s movements, supported by painstaking empirical social science research, that the state has in recent times acknowledged that its responsibility for rehabilitation to extend beyond the payment of market value for compulsorily acquired assets. However, the state in India has continued to resist the laying down of the nature of its precise responsibilities for rehabilitation in the form of even a comprehensive policy statement, let alone legislating the right to rehabilitation as a legally enforceable right.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Displacement and Rehabilitation: Suggested Directions for Policy&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Objectives of any just and equitable law and policy dealing with the colossal social and human impacts of big dams cannot be limited only to minimising the trauma of displacement, and ensuring the just resettlement of the victims of displacement. It must incorporate the objective to end, or severely curtail, displacement itself, to no longer accept state-induced involuntary resettlement as an inevitable cost of all development projects. It must enable people to effectively challenge as equal partners, a form of development which takes for granted the inevitability of displacement.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * It is incumbent upon the government before the launching of the project to justify that in the light of various technical and locational options, this is the least displacing alternative available. This claim should also be justiciable.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * It is imperative that the population likely to be affected by the acquisition be involved in the process from the time that decisions are sought to be made about where a project is to be located. They should be given full information to help them participate in decisions about whether the stated purpose is a public purpose; to explore options which may be less displacing; to work out the costs it involves for them; ando find out how they may gain from the process of change that the acquisition will bring.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Another institutional mechanism to limit displacement is to ensure that in the planning of any project the social and human costs are more accurately assessed and internalised in the cost-benefit analysis of the project.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Compensation, Resettlement and Rehabilitation&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The policy of rehabilitation must contain safeguards for detailed advance planning for rehabilitation.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * All persons whose source of livelihood, place of residence or other property is affected notwithstanding the legal status enjoyed by them in relation to the concerned location of the resource base for their livelihood and subsistence, shall be deemed to be project affected persons (PAPs).&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * If the guiding principle of rehabilitation is that displaced persons should become better off than they were in the past, one proviso that needs to be firmly embedded in the law is that compensation must be paid not at market but at replacement value.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The second guiding principle for assessment and payment of compensation should be that it is not only the loss of assets but also, far more significantly, the loss of livelihoods that must be compensated.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * A third guiding principle is that any displaced person must be fully compensated before displacement from land, house or livelihood is executed.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * If the objectives of rehabilitation of persons displaced as a result of large dams is to ensure that they are not only better off, but are direct project beneficiaries, then at the heart of such a strategy must be a policy of replacing agricultural land and agriculture-based livelihoods with alternate agricultural land of viable size and productivity and with appropriate complements of credit and input assistance.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Simultaneously, the scope for complementary non land-based livelihoods should also be explored along with land-based strategies. One such livelihood opportunity that is always created as a by-product of any large dam project is fresh-water fishing in the large reservoir.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The resettlement sites for displaced tribal families should be selected with great care and in consultation with the traditional/elected leaders or representatives of the displaced families as well as host populations, and established local NGOs. Efforts should be made to ensure that all tribal families of ousted villages are resettled together in a particular area.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Women headed households or single women should not be discriminated against in eligibility for benefits.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Still we are left with the most difficult issue of displaced persons from older dams. It has been estimated that as many as 3 out of every 4 persons displaced by big dams in India have been rendered worse off than they were before. Some reparation must be made, some attempt to rebuild so many millions of broken lives.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;The study titled [inside]Environment of Land Diversion, Displacement and Rehabilitation: A Study of Indian SEZs[/inside], &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf&lt;/a&gt; show:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * India has adopted the policy of promoting the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) for faster industrial development. It needs about 50,000 hectares of agricultural land for SEZs and 1.49 lakh hectares for all projects which include also industrial, mining, irrigation and infrastructural projects.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Farmers in many parts of the country are resisting for land diversion and acquisition for these purposes.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Land especially agricultural land in India, is a very delicate subject and has been an emotional issue ever since the Zamindari days. Land is livelihood of millions of people. Not only the immediate owners of the land are affected because of land shifting, but also share-croppers or daily wage labourers who forgo their living through a scant, but reasonably reliable source of income.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * While acquiring the land the government agency normally fixes the market value of land much below the prevailing rate in the open market.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * India ratified the ILO Indigenous and Tribal Populations Convention, 1957 in 1958. This Convention deals primarily with the protection and integration of indigenous, tribal and semi-tribal groups. The Convention provides that where as an exceptional measure tribal groups are removed from their land they should be provided with lands of quality at least equal to that of the lands previously occupied by them. It goes on to provide that they should be compensated for any &amp;quot;resulting injury or loss&amp;quot;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The UN Guiding Principles on Internally Displaced Persons, 1998 is meant to serve as an international standard to guide governments as well as international humanitarian and development agencies in providing assistance and protection to IDPs. They provide protection against arbitrary displacement, offer a basis for protection and assistance during displacement, and set forth guarantees for safe return, resettlement and reintegration.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The Land Acquisition Act, 1894 of India is the primary legislation that provides for acquisition of land. But this Act has been criticized &amp;quot;for considering land only as a commodity generating income&amp;quot;. However, when a family is settled on a piece of land not only does it earn its livelihood from it but it also has a whole social network.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2007 puts provisions for &amp;quot;rehabilitation and resettlement of persons affected by acquisition of land under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894&amp;quot; or due to any other legislation by the Central or State governments or involuntary displacement due to any other reason. The Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 6 December 2007 and has since been referred to the Standing Committee on Rural Development.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * National Rehabilitation and Resettlement Policy, 2007 came in order to solve issues arising out of policies of economic liberalization/de-regularization. The NRRP, 2007 has come into force from Oct. 2007. The new policy is applicable to all affected persons and families whose land, property or livelihood are adversely affected by land acquisition or by involuntary displacement of a permanent nature due to any other reason.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Now, by and large there is unanimity that no development can be accepted at the cost of social equity. Land acquisition needs total reform and rehabilitation package. Land owners, should get adequate compensation of their land.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;According to the study titled: [inside]Large Dam Projects and Displacement in India[/inside], &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The government of India does not have figures of people displaced by large dams. This fact is the biggest sign of the fact that displacement and resettlement of people is the least concern of large dam builders.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * India is the third largest dam builder country in the world. It now has over 3600 large dams and over 700 more under construction.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The large dams are the single largest cause of displacement in India.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * A World Bank review of the status of displacement and rehabilitation has shown that the displacement of as many as 0.6 million people across 192 projects had not been accounted for in project planning. In at least one instance, the number of people actually displaced was seven times the number stated in the project documents.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Often only reservoir displacement is taken into account. Whereas Large dam projects can displace people in a number of ways including due to colonies, due to canals, downstream impacts, catchment area treatment, compensatory afforestation, secondary displacement (at resettlement colonies, for example) and due to related conservation schemes like sanctuaries and national parks.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Displacement due to dams in India has been variously estimated. Fernandes, Das &amp;amp; Rao (1989) claimed that Indians displaced by dam projects numbered 21 million.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Available estimates of people displaced by large and medium dams in India show that the 140 dams for which such figures are available, have displaced over 4.4 million people.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;The study titled [inside]Right to displace, but no duty to rehabilitate (A critique of the Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2007)[/inside].&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.indiatogether.org/2008/jan/law-resettle.htm&quot;&gt;http://www.indiatogether.org/2008/jan/law-resettle.htm&lt;/a&gt; shows:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The bill seems to be based on the premise that the acquiring land for a &amp;#39;public purpose&amp;#39; is a right by the state under its powers of eminent domain, but it accepts no duty to resettle and rehabilitate all the affected citizens. Instead, rehabilitation is presented as an act of benevolence.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2007 seeks to &amp;quot;provide for the rehabilitation and resettlement of persons affected by the acquisition of land for projects of public purpose or involuntary displacement due to any other reason&amp;quot;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The bill came at a time when concerted efforts were about to begin made by both the central and state governments to increase economic activity through the deployment of domestic and foreign private capital on a gigantic scale in new infrastructure and industry.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The history of large scale land acquisition and consequent displacement goes back to the 1950s, when the newly independent republic embarked on large state owned projects for irrigation, power, steel and heavy engineering that were meant to occupy the &amp;#39;towering heights of the economy&amp;#39;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Land for even such gigantic projects was (and continues to be) acquired using the coercive powers provided by the colonial Land Acquisition Act. It narrowly defined persons affected by an acquisition to be either land owners or occupiers (tenants), and limited compensation to purely monetary terms.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Even those who were compensated monetarily were hard put to replace their lost land assets and regain their means of livelihood. In the absence of any rehabilitation plan, people displaced by Hirakud dam project occupied whatever open lands they could locate. These lands were not legally theirs, making them vulnerable to constant harassment by officials.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The Narmada Sardar Sarovar project is illustrative of how things have changed over the last six decades. Struggle against displacement by the PAPs led by Narmada Bachao Andolan contributed immensely to change the discourse of the development and displacement.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * But the experience of the Sardar Sarovar and many other projects over the last 60 years reveals the inadequacy of R&amp;amp;R policy - at the project, company, state or even national level- to address the legal neglect of displacement and the rights of the affected people, particularly those without land or tenancy.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * These are some of the issues that came under debate as the Rehabilitation and Resettlement bill 2007 was introduced.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The bill prescribes conditions for project affected families to qualify as beneficiaries and makes the benefits themselves conditional on external circumstances.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Under the provisions of the bill, an area will be notified as an &amp;#39;affected area&amp;#39; &amp;quot;where the appropriate Government is of the opinion that there is likely to be involuntary displacement of four hundred or more families en masse in plain areas&amp;quot; (the number is less for hilly and tribal areas).&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Thus the opinion of the Government on the scale of the displacement will decide if there will be planned R&amp;amp;R of the displaced.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * There are many other conditions attached to the benefits.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * While acquiring land for a &amp;#39;public purpose&amp;#39;, with its attendant displacement and denial of livelihood, is claimed as a right of the state under its powers of eminent domain, the R&amp;amp;R bill does not accept that it is the unconditional duty of the state to resettle and rehabilitate all the affected citizens so that they are able to maintain, if not improve, their current standard of living.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;**page**&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;The paper by Jaideep Hardikar, published in &amp;lsquo;Infochange&amp;#39; titled [inside]The destruction of &amp;#39;development&amp;#39;[/inside],&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;amp;do_pdf=1&amp;amp;id=6161&quot;&gt;http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;amp;do_pdf=1&amp;amp;id=6161&lt;/a&gt;, does not go into depths and details, but it gives a bird&amp;#39;s views of the problem.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Main Points:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Since independence at least 50 million people in India have been displaced by dams, mines, thermal power plants, corridor projects, field firing ranges, express highways, airports, national parks, sanctuaries, industrial townships, even poultry farms. They continue to pay the price for India&amp;#39;s &amp;#39;development&amp;#39;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * These may be conservative figures. Because displacement is usually only understood as direct displacement from land, such figures exclude many groups who are affected but who do not own land.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * A vast majority are landless and marginal farmers, mostly tribal, dalit or other economically backward communities. One study suggests that roughly one in every ten Indian tribals is a displaced person. Tribals constitute 8% of the country&amp;#39;s population, and more than 40% of the displaced persons.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Displacement by mines or thermal power plants is perhaps less visible than the forced movements of people triggered by dams. The acquisition takes place in phases. The would-be oustees are the last ones to know about their eviction by mines. This gives them little or no chance of resistance or coming together to bargain for a better rehabilitation package.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * As things stand today, there&amp;#39;s no region in the country where people haven&amp;#39;t been displaced by development projects. And there&amp;#39;s no region in the country where you would find people rehabilitated according to their aspirations and priorities.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;[inside]World Bank: Resettlement and Rehabilitation (R&amp;amp;R) Policy[/inside]&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;The World Bank has a policy for Resettlement and Rehabilitation (R&amp;amp;R),&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.his.com/~mesas/policy.htm&quot;&gt;http://www.his.com/~mesas/policy.htm&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;The Bank&amp;#39;s present policy is contained in the document &amp;quot;Involuntary Resettlement,&amp;quot; Operational Directive (OD) 4.30, adopted June 1990. According to the WB, the objective of its resettlement policy is to ensure that the population displaced by a project receives benefits from it.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;The WB says, &amp;quot;Development projects that displace people involuntarily generally give rise to severe economic, social, and environmental problems.&amp;quot;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Its R&amp;amp;R policy emphasizes the need for:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Minimizing involuntary resettlement;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Providing people displaced by a project with the means to improve, or at least restore, their former living standards, earning capacity, and production levels;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Involving both re-settlers and hosts in resettlement activities;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * A time-bound resettlement plan; and&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Valuation and compensation principles for land and other assets affected by the project.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;For environmental point of view, the World Bank has categorised the projects into three groups. According to this, Group &amp;quot;A&amp;quot; projects need a full environmental assessment (EA). Category B projects do not require a full EA but do require some environmental analysis. Category C projects do not require environmental analysis.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Category A projects are:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Dams and reservoirs;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Forestry production projects;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Industrial plants (large-scale) and industrial estates;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Irrigation, drainage, and flood control (large-scale);&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Land clearance and levelling;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Mineral development (including oil and gas);&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Port and harbour development;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Reclamation and new land development;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Resettlement and all projects with potentially major impacts on people;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * River basin development;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Thermal and hydropower development; and&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Manufacture, transportation, and use of pesticides or other hazardous and/or toxic materials.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Category B projects are:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Agro-industries (small-scale);&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Electrical transmission;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Aquaculture and mariculture;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Irrigation and drainage (small-scale);&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Renewable energy;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Rural electrification;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Tourism;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Rural water supply and sanitation;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Watershed projects (management or rehabilitation); and&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Rehabilitation, maintenance, and upgrading projects (small-scale).&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Category C projects might be:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Education,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Family planning,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Health,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Nutrition,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Institutional development,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Technical assistance, and&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Most human resource projects.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;**page**&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;[inside]Imagining a Post-Development Era? Critical thought, Development and Social Movements by Arturo Escobar[/inside] is a paper, which gives a fair idea of debates on developments till 1960s and afterwards. This is an important reading for a deeper understanding of evolution of concepts of developments in last few decades. As there is a cause and effect relationship between development projects and displacement, therefore while looking into the issue of displacement it is desirable to have an understanding of this whole debate on development.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Main Points:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Nowadays it has become difficult to talk about development with the same confidence and encompassing scope with which intellectuals and activists spoke about these vital matters in the past decades. Now there are differing views. When one speaks about development, other voices emphasize on the &amp;quot;crisis of development&amp;quot;. The &amp;quot;new social actors&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;new social movements&amp;quot; are raising fundamental questions on the conventional sense of development.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * To examine development as discourse requires understanding why so many countries started to see themselves as underdeveloped, and, how &amp;quot;to develop&amp;quot; became for them a fundamental problem.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * In the previous period, from the early post-War years to the end of the 1970s, development was chiefly a matter of capital, technology, and education and the appropriate policy and planning mechanisms to successfully combine these elements.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Resistance, on the other hand, was primarily a class issue and a question of imperialism. Nowadays, even imperialism and class are thought to be the object of innumerable mediations. Now we come across new ways of thinking on these issues, especially in relation to social movements.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * With the emergence of the new critique it is being argued that development has been an invention and strategy produced by the &amp;quot;First World&amp;quot; about the &amp;quot;underdevelopment&amp;quot; of the &amp;quot;Third World.&amp;quot; Largely, it has been an instrument of economic control over the physical and social reality of much of Asia, Africa and Latin America.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * These schools of thought now are now advocating for &amp;quot;alternatives to development&amp;quot; that needs transformation of the notions of development, modernity and the economy.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The number of scholars in the Third World says that rather than searching for development alternatives, there is a need to go for the &amp;quot;alternatives to development,&amp;quot; that is, a rejection of the entire earlier paradigm.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * In the Third World the process of needs interpretation and satisfaction is inextricably linked to the development apparatus. The &amp;quot;basic human needs&amp;quot; strategy, pushed by the World Bank and adopted by most international agencies, has played a crucial role in this regard. However, the critics say that this strategy is based on a liberal human rights discourse and on the rational, scientific assessment and measurement of &amp;quot;needs&amp;quot;; lacking a significant link to people&amp;#39;s everyday experience, and &amp;quot;basic human needs&amp;quot; discourse does not foster greater political participation.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * This paper argues that the possibility for redefining development rests largely with the action of social movements. Though the paper in most of its parts has discussed the Latin American experiences, it has significance for whole Third World.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;The [inside]main provisions under Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act (MMDR Act)[/inside] are as follows:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://mines.gov.in/policy/noticeapril.pdf&quot;&gt;http://mines.gov.in/policy/noticeapril.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.prsindia.org/uploads/media/draft/Draft%20Mines%20and%20Minerals%20Bill_31%20March%202010.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.prsindia.org/uploads/media/draft/Draft%20Mines%20and%20Minerals%20Bill_31%20March%202010.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;A background and critique:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl2714/stories/20100716271402500.htm&quot;&gt;http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl2714/stories/20100716271402500.htm&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The 1957 Act has outlived its utility despite the several amendments made to it up to 1999. The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation Act, 1957, came into force at a time when governments required much discretionary power to regulate a nascent mining sector. The rise of the market economy in the early 1990s brought about a fundamental change in the government&amp;#39;s attitude to mining.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The National Mineral Policy, 1993, recognised the need to encourage private investment, including foreign direct investment (FDI), and to attract state-of-the-art technology in the mineral sector.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Mining is a three-stage operation, involving regional exploration, detailed exploration, and actual mining.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Procedural delay was identified as one of the impediments in encouraging the flow of private investment and in the introduction of high-end technology for exploration and mining. The Anwarul Hoda Committee, constituted by the Planning Commission in 2005, in its report submitted in 2006 made specific recommendations on the legal framework to avoid procedural delay.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The New Mining Policy (NMP) 2008, while reflecting these recommendations, also sought to develop a sustainable framework for optimum utilisation of mineral resources for industrial growth and for improving the life of people living in the mining areas.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The proposed Act makes significant departures from the existing Act in areas that were seen as instances of micromanagement.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * As per the proposed Act, the union Ministry for mines and minerals give up its &amp;quot;prior approval&amp;quot; power in grant of concessions for minerals in Part C of the First Schedule. In the proposed Act, Part C includes 74 major minerals, while Part A includes coal and lignite and Part B atomic minerals. Part C of the First Schedule of the existing Act includes only 10 metallic and non-metallic minerals.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The proposed Act envisages the setting up of a national mining tribunal, which can check independently decisions as also indecision and delays. It gives more teeth to the Indian Bureau of Mines to regulate the mining plan and mine closure and empowers the Central government to enforce disclosure through databases and websites.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The draft Bill allows the setting up of a national mineral royalty commission with State governments as members, for progressive solutions for revenue-sharing through royalty.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The proposed Act provides for stringent measures to prevent illegal mining. It empowers State governments to detect, prevent and prosecute cases of illegal mining, set up special courts to try such cases and declare those convicted as ineligible for grant of mining concessions.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * One of the consistent demands of the steel industry has been the reservation of mineral-bearing areas for public sector undertakings. The proposed Act rejects this demand, consistent with the Hoda Committee&amp;#39;s recommendation that reservation goes against the principles of providing a level playing field.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The draft Bill guarantees assured annuity to the local population as a percentage of profits (26 per cent) earned by the miner, resettlement and rehabilitation of the local population through employment and skill enhancement.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * It also provides for compulsory consultation with gram sabha/district panchayats in tribal areas before notification of the area for grant of concessions, and preference to tribal cooperatives in the grant of concessions over small deposits.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;According to a report named [inside]SEZs and land acquisition FACTSHEET FOR AN UNCONSTITUTIONAL ECONOMIC POLICY[/inside] Prepared by Citizens&amp;#39; Research Collective&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;SEZ - DISPLACEMENT AND LOSS OF LIVELIHOODS&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Estimates show that close to 114,000 farming households (each household on an average comprising five members) and an additional 82,000 farm worker families who are dependent upon these farms for their livelihoods, will be displaced.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * In other words, at least 10 lakh (1,000,000) people who primarily depend upon agriculture for their survival will face eviction. Experts calculate that the total loss of income to the farming and the farm worker families is at least Rs. 212 crores a year.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * This does not include other income lost (for instance of artisans) due to the demise of local rural economies. The government promises &amp;lsquo;humane&amp;#39; displacement followed by relief and rehabilitation.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * However, the historical record does not offer any room for hope on this count: an estimated 40 million people (of which nearly 40% are Adivasis and 25% Dalits) have lost their land since 1950 on account of displacement due to large development projects. At least 75% of them still await rehabilitation.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Almost 80% of the agricultural population owns only about 17% of the total agriculture land, making them near landless farmers. Far more families and communities depend on a piece of land (for work, grazing) than those who simply own it. However, compensation is being discussed only for those who hold titles to land. No compensation has been planned for those who don&amp;#39;t.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;LOSS OF PUBLIC REVENUE&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Exemptions from customs duties, income tax, sales tax, excise duties and service tax (even on luxury hotel facilities, shopping malls, health clubs and recreation centres) given to SEZs, the Finance ministry estimates a loss of Rs.1,60,000 crore till 2010 in revenue. (The Ministry has also asked for capping the number of SEZs at 100.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Finance Minister P. Chidambaram wrote to Cabinet colleagues saying: &amp;quot;SEZs per se will distort land, capital, and labour cost, which will encourage relocation or shifting of industries in clever ways that can&amp;#39;t be stopped. This will be further aggravated by the proliferation of a large number of SEZs in and around metros.&amp;quot;)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The foregone tax revenue every year is five times the annual allocation for the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and is enough to feed each year 55 million people who go to bed hungry every day.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Furthermore, given the concessions on import duties (not merely for the investors who will produce exportable items but also for the developer, who will not), there are likely to be foreign exchange losses (rather than gains).&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * For the five year period ending 1996-97 the foreign exchange outgo on imports made by units in SEZs and the customs duty forgone amounted to Rs.16461.58 crore against which exports of only Rs.13563.87 crore were reported.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Moreover, these zones are exempt from sales tax, octroi, mandi tax etc on the supply of the goods from the Domestic Tariff Area (rest of India).&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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	&#039;articleid&#039; =&gt; (int) 3192,
	&#039;metaTitle&#039; =&gt; &#039;Empowerment | Displacement&#039;,
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	&#039;metaDesc&#039; =&gt; &#039;KEY TRENDS

&amp;nbsp;

&amp;bull; Section 105 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, which provides for excluding 13 Central legislation, including Land Acquisition (Mines) Act 1885, Atomic Energy Act, 1962, Railway Act...&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;KEY TRENDS&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div&gt;&amp;bull; Section 105 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, which provides for excluding 13 Central legislation, including Land Acquisition (Mines) Act 1885, Atomic Energy Act, 1962, Railway Act 1989, National Highways Act 1956 and Metro Railways (Construction of Works) Act, 1978, from its purview, has been amended for payment of compensation with rigours $&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;bull; The amendments have now relaxed the requirements of consent and Social Impact Assessment survey for projects in following areas: 1. Defence and defence production; 2. Rural infrastructure (including rural electrification); 3. Affordable housing; 4. Industrial corridors; 5. Social infrastructure projects including PPPs in which ownership rests with the government $&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&amp;bull; The Standing Committee report on Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011 (submitted on 17 May, 2012) recommended that land may not be acquired for use by private companies and PPPs. The Committee recommended including &amp;ldquo;infrastructure projects&amp;rdquo; within the definition of public purpose. Since sale and purchase of land is a state subject, the threshold for R&amp;amp;R provisions shall be fixed by the states and not the central government. Restriction on land acquisition should also apply to any land under agricultural cultivation. No central act should be exempted from the provisions of the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011 and necessary amendments should be brought in those Acts to bring them at par with this Bill. The Committee recommended that if acquired land is left unutilized for 5 years, the land should be returned to the land owners &amp;alpha;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;bull; India is the third largest dam builder country in the world. It now has over 3600 large dams and over 700 more under construction*&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;bull; Displacement due to dams in India has been variously estimated. Fernandes, Das &amp;amp; Rao (1989) claimed that Indians displaced by dam projects numbered 21 million*&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;bull; Available estimates of people displaced by large and medium dams in India show that the 140 dams for which such figures are available, have displaced over 4.4 million people*&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;bull; Many researchers estimated that the number of people displaced due to big projects comes between 10 and 25 million. In an influential 1989 study, Fernandes, Das and Rao provide an estimate of some 21 million displaced persons. Scholar-administrator Dr. N. C. Saxena, places his estimate of persons displaced by big projects since 1947 at nearly double this figure &amp;mdash; 50 million**&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;bull; India has adopted the policy of promoting the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) for faster industrial development. It needs about 50,000 hectares of agricultural land for SEZs and 1.49 lakh hectares for all projects which include also industrial, mining, irrigation and infrastructural projects***&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;bull; The Land Acquisition Act, 1894 of India is the primary legislation that provides for acquisition of land***&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;bull; Since independence at least 50 million people in India have been displaced by dams, mines, thermal power plants, corridor projects, field firing ranges, express highways, airports, national parks, sanctuaries, industrial townships, even poultry farms@&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Sources:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;$&amp;nbsp;Amendments to the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, Press Information Bureau, dated: 29 December 2014 (Please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Land_act_amendments.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Land Act amendments&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Land_act_amendments.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Land Act amendments&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access)&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;alpha; &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Summary%20of%20the%20Standing%20Committee%20recommendations.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Summary of the Standing Committee recommendations&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Summary%20of%20the%20Standing%20Committee%20recommendations.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Summary of the Standing Committee recommendations&quot;&gt;Standing Committee Report Summary&lt;/a&gt;, PRS Legislative Research&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;* Large Dam Projects and Displacement in India,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;**&amp;nbsp; Planning Commission titled Dams, Displacement, Policy and Law in India,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/art_dam.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/art_dam.pdf&quot;&gt;http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/a&lt;br /&gt;rt_dam.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;*** Environment of Land Diversion, Displacement and Rehabilitation: A Study of Indian SEZs,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;@ The destruction of &amp;#39;development&amp;#39; by Jaideep Hardikar, Infochange&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;amp;do_pdf=1&amp;amp;id=6161&quot; title=&quot;http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;amp;do_pdf=1&amp;amp;id=6161&quot;&gt;http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;a&lt;br /&gt;mp;do_pdf=1&amp;amp;id=6161&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&#039;,
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	&#039;id&#039; =&gt; (int) 3192,
	&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;Displacement&#039;,
	&#039;subheading&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;KEY TRENDS&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;bull; Section 105 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, which provides for excluding 13 Central legislation, including Land Acquisition (Mines) Act 1885, Atomic Energy Act, 1962, Railway Act 1989, National Highways Act 1956 and Metro Railways (Construction of Works) Act, 1978, from its purview, has been amended for payment of compensation with rigours $&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; The amendments have now relaxed the requirements of consent and Social Impact Assessment survey for projects in following areas: 1. Defence and defence production; 2. Rural infrastructure (including rural electrification); 3. Affordable housing; 4. Industrial corridors; 5. Social infrastructure projects including PPPs in which ownership rests with the government $&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;bull; The Standing Committee report on Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011 (submitted on 17 May, 2012) recommended that land may not be acquired for use by private companies and PPPs. The Committee recommended including &amp;ldquo;infrastructure projects&amp;rdquo; within the definition of public purpose. Since sale and purchase of land is a state subject, the threshold for R&amp;amp;R provisions shall be fixed by the states and not the central government. Restriction on land acquisition should also apply to any land under agricultural cultivation. No central act should be exempted from the provisions of the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011 and necessary amendments should be brought in those Acts to bring them at par with this Bill. The Committee recommended that if acquired land is left unutilized for 5 years, the land should be returned to the land owners &amp;alpha;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; India is the third largest dam builder country in the world. It now has over 3600 large dams and over 700 more under construction*&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; Displacement due to dams in India has been variously estimated. Fernandes, Das &amp;amp; Rao (1989) claimed that Indians displaced by dam projects numbered 21 million*&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; Available estimates of people displaced by large and medium dams in India show that the 140 dams for which such figures are available, have displaced over 4.4 million people*&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; Many researchers estimated that the number of people displaced due to big projects comes between 10 and 25 million. In an influential 1989 study, Fernandes, Das and Rao provide an estimate of some 21 million displaced persons. Scholar-administrator Dr. N. C. Saxena, places his estimate of persons displaced by big projects since 1947 at nearly double this figure &amp;mdash; 50 million**&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; India has adopted the policy of promoting the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) for faster industrial development. It needs about 50,000 hectares of agricultural land for SEZs and 1.49 lakh hectares for all projects which include also industrial, mining, irrigation and infrastructural projects***&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; The Land Acquisition Act, 1894 of India is the primary legislation that provides for acquisition of land***&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; Since independence at least 50 million people in India have been displaced by dams, mines, thermal power plants, corridor projects, field firing ranges, express highways, airports, national parks, sanctuaries, industrial townships, even poultry farms@&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Sources:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;$&amp;nbsp;Amendments to the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, Press Information Bureau, dated: 29 December 2014 (Please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Land_act_amendments.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Land Act amendments&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access)&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;alpha; &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Summary%20of%20the%20Standing%20Committee%20recommendations.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Summary of the Standing Committee recommendations&quot;&gt;Standing Committee Report Summary&lt;/a&gt;, PRS Legislative Research&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;* Large Dam Projects and Displacement in India,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;**&amp;nbsp; Planning Commission titled Dams, Displacement, Policy and Law in India,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/art_dam.pdf&quot;&gt;http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/art_dam.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;*** Environment of Land Diversion, Displacement and Rehabilitation: A Study of Indian SEZs,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;@ The destruction of &amp;#39;development&amp;#39; by Jaideep Hardikar, Infochange&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;amp;do_pdf=1&amp;amp;id=6161&quot;&gt;http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;amp;do_pdf=1&amp;amp;id=6161&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;**page**&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Second Ordinance 2015.pdf&quot; title=&quot;The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Second Ordinance 2015&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access [inside]The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Second Ordinance 2015[/inside], dated 30 May, 2015&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Second Amendment) Bill 2015.pdf&quot; title=&quot;The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Second Amendment) Bill 2015&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access [inside]The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Second Amendment) Bill 2015[/inside]&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/RFCTLARR%20Act%20(Amendment)%20Ordinance,%202014.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Amended Land Acquisition Act&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access [inside]The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Ordinance 2014[/inside], promulgated by the President on 31 December 2014&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Land_act_amendments.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Land Act amendments&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access the [inside]Amendments made in the&amp;nbsp; Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013[/inside]. Source: Press Information Bureau, dated: 29 December 2014&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;The salient features of [inside]The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013[/inside], which repeals the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 are as follows (Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/files/file/Act_Land_Acqusiition_2013.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp; to access):&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; Payment of compensation upto four times the market value in rural areas and two times the market value in urban areas.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; Rehabilitation and Resettlement is an integral part of the land acquisition. No family will be displaced before rehabilitation.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; A social impact assessment study to be done compulsorily in all cases of land acquisition irrespective of extent of area.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; The definition of &amp;lsquo;affected families&amp;rsquo; has been extended to include not only the land owners but also others dependent on land for their livelihoods like agricultural labourers, tenants.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; To ensure transparency and participation, the Act provides for consent of at least eighty and seventy percent of the land owners in the cases of land acquisition for Private and Public Private Partnership Projects respectively.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; In Scheduled Areas consent of the Gram Sabhas/ Panchayats / Autonomous District Councils is mandatory in all cases of land acquisition.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; To safeguard food security and to prevent arbitrary acquisition, the Act directs the States to impose limits on the multi cropped irrigated land that can be acquired.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; In case, land remains unutilized after acquisition, the new Act empowers States to return the land either to the owner or to the State Land Bank.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/LAAR%20Bill%20as%20passed%20by%20LS.pdf&quot; title=&quot;LARR Bill as passed by LS&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access [inside]The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2013[/inside] that was passed by the Lok Sabha on 29 August, 2013.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;In order to access the [inside]Draft National Land Reforms Policy (dated 18 July, 2013)[/inside], prepared by Ministry of Rural Development, please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Draft_National_Land_Reforms_Policy_July_2013.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Draft Land Reforms Policy 2013&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
The &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Standing%20Committee%20Report%20on%20LARR%20Bill%202011.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Standing Committee report on LARR 2011&quot;&gt;report by the Standing Committee&lt;/a&gt; on Rural Development pertaining to Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (LARR) Bill 2011 was tabled in the Lok Sabha on 17 May, 2012. As per the [inside]Standing Committee Report 2012[/inside], the salient features of the LARR Bill 2011 (now renamed as Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill) are as follows:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(1) New integrated legislation dealing with land acquisition and rehabilitation &amp;amp; resettlement while repealing the Land Acquisition Act, 1894.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(2) Exemption to 16 Central Acts specified in Fourth Schedule from the ambit of the Bill.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(3) Defining the term affected family, which includes both the land losers and livelihood losers.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(4) Provision of R &amp;amp; R benefits in case of specified private purchase of land equal to or more than 100 acres in rural areas and equal to or more than 50 acre in urban areas&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(5) Provides Social Impact Assessment (SIA) study in all cases where the Government intends to acquire land for a public purpose.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(6) Provides for formation of a Committee under the Chief Secretary for examining proposals of land acquisition where land sought to be acquired is equal to or more than 100 acres.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(7) Putting limitations on acquisition of multi-crop land for safeguarding the food security.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(8) Institutional mechanism for R&amp;amp;R in the form of institutions of Administrator for Rehabilitation and Resettlement, Commissioner for Rehabilitation and Resettlement, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Committee at project level, the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation &amp;amp; Resettlement Authority at State level and National Monitoring Committee at Central level.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(9) Provisions of consent of the 80 per-cent affected families for land acquisition for certain projects.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(10) Provision for enhanced compensation to the land owners and rehabilitation and resettlement entitlements.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(11) Provision of 25 per-cent on shares as part of compensation in cases where the Requiring Body offers its shares to the owners of land whose land has been acquired.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(12) Restricting the &amp;lsquo;urgency clause&amp;rsquo; for land acquisition for Defence of India or National Security or for any other emergency out of natural calamities.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(13) Specified timelines for payment of compensation and provision of rehabilitation and resettlement entitlements.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[inside]Recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on LARR 2011 Bill[/inside]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
It has been noted by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on LARR 2011 Bill that despite the Government having more than two years time for wider consultations with all stakeholders i.e. between the constitution of Fifteenth Lok Sabha 01.06.2009 and introduction of the LARR Bill, 2011 in September, 2011, it initiated the process of consultation only on 29 July, 2011 when the Draft Bill was put on Department of Land Resources (DOLR, http://dolr.nic.in/) &amp;quot;website&amp;quot; for consultations and the comments thereon were sought by 31 August 2011. The Cabinet approved the Draft Bill on 5 September, 2011 and the Bill was introduced in Lok Sabha on 7 September 2011, leaving little time at the disposal of the Government to seriously consider the suggestions received from various stakeholders.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Although the Government was late by over two years in bringing the LARR Bill again they gave little time to the stakeholders, including Central Ministries and State Governments concerned to submit their views and also to consider the same. Consultation by the Standing Committee with the State Governments, some of the Central Ministries concerned like Ministries of Urban Development, Panchayati Raj, Tribal Affairs etc. revealed that that their views are at variance with the DoLR in respect of contents of the Bill. This compelled the Standing Committee to invite suggestions from the general public, industry, farmers, NGO&amp;#39;s, experts, Central Ministries, State Governments etc.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The following key issues having relevance to the provisions of the LARR Bill 2011 came up during discussions held with various stakeholders:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
A. Doctrine of Eminent Domain and Acquisition as &amp;#39;Public Purpose&amp;#39; for private corporations, Public Private Partnerships (PPPs).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
B. Powers of the Central Government vis-&amp;agrave;-vis State Governments in legislation for sale/purchase of land and R &amp;amp; R provisions&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
C. Role of Institutions of self government-established by Parts IX &amp;amp; IX A of the Constitution in land acquisition and R&amp;amp;R&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
D. Applicability of LARR Bill, 2011 in Scheduled Areas (Schedules V and VI of the Constitution)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
E. Special provisions to safeguard Food Security (Clause 10)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
F. Exemption of 16 Central Acts from purview of the Bill (Clause 98 &amp;amp; Fourth Schedule)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Standing Committee report on LARR 2011 has provided the detailed discussion on these above-mentioned issues. The suggestions given by the Committee regarding these issues are being provided here.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;A. Doctrine of Eminent Domain and Acquisition as &amp;ldquo;Public Purpose&amp;rdquo; for Private Corporations, Public-Private Partnerships&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Amendment done to section 4 of the original Land Acquisition Act 1894 in 1984 by inserting the words &amp;ldquo;or for a Company&amp;rdquo; after &amp;ldquo;any public purpose&amp;rdquo; extinguished any differentiation between acquisition for a State purpose and &amp;ldquo;acquisition for a private enterprise&amp;rdquo; or &amp;ldquo;State enterprise&amp;rdquo;. What the Courts could interpret from this amendment is that any notification of acquisition issued under section 4 need not specify whether the acquisition is for a &amp;ldquo;public purpose&amp;rdquo; or for &amp;ldquo;a Company&amp;rdquo;. This move led to massive acquisition of land by the State for Companies.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Standing Committee report has alleged that the LARR Bill, 2011 &amp;ldquo;seeks to permit, and even facilitate, the acquisition of land by the Government for private companies&amp;rdquo;. By agreeing with the Government of India appointed Expert Group Report (under the Chairmanship of D. Bandyopadhyay) on Development Challenges in Extremist Affected Areas, the Committee report has mentioned that displacement of people happened due to large scale acquisitions. The Standing Committee has suggested that &amp;ldquo;instead of reverting to the classical concept of Eminent Domain or diluting it, the present 2011 Bill extinguishes the distinction in the original 1894 Act between acquisition by the State for a State purpose from purchase of land by a Company for a private purpose by including &amp;ldquo;Public Private Partnership projects&amp;rdquo; and &amp;ldquo;private companies&amp;rdquo; in the definition given in clause 2(1)(b) and (c), as well as 3(za)(vi)(B) and 3(za)(vii) respectively, subject only to their producing &amp;ldquo;public goods or the provision of public services&amp;rdquo; and &amp;ldquo;the provision of land in the public interest&amp;rdquo;, it being entirely left to the executive to determine what is the &amp;ldquo;public interest&amp;rdquo; or &amp;ldquo;public goods&amp;rdquo; or &amp;ldquo;public services&amp;rdquo;.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Standing Committee has recommended that land acquisition should not be for use by PPPs and private companies. Public purpose should be limited to state sponsored projects as defined in Clause 3(za)(i) to (vi)(A). The Committee has asked for deleting the provisions relating to acquisition of land for private companies and PPPs [(Clause 3(za)(vi)(B) and (vii)]. The Committee has recommended that Clause 3 (o) (v) which gives wide discretion to the government to define infrastructure projects should be deleted. The Committee has suggested that infrastructure projects should be included in the definition of public purpose.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Committee has rejected those sub-clauses of Clauses 2 and 3 that place wide discretion in the hands of the executive to define &amp;ldquo;public purpose&amp;rdquo; and &amp;ldquo;infrastructure projects&amp;rdquo; for for-profit enterprises. It, therefore, has asked for deletion of Clauses 2(1)(b) &amp;amp; (c), 2(2)(b), 3(o)(v), 3(za)vi)(B) and (vii). It has recommended that all cases of land acquisition must entail obligations for adequate compensation, rehabilitation and resettlement to all land losers and other affected persons.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
While questioning the role of Indian State in carrying out land acquisition for Companies in the name of &amp;ldquo;public purpose&amp;rdquo;, the Standing Committee has given the example of countries like USA, Japan, Canada, EU, Australia etc. where private purchase of land and not State acquisition, is the standard. In most developed countries, there is no provision in the laws for State acquisition of privately held land for profit-making private enterprises or for public-private enterprises, the Committee report argued.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;B. Powers of the Central Government vis-vis State Governments in legislation for sale/purchase of land and R&amp;amp;R provisions&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Clause 2 (2) (a) of the LARR Bill 2011 provides that R&amp;amp;R provisions are mandatory for all private purchases if the land purchased is over 100 acres in rural areas and 50 acres in urban areas. However, the Standing Committee has recommended that since sale and purchase of land is a State subject, State legislatures have the discretion and flexibility on whether there should be R&amp;amp;R and if so prescribe a threshold for R&amp;amp;R provisions. The Committee report said: &amp;quot;State legislatures, bearing in mind the provisions of this Act, may by law provide for R&amp;amp;R provisions on sale/purchase of land. Limits/ceiling for the purpose shall be fixed by respective States keeping in view the availability of the land and density of the population.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;C. Role of Institutions of self government established by Parts IX &amp;amp; IX A of the Constitution in land acquisition and R &amp;amp; R&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Criticizing the provision in the LARR Bill 2011, where the role of Gram Sabha is limited to consultation during the time of land acquisition, the Committee has suggested that the role of local institutions of self-government should be broadened so as to ensure centrality of these institutions in the planning and implementation of the Bill, with a view to making the entire process of land acquisition and R&amp;amp;R participative, transparent and pro-people in accordance with the letter and spirit of Articles 243G and 243W of Parts IX and IXA of the Constitution. Under Articles 243G and 243W of Parts IX and IXA of the Constitution, State legislation is required to specifically empower local institutions of self-government so as to undertake both planning and implementation of &amp;quot;economic development and social justice&amp;quot;. &amp;ldquo;Beyond merely &amp;quot;consulting&amp;quot; Gram Sabhas, consensus or, at least, consent by the majority of Gram Sabha members (or equivalent body in urban areas where these have been constituted) should be obtained in all matters pertaining to LARR&amp;rdquo;, emphasized the Committee report. The decision making process regarding issues such as land acquisition, review of R&amp;amp;R schemes, determination of compensation, and any dispute regarding the compensation awarded should be entrusted on local elected authories. The Committee has recommended that the Expert Group evaluating the Social Impact Assessment (SIA) report should also have one or more members nominated from the affected Gram Sabha.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;D. Applicability of LARR Bill, 2011 in Scheduled Areas&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Standing Committee report has found that the &amp;ldquo;provisions of the LARR Bill 2011 in respect of areas covered under Schedules V and VI of the Constitution have not been dealt with separately but through provisos to some of the clauses besides being mentioned in the Schedules of the Bill, particularly the Second Schedule&amp;rdquo;.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Committee has recommended that alienation of land or land acquisition in Scheduled Areas should be avoided as far as possible. In case of unavoidable land acquisition for public purpose projects, &amp;ldquo;special provision should be made for increased compensation and resettlement and rehabilitation provisions that enforce stricter conditions such as relocation in a similar ecological location, with communities being mandatorily relocated together so as to preserve the economic opportunities, language, culture and community life of the tribal communities&amp;rdquo;. Consent or approval by majority of Gram Sabhas and Autonomous District Councils (ADCs) should be made mandatory in case of land acquisition. Independent and neutral persons should be present in order to watch the proceedings of discussions within the Gram Sabhas/ ADCs so as to ensure that the process of &amp;lsquo;consent seeking&amp;rsquo; is transparent. It has been recommended that PESA provisions must be strictly observed and indicated in all related provisions in the LARR Bill, &amp;ldquo;particular care being taken to ensure that Panchayats at the appropriate level and the Gram Sabhas are specifically endowed with powers to prevent alienation of land and to take appropriate action to restore any unlawfully alienated land, as provided for in Section 4m (iii) of PESA&amp;rdquo;.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;E. Special Provisions to safeguard Food Security (Clause 10)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Provisions under the Clause 10 of the LARR Bill want to protect irrigated and multi-cropped land from land acquisition so as to ensure food security. Only under exceptional circumstances a maximum of five per cent of irrigated multi-cropped land may be acquired in a district with certain conditions such as: &amp;ldquo;whenever multi-crop irrigated land is acquired under sub-section (2), an equivalent area of culturable wasteland shall be developed for agricultural purposes&amp;rdquo;. However, the Standing Committee on LARR Bill 2011 is of the opinion that food security is not confined to producing rice and wheat in irrigated land. Cultivation of nutritional coarse grains, pulses and oilseeds in dryland or rain-fed areas cannot be neglected. Hence the Committee has recommended that &amp;ldquo;in Chapter III, all provisions regarding &amp;ldquo;irrigated multi-cropped land&amp;rdquo; be replaced by &amp;ldquo;any land under agriculture cultivation&amp;rdquo; so as to ensure safeguard for food security in a full measure&amp;rdquo;.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;F. Exemption of Central Acts from Provisions of the Bill [Clause 98 and Fourth Schedule]&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Clause 98 of the LARR Bill 2011 made sure that the proposed Act shall not apply to the land acquisition processed under various Acts in the Fourth Schedule, which are listed below:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
1. The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958.&lt;br /&gt;
2. The Atomic Energy Act, 1962.&lt;br /&gt;
3. The Cantonments Act, 2006.&lt;br /&gt;
4. The Damodar Valley Corporation Act, 1948.&lt;br /&gt;
5. The Indian Tramways Act, 1886.&lt;br /&gt;
6. The Land Acquisition (Mines) Act, 1885.&lt;br /&gt;
7. The Metro Railways (Construction of Works) Act, 1978.&lt;br /&gt;
8. The National Highways Act, 1956.&lt;br /&gt;
9. The Petroleum and Minerals Pipelines (Acquisition of Right of User in Land) Act, 1962.&lt;br /&gt;
10. The Requisitioning and Acquisition of Immovable Property Act, 1952.&lt;br /&gt;
11. The Resettlement of Displaced Persons (Land Acquisition) Act, 1948.&lt;br /&gt;
12. The Special Economic Zones Act, 2005.&lt;br /&gt;
13. The Coal Bearing Areas Acquisition and Development Act, 1957.&lt;br /&gt;
14. The Electricity Act, 2003.&lt;br /&gt;
15. The Railways Act, 1989.&lt;br /&gt;
16. The Works of Defence Act, 1903&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
It has been suggested by various organizations and State Governments during the consultation with the Standing Committee that &amp;ldquo;by keeping out the 16 Central Acts outside the purview of the Bill, under which Central Government acquires land for Central Projects, almost 95 percent of land acquisition would be outside the purview of the Bill&amp;rdquo;. Some of the State Governments complained that while Central Government sought to exempt all Central Acts from the purview of the Bill, they wanted to impose the same on the State Governments. Therefore the Standing Committee has recommended not exempting any of these Central Acts from the purview of LARR Bill. The Committee has suggested that necessary amendments should be brought in these Central Acts so as to bring them at par with the LARR Bill 2011.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Definition of &amp;quot;affected family&amp;quot;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Clause 3 (b) &amp;amp; (c) of the LARR Bill 2011 defined &amp;quot;affected family&amp;quot; to include (i) landowners; (ii) agricultural labourers, tenants who have been working in the affected area for three years prior to the acquisition; (iii) tribals and forest dwellers; (iv) families whose livelihood for the previous three years is dependent on the forests or water bodies; and (v) families who have been given land by the state or central government. The Standing Committee has recommended that within the definition of affected family:&lt;br /&gt;
* &amp;ldquo;Tribals&amp;rdquo; should be substituted by &amp;ldquo;Scheduled tribes&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
* &amp;ldquo;Traditional rights&amp;rdquo; should be substituted by &amp;ldquo;forest rights&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
* &amp;ldquo;Affected people&amp;rdquo; should be substituted with &amp;ldquo;affected family&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
* &amp;ldquo;Three years&amp;rdquo; in the definition should become &amp;ldquo;three years or more&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Clause 3 (m) of the LARR Bill 2011 defined family includes a person, his or her spouse, minor children, minor brothers and sisters dependent on him. The Standing Committee has recommended that widows and divorcees and abandoned women should be considered a separate family.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;R&amp;amp;R entitlements&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
R&amp;amp;R entitlements provided to displaced families under the LARR Bill 2011 include among other things: (i) land for a house as per the Indira Awas Yojana in rural areas or a constructed house of at least 50 square metres plinth area in urban areas; (ii) a one-time allowance of Rs 50,000 for affected families; and (iii) the option of choosing either mandatory employment in projects where jobs are being created or a one-time payment of Rs 5 lakh or an inflation adjusted annuity of Rs 2,000 per month per family for 20 years. The Standing Committee has recommended that the monetary components in the R&amp;amp;R entitlements given in Schedule II in the Bill should be indexed to inflation.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Under the LARR Bill 2011, every resettled area is to be provided with certain infrastructural facilities which include roads, drainage, provision for drinking water, grazing land, banks, post offices, public distribution outlets, etc. However, the Standing Committee has recommended that the infrastructure facilities should be decided on a case by case basis.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Unutilized land &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Clause 95 on unutlized land of the LARR Bill said that if an acquired land is left unutilised for a period of 10 years from the date it was acquired, it shall be returned to the Land Bank or the appropriate government. The Standing Committee has recommended that this period should be reduced to five years and if left unutilised, the land should be returned to the land owners. The Committee has also asked for clearly defining the term Land Bank in the LARR Bill 2011.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Urgency provisions&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The LARR Bill 2011 said that if land is acquired in urgency, an additional 75 percent compensation shall be provided. The Committee asked that in cases of urgency it should be clarified that the extra compensation would be 75 per cent of the total compensation package/ solatium calculated. Under the LARR Bill 2011, if a land is proposed to be acquired under the urgency provisions, a Social Impact Assessment (SIA) may not be conducted. The Committee has recommended that a notice should be issued if SIA is not conducted in an acquisition under the urgency provisions.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Compensation package&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Under the LARR Bill 2011, compensation for the land acquired shall be based on the higher of (a) the minimum land value, specified in the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 for the registration of sale deeds; and (b) the average sale price of the higher priced 50% of all sale deeds registered in the previous 3 years for similar type of land situated in the vicinity. In rural areas, this amount would be doubled. The value of the assets (trees, plants, buildings etc) attached to the land being acquired will be added to this amount. This total amount will then be multiplied by two to get the final compensation amount. In cases of the urgency Clause, additional 75 per cent compensation would be offered.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Standing Committee has recommended that the term &amp;ldquo;market value&amp;rdquo; should replace &amp;ldquo;minimum value&amp;rdquo;. In addition, a multi-member land pricing commission or authority should be constituted by appropriate government to finalize the cost of land acquisition state wise/area wise. Award given for the land acquired should be treated only as compensation and not as a base for circle rate for subsequent acquisitions so as to allay the fears of corporate sector regarding a speculative price spiral. Also, 12 per cent interest per annum should be paid in addition to the compensation from the date of the notification till the date of the award.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;**page**&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;
&lt;div&gt;According to the National Advisory Council 2, &lt;a href=&quot;http://nac.nic.in/press_releases/25_may_2011.pdf&quot;&gt;http://nac.nic.in/press_releases/25_may_2011.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[inside]Suggestions for Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill 2009 &amp;amp; Resettlement and Rehabilitation Bill, 2009[/inside], &lt;a href=&quot;http://nac.nic.in/pdf/working_group_proposal_for_larr.pdf&quot;&gt;http://nac.nic.in/pdf/working_group_proposal_for_larr.pdf&lt;/a&gt;: &amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The NAC has recommended that it is upto the states to decide the extent of percentage of the total land to be acquired by them. In principle, the NAC disagrees with the 70:30 formula.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Acquired land non-performing for five years should be returned to original owners is another recommendation of NAC, which has been also well received.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Giving freedom to the industry to acquire land directly could result in large scale cheating and deception in tribal and poor areas of India.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The NAC has recently asked for consolidating the Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill 2009 and Resettlement and Rehabilitation Bill, 2009 under the title Land Acquisition, Resettlement and Rehabilitation Act, 2011. The NAC wants a combined Bill instead of two separate bills since both the Bills are intrinsically inter-related, and having two separate Bills may lead to possibility of amending one without amending the other, and selective application of provisions of each Act, thereby defeating the purpose of providing justice and relief to those displaced.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Passing of separate bills will set in motion fragmented processes, causing confusion, delays, and therefore avoidable distress and suffering for the people. According to the NAC, a separate R&amp;amp;R Bill won&amp;#39;t be required to address displacement due to natural disasters and communal and caste violence since there are separate laws being enacted for Natural Disasters and Communal Violence.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The NAC thinks that the proposed Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill, 2009 does not explicitly mention the poor, and incorporates infrastructure and strategic interests. It has a provision for state acquisition of land for private for-profit companies. Section 5 of the Land Acquisition (Amendment Act) Bill, 2009 is silent on the nature of public interest proposed and the financial, social and environmental costs and benefits associated with a project.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Compensation&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;div&gt;&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Project Affected Families (PAFs) can make a choice in the way compensation is offered- i.) as a lump-sum amount; ii.) 30% as a lumpsum amount, and the rest as an annuity at the rate of 12% interest escalating every year for 33 years; or iii.) The total value as an annuity at the rate of 12% interest escalating every year, for 33 years. The latter two would be adjusted for inflation by escalating every year by 10%.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Share-croppers, landless labourers, artisans et al should receive ten days&amp;rsquo; minimum wage per month for thirty three years when land is acquired by the State for &amp;lsquo;public purposes&amp;rsquo;.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; For such persons, there would be additional provisions for homestead land, training and employment rehabilitation in the rehabilitation and resettlement package.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The NAC has emphasized that lawfully recorded tenants and sharecroppers should be compensated (and paid solatium) for the parcels of land that they are losing, on an 80%:20% basis with the landowner being given 20%, which should not be less than four times their current income.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; A minimum of 5% shares should be distributed (equitably) free of cost to PAFs (increased by 5% for every additional 100 acres acquired). If the Government is allowed to acquire land, then land owners and non-land owners who depended on that land should enjoy four times their present monthly income after acquisition.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The NAC has proposed that compensation for those who lose land will be six times the registered sale deed value including solatium.&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Rehabilitation and Resettlement&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;div&gt;&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The NAC has demanded transparency, public consulting, and prior informed consent during the process of land acquisition. The legal rights of Project Affected Families (PAFs) to challenge the entitlement cannot be withdrawn as it has been done under R&amp;amp;R Bill, 2009. Section 11 of the R&amp;amp;R Bill, 2009 needs to be amended so that all compensation must be paid and R&amp;amp;R for all affected persons must be completed in all aspects at least 6 months before taking possession.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Section 3(b) (ii) of the R&amp;amp;R Bill, 2009 does not mention the extent to which affected families have been deprived of their primary source of livelihood.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; All individual entitlements, such as land for land (where applicable), housing, employment and training opportunities, should be compulsorily offered to all PAFs irrespective of size of acquisition as per the NAC. Compulsory provisions for land for land are non-negotiable in case of all tribal and dalit families (to discourage acquisition of tribal and dalit land) and all irrigation projects. There should be an authority like the Auditor General of Displacement and Rehabilitation (AG-DR) to find out after 5 or 10 years of displacement as to what is the present condition of those displaced.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Instead of the Government notifying what amenities are to be provided in resettlement sites as per the Section 30 of the R&amp;amp;R 2009 Bill, basic amenities like roads, safe drinking water, hygiene, educational facilities, community hall, and basic irrigation facilities should be present at resettlement sites. Every PAF family (and not just the BPL homeless families) should be given a built house and homestead land title.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Consent of 70 percent of the affected families in a gram sabha before acquisition is compulsory. A National Commission for Land Acquisition, Resettlement and Rehabilitation (NCLRR) should be established to assess extent of displacement based on the Social Impact Assessment (SIA) and and urgency clause for land acquisition should be used for purposes such as defence, national security and safety of lives as per recommendations of the NAC. The SIA would assess the social and environmental impacts from the project, and the R&amp;amp;R plan drawn up.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;According to the [inside]Standing Committee Report on the Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill 2007[/inside]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;http://prsindia.org/uploads/media/Land%20Acquisition/scr1226484896_SC_Report_Land_Acquisition_Bill__2008.pdf&quot;&gt;http://prsindia.org/uploads/media/Land%20Acquisition/scr1226484896_SC_Report_Land_Acquisition_Bill__2008.pdf&lt;/a&gt;: &amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Optimum size of land required for a project needs to be determined so that excessive acquisition of land doesn&amp;#39;t take place.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; There should be some legislation like Forest Conservation Act 1980 so that agricultural land can be protected like forest land.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; There is an urgent need to develop wasteland where agricultural land is acquired.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Since displacement leads to traumatic psychological and socio-cultural consequences, multiple displacements of affected families need to be avoided.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; States should declare the area where the tribals are rehabilitated as Scheduled Area. Land rights of tribals and forest dwellers should be recognized as per the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 so that they are compensated and rehabilitated during the process of land acquisition.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The details of the property to be acquired viz. khasra numbers in rural areas and quarter number in urban areas should be identified and widely publicized through prominent local English, Hindi and regional language newspapers. There is a need to avoid complications arising due to inadequacy of communicating the intent of acquisition through notification especially in hilly, tribal and remote areas. In order to circulate notification on rehabilitation and resettlement, the Government should rely on newspapers in local vernacular.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Affected persons should be provided 60 days from the date of publication of the notification to object to the acquisition of land.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Social Impact Assessment study should be done for all projects that displace physically more than 400 families in plain and 200 families in hilly, tribal and scheduled areas (same as NAC recommendation).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Highest price of sale deed as indicated in the sale deeds of the last three years plus 50 per cent of the said highest price should be the criteria for assessing and determining the market value of the land. For tribal areas, the highest price of a sale deed of the adjoining non-tribal blocks/ village for the last three years plus 50 per cent should be the criteria for assessing and determining the market value of land.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Non agricultural land having valuable mineral resources underneath should be properly evaluated for granting compensation.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; A share of the economic benefits earned due to setting up a project in a land, which is acquired should go to the affected families.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Issue of shares and debentures as part of the compensation is impractical and as such issue of shares and debentures should be over and above the admissible compensation. The rate of solatium should be increased from thirty per centum on market value to sixty per centum on market value.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Land Acquisition Compensation Disputes Settlement Authorities (a kind of Ombudsman) at the Centre and State level should be created for the disposal of disputes, which remain pending in the courts of law.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Record of large tracts of unutilized land available with various Ministries needs to be kept before further land acquisition.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
**page**&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;According to [inside]A CITIZENS REPORT CARD ON SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONES[/inside] prepared by civil society organization, South Asia Citizens&amp;#39; web:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sacw.net/IMG/pdf/CITIZENSREPORTONSEZs.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.sacw.net/IMG/pdf/CITIZENSREPORTONSEZs.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;THE NUMBERS&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Total amount of land to be acquired across India: 150,000 hectares (the area of National Capital Region). This land - predominantly agricultural and typically multicropped - is capable of producing close to 1 million tons of foodgrains. If SEZs are seen to be successful in the future and more cultivated land is acquired, they will endanger the food security of the country.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The latest available statistics on Special Economic Zones show that the Board of Approvals at the Ministry of Commerce, the central body authorised to clear SEZ proposals, has approved 578 SEZs of which 315 have been notified.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * An analysis of figures up to 8th December 2008 displays a continuation of the pattern which has been evident since SEZ Act in 2005.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * As of December 2008 the Central government gave formal approvals to a staggering 552 SEZs in 19 states; 272 of these have been notified. (As of April 2009 the total number of Formal approvals was 578 and notified SEZs were 330)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * With the significant economic slow-down towards the end of 2008 for the first time we started to see companies applying to de-register/denotify SEZs and it remains to be seen what the net effect will be.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The overwhelming part of SEZs continues to be in information technology and related industries. 181 notified SEZs exist for IT companies representing 66% of the total number of SEZs. Additionally there are 341 formally approved and 11 in-principle approvals.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * With all the different SEZs taken together at various stages of approval the IT sector still accounts for more than half at 55% of the total. The second largest sector will be multi-product with 9% of the all zones.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Andhra Pradesh tops the list of notified SEZs with 57, followed by Tamil Nadu on 44 and Maharashtra on 43.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Maharashtra has the most SEZs waiting to be notified however with 104 formally approved and 34 in principle, compared to AP&amp;#39;s 99 and 2 respectively and Tamil Nadu&amp;#39;s 66 and 18.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * These three states thus account for almost half of all the SEZs in the country. The share is especially significant among the already notified SEZs with 144 out of the total 274.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Even more imbalanced is the spread of SEZs when one considers the locations within each state. 48 out of the 99 formally approved SEZs in Andhra Pradesh are in or close to Hyderabad, while 34 of 66 formally approved are similarly in or close to Chennai.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The main number of SEZs can thus easily be characterised as being in the IT-sector and in one of primarily Western or Southern cities.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * This said, almost every state has tried to get a couple of SEZs to be established within their territories includingtiny Dadra &amp;amp; Haveli&amp;#39;s 4, and Pondicherry&amp;#39;s 1 formally approved zones.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * 53 multiproduct SEZs are at the in principle approval stage meaning they might soon become formally notified. These are the zones which require really large areas of land and have been contentious on the issue of displacement.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Recently the rule preventing larger SEZs than 5,000 hectares was lifted which lead the Adani group to apply for and get granted a merger between the 3 zones of (4498 + 2658 + 2648 hectares) it had created next to each other at Mundra in Gujarat to avoid the land ceiling&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Among the actually operating SEZs the biggest ones apart from the Mundra zone(s) in Gujarat is APIIC 2,206 ha SEZ in Visakhapatnam and the Kakinada SEZ 1,035 ha both in Andhra Pradesh and the Navi Mumbai SEZ 1,223 ha in Maharashtra&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * With the many really large multi-product SEZs in the In Principle category these cover an area of 1.22 lakh hectares, or 869 hectares per SEZ on average.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;ISSUES OF CONCERN&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 1. Large scale requirement of land and Forced Acquisition of Land - India is almost unique in its concept of creating SEZs on demand: i.e. the location, size and nature of the zone is explicitly determined not by state economic policy but by the demands of private capital.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 2. Despite issuing of guidelines by the Ministry of Commerce and the EGoM, that no forced acquisition of land will take place for private SEZs on 15th June 2007, nearly all states are using the Land Acquisition Act 1894 to acquire the land for developers of SEZs and that too in the absence of any provision for rehabilitation&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 3. In some states like Tamil Nadu and AP the governments are even using the urgency clause - 17/4 of the LAA to acquire land compulsorily.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 4. It is argued that much of the land being diverted for SEZs is already available with the State Industrial development Corporations (IDCs). While this is a fact, it needs to be specified that in many cases lands which had previously been acquired by IDCs and are now being transferred to SEZ developers also used the Land Acquisition Act.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 5. These sales are obviously at much higher rates than their original acquisition price from the farmers.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 6. The issue of compensation at market value, even to land owners is meaningless as the scales are heavily weighed in favor of private buyers and Government owned Industrial corporations, who are the informed negotiators in deciding the package&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Landless and Agricultural labourers displaced without compensation-&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 1. Almost 80% of the agricultural population in India owns only about 17% of the total agriculture land, making them near-landless workers. Far more families and communities depend on a piece of land (for work, grazing) than those who own it outright. However, compensation is being discussed only for those who hold titles to land. No compensation has been planned for those who do not.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 2. In states like Gujarat a large part of the land being diverted to SEZs is in the category of common or gowcher land (referred to wrongly as&amp;#39;wasteland&amp;#39;).Since these lands are &amp;#39;common lands&amp;#39; with no individual titles, they are transferred without even consulting the local communities and panchayats.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 3. Temple or Panchami land in Tamil Nadu and Waqf board lands in Andhra Pradesh are other examples of Public lands that have been expropriated and privatised for SEZs.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 4. The most outrageous acquisitions are taking place in Andhra Pradesh which has the highest number of SEZ approvals, in the form of acquiring assigned lands (allotted to Dalits and Scheduled Tribes) for SEZs. . This has been seen clearly in places like Polepally, Kakinada, Chittoor and Anantapur where SEZs are proposed.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Destruction of Agro-based and rural economies-&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 1. The bulk of land being acquired for SEZs is fertile, agricultural land, especially in case of the multi-product zones. Agriculture Scientists have estimated that close to 1.14 lakh farming households (each household on an average comprising five members) and an additional 82,000 farm worker families who are dependent upon these farms for their livelihoods, will be displaced.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 2. The total loss of income to the farming and the farm worker families, then, is an astounding Rs.212-crore a year. These were the estimates in 2006 after the initial SEZ approvals which are now multiplied three-fold.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Creation of exploitative employment opportunities and working conditions resulting from nullification of labour protection laws -&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The SEZ policy of the government transfers all the powers of the state Labor Commissioner to the Development Commissioners of the SEZs.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The power in the hands of the development Commissioner to declare SEZs as &amp;quot;public utility services&amp;quot; under the Industrial Disputes Act would mean that in SEZ areas workers will have no rights to strike or even to form unions and organize collectively to bargain for better wages or working conditions.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;ECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The Ministry of Finance conducted a study, and came up with the figures that the cumulative revenue loss from tax holidays to SEZs over the period 2004-05 to 2009-10 is estimated to be 1,75,487 Cr.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The Ministry of Finance conducted a study, and came up with the figures that the cumulative revenue loss from tax holidays to SEZs over the period 2004-05 to 2009-10 is estimated to be 1,75,487 Cr.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * In its performance audit-report on indirect taxes for Union Government tabled in parliament on 11 March 2008, the CAG brought 370 SEZ units under scanner with a limited objective to verify if they had complied with existing Customs Act, Rules, notifications etc. The review brought out systemic as well as compliance weaknesses that caused lost revenues to the tune of Rs.246.72 crores.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Stated objectives remain unfulfilled?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce has admitted that 40% of the SEZs approved may never really &amp;quot;take off the ground&amp;quot; (Panos-Kalpavriksh media dialogue on SEZs -December 2008). Additionally the figures of 3.5 lakhs employment and 90,000 crores investment generated by SEZs are being questioned on their authenticity and efficacy since these have to be established through a detailed and independent evaluation.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Further the conditions of contract labour in SEZs are the most pathetic. Wages in existing SEZs are often below minimum. Sen and Dasgupta in a May 2007 survey found that in the NOIDA SEZ workers were getting Rs.80 a day for 9 hours of work. Likewise in Falta in West Bengal.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Indian policy has very little regulation on the activity within a zone. Notwithstanding claims of export-orientation, the only requirement imposed on SEZ units is a vague need for them to have a &amp;lsquo;positive net foreign exchange balance.&amp;#39; Even that only applies to industrial units in the zone. If the goal of SEZs is indeed exports surely a more stringent clause than merely &amp;quot;positive net foreign exchange&amp;quot; for the SEZ as a whole ought to be applied.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * It needs to be mentioned further that a great recession in the world economy is not a good omen for promoting SEZs, which will produce for an increasingly shrinking and protected export market. Also, it&amp;#39;s not specified what happens to a developer whose SEZ does not meet the export requirement.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Just like it&amp;#39;s not specified what the procedure for denotification is. The recession - and the accompanying demand for denotification by developers like DLF (SEZs) is exposing this loophole. In such cases what happens to the land? Will it be returned to farmers? If so, how?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The SEZ Act (Section 9, 11, 12 and 31) takes power back to the center and bureaucracy (by creating &amp;#39;Board of Approvals&amp;#39; and &amp;#39;Development Commissioner&amp;#39; and &amp;lsquo;SEZ Authority&amp;#39;, whose accountability is not certain.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The fact that the SEZs would have their own regulations, the rights for environmental and labour related clearances, security arrangements, means that they would be &amp;#39;self contained privatized autonomous entities&amp;#39;, where existing constitutional rights would be difficult to exercise.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The creation of separate courts for SEZs ridicules the existing judicial system. There is no clarity about how elections will be conducted, and what happens to the governing authority of the Gram Sabha/ Municipality, under the 73rd/74th amendments.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * There is no transparency in the guidelines formulated for selection, modification and rejection of SEZ proposals by the BoA.The Chairman of the Administrative reforms committee, M Veerappa Moily&amp;#39;s report on SEZs states that &amp;#39;We need to restructure the Board of Approval by putting in people who are objective and can take a balanced view.&amp;#39;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The Commerce Ministry had made public announcements of various studies/ comparison of SEZ with other countries. Mr. Kirit Somaya filed an RTI regarding this, and in the answer that was given stated - &amp;quot;study of export of nearby countries of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka was done. No other studies or scientific analysis available.&amp;quot;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The SEZ Act was passed in haste without much public debate.In both houses of Indian Democracy has passed this bill was passed within a day (10th and 11th May 2005) with virtually no discussion, undermining many of the objections that were raised.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Further, information that has been demanded from the Ministry of Commerce on the approved projects under the RTI Act, 2005 has been denied on the clause of maintaining &amp;quot;trade secrets&amp;quot;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * There is great deal of ambiguity and contradictions when one compares how environment clearances are dealt with in the EIA notification and the SEZ legislations.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * While it is units with the SEZs which are exempt from Environment Clearance public hearings, the SEZs itself are required to under go public hearing. However, there are cases like the Mundra SEZ where the Ministry of Environment has recommended that Public Hearing be exempted for the creation of the Multi Product SEZ.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;The CAG report on the Goa Industrial Development Corporation, referred to the Government of India in June 2008, concluded (direct quotes):&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Corporation deviated from its established role, of acquiring and allotting land directly to the entrepreneur, by allotting land to developers for further allotments by them&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Allotments were made without any transparent selection procedures&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Allotments to SEZs were made without publicising, that too before the State Government formulated its SEZ policy&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Land acquired for small and medium scale industries under IGC (Industrial Growth Centre) Scheme was allotted to SEZ violating GOI guidelines&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Revision of premium rate of Verna Phase IV (industrial estate proposed to house SEZs) only after major chunk was allotted at lower rate, tentatively fixed, resulted in loss of Rs. 36.89 crore&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Allotment of land contiguous to the land allotted to four SEZs at lesser rate resulted in loss of Rs. 39.47 crore&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Allotment of 14.36 lakh square metre land to two SEZ developers without adopting approved formula resulted in loss of Rs 17.76 crore&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;(Source: The Comptroller and Auditor General of India, Goa State Report, Chapter VII Government Commercial and Trading Activities)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;POINTS RAISED BY PARLIAMENTARY STANDING COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 1. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce of the previous government under the Chairman ship of Murli Manohar Joshi submitted its 83rd report on the &amp;#39;Functioning of SEZs&amp;#39; to the parliament on 20th June 2007.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 2. The most critical recommendation made by the committee included the need to &amp;#39;pause and ponder&amp;#39;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 3. The report clearly expressed concern about the fast pace at which approvals have been granted by the BoA despite apprehensions raised from all quarters.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 4. Parliamentary Standing committee slammed the Ministry of Commerce on the ground that at the time of the release of the 83rd report there were 152 formal approvals and 82 notifications by the Board of Approvals and there was no effort to put a halt on the approvals despite the committee&amp;#39;s recommendation to hold approvals till amendments were put in place.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 5. By the time the ATR was presented in the Rajya Sabha the total number of approved SEZs had crossed 500. The MoC has merely stated that it was in the process of getting a &amp;#39;scientific evaluation&amp;#39; done on the performance and impacts of SEZs.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 6. Most importantly the report criticised the escalation of displacement as a result of the large SEZs leading to displacement and speculation in many situations.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 7. Some of the other recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee which were brushed aside by the Ministry of Commerce in the ATR include:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 8. Region wise cap on the SEZ approvals to allow for balanced regional development of SEZs.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 9. Imposition of restrictions on unnecessary social infrastructure Linking of fiscal incentives to exports&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp; 10. Tax concessions in SEZs are similar to STPs and EoUs - then why is there are a need for SEZs?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp; 11. Re-look at delegation of Labour Commissioner&amp;#39;s powers to the Development Commissioner&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp; 12. 83rd report of the parliamentary standing committee on commerce &amp;#39;on the functioning of Special Economic Zones&amp;#39;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;**page**&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;FOR MORE PLEASE CLICK THE LINKS LISTED BELOW&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Paper presented at the National Seminar on &amp;#39;Special Economic Zones: Engines of Growth and Social Development for India: Present Problems and Future Prospects&amp;#39; (16 - 17 October &amp;#39;08 at Hyderabad) organised by the Department of Sociology, Osmania University.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sacw.net/article574.html&quot;&gt;http://www.sacw.net/article574.html&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;SEZ Act-2005&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cnisbss.org/Newsline/PDF/SEZ/SEZ%20Act,%202005.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.cnisbss.org/Newsline/PDF/SEZ/SEZ%20Act,%202005.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Fact Sheet on Special Economic Zones by GOI- MINISTRY OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://sezindia.nic.in/writereaddata/updates/FACT%20sheet.pdf&quot;&gt;http://sezindia.nic.in/writereaddata/updates/FACT%20sheet.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;List of operational SEZs&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://sezindia.nic.in/writereaddata/pdf/ListofoperationalSEZs.pdf&quot;&gt;http://sezindia.nic.in/writereaddata/pdf/ListofoperationalSEZs.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;List of Formal Approvals granted under the SEZ Act,2005 &lt;a href=&quot;http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp&quot;&gt;http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;In principle approvals granted under the SEZ Act, 2005- &lt;a href=&quot;http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp&quot;&gt;http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Statewise distribution of SEZs approved under the SEZ, Act, 2005- &lt;a href=&quot;http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp&quot;&gt;http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Sectorwise distribution of SEZs approved under the SEZ Act, 2005- &lt;a href=&quot;http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp&quot;&gt;http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;[inside]A critique of the National Policy for Rehabilitation and Resettlement (2007)[/inside] by Priyanca Mathur Velath,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;amp;do_pdf=1&amp;amp;id=7235&quot;&gt;http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;amp;do_pdf=1&amp;amp;id=7235&lt;/a&gt; show&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; *&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt; On October 11, 2007, the Union Government announced the National Policy for Rehabilitation and Resettlement 2007 (NPRR 2007), replacing the National Policy on Resettlement and Rehabilitation for Project-Affected Families, 2003.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The new policy fails to examine the process of displacement, which is taken for granted. The draft makes no attempt to question the need for displacement in the first place, or to seek out and actively promote non-displacing or least-displacing alternatives.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The timing and true intention of the new policy along with govt.&amp;#39;s declaration to amend the outdated Land Acquisition Act of 1894 are suspect.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Attempt to redefine the &amp;lsquo;public purpose&amp;#39; under the amendment to the land acquisition act actually favours private interest and big companies over the poor and marginalised.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Under the 2007 policy it has become simpler to required land for big companies as well as strategic and public infrastructure projects.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * &amp;#39;Public purpose&amp;#39; has been redefined to allow the state government to acquire land for a private company, association or body of individuals, provided it is &amp;#39;useful for general public&amp;#39;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * &amp;#39;Land for land&amp;#39; principle in the 2007 policy suffers from ambiguity, as land is being offered as compensation but &amp;#39;to the extent that government land is available in resettlement areas&amp;#39;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The policy outlines a number of benefits such as scholarships for the education of eligible people from affected families; preference for groups of cooperatives of affected persons in the allotment of contracts and other economic opportunities in and around the project site; housing benefits to landless affected families in both rural and urban areas; and wage employment to willing affected persons in construction work on the project. But the &amp;lsquo;employment guarantee&amp;#39; to one person from each nuclear family is &amp;lsquo;subject to the availability&amp;#39; of vacancies and &amp;lsquo;suitability of the affected person&amp;#39;. Such qualifying clauses as &amp;quot;if available&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;as far as possible&amp;quot; are widely used by project authorities and policymakers to shirk responsibility.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Conducting a Social Impact Assessment (SIA) has been made mandatory in the policy, but only if more than 400 families have been displaced in the plains areas and 200 in tribal, hilly and other scheduled areas. Why is the SIA mandatory only in projects above a certain size?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * There are provisions in the 2007 policy to introduce a Land Acquisition Compensation Settlement Authority (at the local level, removed from normal civil courts, to assist quick disposal of cases involving compensation disputes), a standing relief and rehabilitation authority at the district level, an ombudsman at the state level (to monitor rehabilitation under any project), a national monitoring committee and national monitoring cell (for effective monitoring of implementation of resettlement plans, with which state governments will have to share information) and a national rehabilitation commission (which will be empowered to exercise independent oversight over the rehabilitation and resettlement of affected families). Aggrieved persons can appeal to the high court and above against settlements decided by the Land Acquisition Compensation Settlement Authority. But the policy does not answer the crucial question as to whether these committees and commissions are empowered to stop a project from proceeding if there are indeed any discrepancies or issues of inadequate resettlement.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Resettlement rights must be guaranteed before any project begins and, in the event of faulty or inadequate resettlement, the project should be stopped from proceeding any further and the project developers held accountable. NPRR 2007 does not address any of these issues; nor does it give displaced persons &amp;lsquo;first rights&amp;#39; over the benefits of the project in question.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Positive points about the National Policy for Rehabilitation and Resettlement:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * This policy makes an important announcement that land acquired by the government will revert to the government in case the proposed project does not take off within five years of the acquisition. Since land is often acquired in excess of what is needed and later handed over to the developers for extraneous purposes like building hotels, parks and golf courses, this new clause is a positive one.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Another creditable clause in the new policy is that if the land is sold after the project has taken off, 80% of the net profit earned from the sale goes to the original landowner. Also, that land acquired for &amp;lsquo;public purpose&amp;#39; cannot be changed to any other purpose.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;The study by Planning Commission titled [inside]Dams, Displacement, Policy and Law in India[/inside],&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/art_dam.pdf&quot;&gt;http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/art_dam.pdf&lt;/a&gt; show:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * With the adoption of policies for planned development after freedom in India, a major priority for policymakers was the harnessing of the country&amp;#39;s water resources for irrigation and power. Large storage works such as the Bhakra, the Hirakud, the Tungabhadra and the Damodar Valley Dams were amongst the earliest projects undertaken in the post-Independence period in the country.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * A formidable body of independent empirical research into many of these large dams has established how their social, human and environmental costs have been ignored or grossly understated in the planning of these projects. Of the very many neglected costs of the big dams, some of the most grave are the social and human consequences of displacement.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * There are no reliable official statistics of the numbers of people displaced by large projects since Independence. Many researchers place their estimates between 10 and 25 million. In an influential 1989 study, Fernandes, Das and Rao provide an estimate of some 21 million displaced persons. Scholar-administrator Dr. N. C. Saxena, places his estimate of persons displaced by big projects since 1947 at nearly double this figure - 50 million.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * From the inception of planning of most projects, through various stages of displacement and resettlement, it is to be expected that those likely to be negatively affected by the projects would be consulted and kept informed in such a way as to enable them to best rebuild their ravaged lives. This, however, is very far from being the case. The studies have revealed that the level of information that the oustees had regarding the dam, submergence and subsequent displacement due to them, is lamentably low.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * It is only in recent years that, chiefly under the impact of people&amp;#39;s movements, project authorities, state governments and international funding agencies have accepted responsibility for rehabilitation-one that extends beyond the payment of monetary compensation for expropriated individual assets and the provision of house sites. This neglect of rehabilitation assumes the gravest aspect when seen in relation to older projects, particularly those that commenced or were concluded in the first three decades after Independence.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * It has been observed that the driving objective of project authorities has not been to prepare and assist the families to relocate and to make a gradual and less painful transition to their new habitats. Instead frequently the only objective is to vacate the submergence zone of what are perceived to be its human encumbrances, with the brute force of the state if necessary. The evacuation of the villages was carried out with brutal insensitivity towards the feelings of the villagers who, not unnaturally, were bewildered and distressed at being forced out of their homes.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Resettlement sites are often inhospitable in a number of ways and their locations are selected without reference to availability of livelihood opportunities, or the preferences of displaced persons themselves.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * With the destruction of community and social bonds, the displaced are mired in anomie and a profound sense of loneliness and helplessness. The inflow of money creates greater pressure on family bonds. The outcomes are psychological pathologies and alcoholism, common among displaced populations.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Arguably the most culpable aspect of state-induced impoverishment of displaced populations is the phenomenon of multiple displacements. It has been documented, for instance, that as a direct result of the lack of co-ordination between the multiplicity of irrigation, thermal power and coal-mining agencies in Singrauli, most oustees have been displaced at least twice, and some three or four times in a matter of two or three decades.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * A frequently neglected, but extremely serious problem, is the unwillingness of host populations to accept resettled oustees in their midst.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The vast majority of tribal people displaced by big projects face danger of extinction as traditionally they depend more on natural resources. They are pushed inexorably into a vortex of increasing assetlessness, unemployment, debt-bondage and hunger.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Any loss of access to traditional sources of livelihood - land, forest, sea, river, pasture, cattle or saltpan land - marginalizes women on the labour market. Women not only suffered in terms of health and nutrition, they also lost the capacity to provide a secure future for their children.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Another extremely vulnerable group of oustees is oustees without land, including landless agricultural workers. The only legal reparation to displaced persons recognised by the statutes in India is compensation for loss of assets that are compulsorily acquired by the state for what the state designates as a `public purpose&amp;#39;. However a landless family dependent on the acquired land for their livelihood may be most severely pauperised by the displacement because it loses its only source of economic survival. However, the law and most ehabilitation policies still do not recognise this profound vulnerability.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;**page**&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;[inside]Opposition to Big Dams: Lessons for Policy[/inside]&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Even before Independence, there were instances of anti-dam struggles such as the one led by Senapati Bapat in opposition to the Mulshi hydroelectric project in the Western Ghats.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The first large river valley project in India, Hirakud, resulted in widespread protests in 1946 after the initial notifications. People also launched a struggle against the Rihand project in 1963-64. However, such early protests could not be sustained, partly because of their failure to attract larger alliances, under the overwhelming influence of the nationalist rhetoric of nation-building that accompanied the construction of large dams in India.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The success of the mobilisation against the Silent Valley project, resulting in the decision to shelve the project in 1983, led to a new phase in the history of resistance to big dams in India.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Other notable early struggles against big dams were local movements opposed to the Suvarnarekha, Koel Karo and Srisailam projects.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The most celebrated protest movement against big dams so far has centred around the mega Sardar Sarovar Project on the river Narmada. A number of protest groups gathered under the leadership of activist Medha Patkar and in 1988, local resistance organisations federated into a common platform known as the Narmada Bachao Andolan (Save the Narmada Movement).&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * A significant development has been the revival of struggles by people displaced by dams completed years ago, such as on the Bargi (completed 1990), Koyna (1964), Tawa (1975) and Mahi-Kadana (1978). We have already noted the success at Bargi and Tawa to secure fishing rights for cooperative societies of oustees in the dam reservoirs.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * By ensuring that these voices are heard, these movements have succeeded in compelling governments, both central and state, and powerful funding agencies like the World Bank, to rethink their policies on displacement and rehabilitation.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Opponents of big dams have argued that big dams are part of a development strategy that intrinsically impoverishes and disempowers the poor. The opponents to big dams in India have also challenged the dominant orthodoxy that development,especially state-induced development, by necessity entails the human costs of displacement or involuntary resettlement.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Another important issue in the debate around big dams in India is the question of whether the state should retain the power to compulsorily acquire private land for development projects without the consent of the owner or owners of such land.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The next issue in the debate is the nature and extent of state responsibility for the rehabilitation of the displaced. It is chiefly under the impact of people&amp;#39;s movements, supported by painstaking empirical social science research, that the state has in recent times acknowledged that its responsibility for rehabilitation to extend beyond the payment of market value for compulsorily acquired assets. However, the state in India has continued to resist the laying down of the nature of its precise responsibilities for rehabilitation in the form of even a comprehensive policy statement, let alone legislating the right to rehabilitation as a legally enforceable right.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Displacement and Rehabilitation: Suggested Directions for Policy&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Objectives of any just and equitable law and policy dealing with the colossal social and human impacts of big dams cannot be limited only to minimising the trauma of displacement, and ensuring the just resettlement of the victims of displacement. It must incorporate the objective to end, or severely curtail, displacement itself, to no longer accept state-induced involuntary resettlement as an inevitable cost of all development projects. It must enable people to effectively challenge as equal partners, a form of development which takes for granted the inevitability of displacement.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * It is incumbent upon the government before the launching of the project to justify that in the light of various technical and locational options, this is the least displacing alternative available. This claim should also be justiciable.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * It is imperative that the population likely to be affected by the acquisition be involved in the process from the time that decisions are sought to be made about where a project is to be located. They should be given full information to help them participate in decisions about whether the stated purpose is a public purpose; to explore options which may be less displacing; to work out the costs it involves for them; ando find out how they may gain from the process of change that the acquisition will bring.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Another institutional mechanism to limit displacement is to ensure that in the planning of any project the social and human costs are more accurately assessed and internalised in the cost-benefit analysis of the project.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Compensation, Resettlement and Rehabilitation&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The policy of rehabilitation must contain safeguards for detailed advance planning for rehabilitation.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * All persons whose source of livelihood, place of residence or other property is affected notwithstanding the legal status enjoyed by them in relation to the concerned location of the resource base for their livelihood and subsistence, shall be deemed to be project affected persons (PAPs).&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * If the guiding principle of rehabilitation is that displaced persons should become better off than they were in the past, one proviso that needs to be firmly embedded in the law is that compensation must be paid not at market but at replacement value.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The second guiding principle for assessment and payment of compensation should be that it is not only the loss of assets but also, far more significantly, the loss of livelihoods that must be compensated.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * A third guiding principle is that any displaced person must be fully compensated before displacement from land, house or livelihood is executed.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * If the objectives of rehabilitation of persons displaced as a result of large dams is to ensure that they are not only better off, but are direct project beneficiaries, then at the heart of such a strategy must be a policy of replacing agricultural land and agriculture-based livelihoods with alternate agricultural land of viable size and productivity and with appropriate complements of credit and input assistance.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Simultaneously, the scope for complementary non land-based livelihoods should also be explored along with land-based strategies. One such livelihood opportunity that is always created as a by-product of any large dam project is fresh-water fishing in the large reservoir.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The resettlement sites for displaced tribal families should be selected with great care and in consultation with the traditional/elected leaders or representatives of the displaced families as well as host populations, and established local NGOs. Efforts should be made to ensure that all tribal families of ousted villages are resettled together in a particular area.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Women headed households or single women should not be discriminated against in eligibility for benefits.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Still we are left with the most difficult issue of displaced persons from older dams. It has been estimated that as many as 3 out of every 4 persons displaced by big dams in India have been rendered worse off than they were before. Some reparation must be made, some attempt to rebuild so many millions of broken lives.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;The study titled [inside]Environment of Land Diversion, Displacement and Rehabilitation: A Study of Indian SEZs[/inside], &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf&lt;/a&gt; show:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * India has adopted the policy of promoting the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) for faster industrial development. It needs about 50,000 hectares of agricultural land for SEZs and 1.49 lakh hectares for all projects which include also industrial, mining, irrigation and infrastructural projects.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Farmers in many parts of the country are resisting for land diversion and acquisition for these purposes.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Land especially agricultural land in India, is a very delicate subject and has been an emotional issue ever since the Zamindari days. Land is livelihood of millions of people. Not only the immediate owners of the land are affected because of land shifting, but also share-croppers or daily wage labourers who forgo their living through a scant, but reasonably reliable source of income.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * While acquiring the land the government agency normally fixes the market value of land much below the prevailing rate in the open market.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * India ratified the ILO Indigenous and Tribal Populations Convention, 1957 in 1958. This Convention deals primarily with the protection and integration of indigenous, tribal and semi-tribal groups. The Convention provides that where as an exceptional measure tribal groups are removed from their land they should be provided with lands of quality at least equal to that of the lands previously occupied by them. It goes on to provide that they should be compensated for any &amp;quot;resulting injury or loss&amp;quot;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The UN Guiding Principles on Internally Displaced Persons, 1998 is meant to serve as an international standard to guide governments as well as international humanitarian and development agencies in providing assistance and protection to IDPs. They provide protection against arbitrary displacement, offer a basis for protection and assistance during displacement, and set forth guarantees for safe return, resettlement and reintegration.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The Land Acquisition Act, 1894 of India is the primary legislation that provides for acquisition of land. But this Act has been criticized &amp;quot;for considering land only as a commodity generating income&amp;quot;. However, when a family is settled on a piece of land not only does it earn its livelihood from it but it also has a whole social network.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2007 puts provisions for &amp;quot;rehabilitation and resettlement of persons affected by acquisition of land under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894&amp;quot; or due to any other legislation by the Central or State governments or involuntary displacement due to any other reason. The Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 6 December 2007 and has since been referred to the Standing Committee on Rural Development.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * National Rehabilitation and Resettlement Policy, 2007 came in order to solve issues arising out of policies of economic liberalization/de-regularization. The NRRP, 2007 has come into force from Oct. 2007. The new policy is applicable to all affected persons and families whose land, property or livelihood are adversely affected by land acquisition or by involuntary displacement of a permanent nature due to any other reason.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Now, by and large there is unanimity that no development can be accepted at the cost of social equity. Land acquisition needs total reform and rehabilitation package. Land owners, should get adequate compensation of their land.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;According to the study titled: [inside]Large Dam Projects and Displacement in India[/inside], &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The government of India does not have figures of people displaced by large dams. This fact is the biggest sign of the fact that displacement and resettlement of people is the least concern of large dam builders.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * India is the third largest dam builder country in the world. It now has over 3600 large dams and over 700 more under construction.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The large dams are the single largest cause of displacement in India.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * A World Bank review of the status of displacement and rehabilitation has shown that the displacement of as many as 0.6 million people across 192 projects had not been accounted for in project planning. In at least one instance, the number of people actually displaced was seven times the number stated in the project documents.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Often only reservoir displacement is taken into account. Whereas Large dam projects can displace people in a number of ways including due to colonies, due to canals, downstream impacts, catchment area treatment, compensatory afforestation, secondary displacement (at resettlement colonies, for example) and due to related conservation schemes like sanctuaries and national parks.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Displacement due to dams in India has been variously estimated. Fernandes, Das &amp;amp; Rao (1989) claimed that Indians displaced by dam projects numbered 21 million.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Available estimates of people displaced by large and medium dams in India show that the 140 dams for which such figures are available, have displaced over 4.4 million people.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;The study titled [inside]Right to displace, but no duty to rehabilitate (A critique of the Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2007)[/inside].&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.indiatogether.org/2008/jan/law-resettle.htm&quot;&gt;http://www.indiatogether.org/2008/jan/law-resettle.htm&lt;/a&gt; shows:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The bill seems to be based on the premise that the acquiring land for a &amp;#39;public purpose&amp;#39; is a right by the state under its powers of eminent domain, but it accepts no duty to resettle and rehabilitate all the affected citizens. Instead, rehabilitation is presented as an act of benevolence.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2007 seeks to &amp;quot;provide for the rehabilitation and resettlement of persons affected by the acquisition of land for projects of public purpose or involuntary displacement due to any other reason&amp;quot;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The bill came at a time when concerted efforts were about to begin made by both the central and state governments to increase economic activity through the deployment of domestic and foreign private capital on a gigantic scale in new infrastructure and industry.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The history of large scale land acquisition and consequent displacement goes back to the 1950s, when the newly independent republic embarked on large state owned projects for irrigation, power, steel and heavy engineering that were meant to occupy the &amp;#39;towering heights of the economy&amp;#39;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Land for even such gigantic projects was (and continues to be) acquired using the coercive powers provided by the colonial Land Acquisition Act. It narrowly defined persons affected by an acquisition to be either land owners or occupiers (tenants), and limited compensation to purely monetary terms.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Even those who were compensated monetarily were hard put to replace their lost land assets and regain their means of livelihood. In the absence of any rehabilitation plan, people displaced by Hirakud dam project occupied whatever open lands they could locate. These lands were not legally theirs, making them vulnerable to constant harassment by officials.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The Narmada Sardar Sarovar project is illustrative of how things have changed over the last six decades. Struggle against displacement by the PAPs led by Narmada Bachao Andolan contributed immensely to change the discourse of the development and displacement.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * But the experience of the Sardar Sarovar and many other projects over the last 60 years reveals the inadequacy of R&amp;amp;R policy - at the project, company, state or even national level- to address the legal neglect of displacement and the rights of the affected people, particularly those without land or tenancy.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * These are some of the issues that came under debate as the Rehabilitation and Resettlement bill 2007 was introduced.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The bill prescribes conditions for project affected families to qualify as beneficiaries and makes the benefits themselves conditional on external circumstances.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Under the provisions of the bill, an area will be notified as an &amp;#39;affected area&amp;#39; &amp;quot;where the appropriate Government is of the opinion that there is likely to be involuntary displacement of four hundred or more families en masse in plain areas&amp;quot; (the number is less for hilly and tribal areas).&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Thus the opinion of the Government on the scale of the displacement will decide if there will be planned R&amp;amp;R of the displaced.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * There are many other conditions attached to the benefits.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * While acquiring land for a &amp;#39;public purpose&amp;#39;, with its attendant displacement and denial of livelihood, is claimed as a right of the state under its powers of eminent domain, the R&amp;amp;R bill does not accept that it is the unconditional duty of the state to resettle and rehabilitate all the affected citizens so that they are able to maintain, if not improve, their current standard of living.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;**page**&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;The paper by Jaideep Hardikar, published in &amp;lsquo;Infochange&amp;#39; titled [inside]The destruction of &amp;#39;development&amp;#39;[/inside],&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;amp;do_pdf=1&amp;amp;id=6161&quot;&gt;http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;amp;do_pdf=1&amp;amp;id=6161&lt;/a&gt;, does not go into depths and details, but it gives a bird&amp;#39;s views of the problem.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Main Points:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Since independence at least 50 million people in India have been displaced by dams, mines, thermal power plants, corridor projects, field firing ranges, express highways, airports, national parks, sanctuaries, industrial townships, even poultry farms. They continue to pay the price for India&amp;#39;s &amp;#39;development&amp;#39;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * These may be conservative figures. Because displacement is usually only understood as direct displacement from land, such figures exclude many groups who are affected but who do not own land.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * A vast majority are landless and marginal farmers, mostly tribal, dalit or other economically backward communities. One study suggests that roughly one in every ten Indian tribals is a displaced person. Tribals constitute 8% of the country&amp;#39;s population, and more than 40% of the displaced persons.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Displacement by mines or thermal power plants is perhaps less visible than the forced movements of people triggered by dams. The acquisition takes place in phases. The would-be oustees are the last ones to know about their eviction by mines. This gives them little or no chance of resistance or coming together to bargain for a better rehabilitation package.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * As things stand today, there&amp;#39;s no region in the country where people haven&amp;#39;t been displaced by development projects. And there&amp;#39;s no region in the country where you would find people rehabilitated according to their aspirations and priorities.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;[inside]World Bank: Resettlement and Rehabilitation (R&amp;amp;R) Policy[/inside]&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;The World Bank has a policy for Resettlement and Rehabilitation (R&amp;amp;R),&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.his.com/~mesas/policy.htm&quot;&gt;http://www.his.com/~mesas/policy.htm&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;The Bank&amp;#39;s present policy is contained in the document &amp;quot;Involuntary Resettlement,&amp;quot; Operational Directive (OD) 4.30, adopted June 1990. According to the WB, the objective of its resettlement policy is to ensure that the population displaced by a project receives benefits from it.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;The WB says, &amp;quot;Development projects that displace people involuntarily generally give rise to severe economic, social, and environmental problems.&amp;quot;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Its R&amp;amp;R policy emphasizes the need for:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Minimizing involuntary resettlement;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Providing people displaced by a project with the means to improve, or at least restore, their former living standards, earning capacity, and production levels;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Involving both re-settlers and hosts in resettlement activities;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * A time-bound resettlement plan; and&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Valuation and compensation principles for land and other assets affected by the project.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;For environmental point of view, the World Bank has categorised the projects into three groups. According to this, Group &amp;quot;A&amp;quot; projects need a full environmental assessment (EA). Category B projects do not require a full EA but do require some environmental analysis. Category C projects do not require environmental analysis.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Category A projects are:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Dams and reservoirs;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Forestry production projects;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Industrial plants (large-scale) and industrial estates;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Irrigation, drainage, and flood control (large-scale);&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Land clearance and levelling;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Mineral development (including oil and gas);&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Port and harbour development;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Reclamation and new land development;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Resettlement and all projects with potentially major impacts on people;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * River basin development;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Thermal and hydropower development; and&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Manufacture, transportation, and use of pesticides or other hazardous and/or toxic materials.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Category B projects are:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Agro-industries (small-scale);&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Electrical transmission;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Aquaculture and mariculture;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Irrigation and drainage (small-scale);&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Renewable energy;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Rural electrification;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Tourism;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Rural water supply and sanitation;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Watershed projects (management or rehabilitation); and&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Rehabilitation, maintenance, and upgrading projects (small-scale).&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Category C projects might be:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Education,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Family planning,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Health,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Nutrition,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Institutional development,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Technical assistance, and&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Most human resource projects.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;**page**&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;[inside]Imagining a Post-Development Era? Critical thought, Development and Social Movements by Arturo Escobar[/inside] is a paper, which gives a fair idea of debates on developments till 1960s and afterwards. This is an important reading for a deeper understanding of evolution of concepts of developments in last few decades. As there is a cause and effect relationship between development projects and displacement, therefore while looking into the issue of displacement it is desirable to have an understanding of this whole debate on development.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Main Points:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Nowadays it has become difficult to talk about development with the same confidence and encompassing scope with which intellectuals and activists spoke about these vital matters in the past decades. Now there are differing views. When one speaks about development, other voices emphasize on the &amp;quot;crisis of development&amp;quot;. The &amp;quot;new social actors&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;new social movements&amp;quot; are raising fundamental questions on the conventional sense of development.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * To examine development as discourse requires understanding why so many countries started to see themselves as underdeveloped, and, how &amp;quot;to develop&amp;quot; became for them a fundamental problem.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * In the previous period, from the early post-War years to the end of the 1970s, development was chiefly a matter of capital, technology, and education and the appropriate policy and planning mechanisms to successfully combine these elements.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Resistance, on the other hand, was primarily a class issue and a question of imperialism. Nowadays, even imperialism and class are thought to be the object of innumerable mediations. Now we come across new ways of thinking on these issues, especially in relation to social movements.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * With the emergence of the new critique it is being argued that development has been an invention and strategy produced by the &amp;quot;First World&amp;quot; about the &amp;quot;underdevelopment&amp;quot; of the &amp;quot;Third World.&amp;quot; Largely, it has been an instrument of economic control over the physical and social reality of much of Asia, Africa and Latin America.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * These schools of thought now are now advocating for &amp;quot;alternatives to development&amp;quot; that needs transformation of the notions of development, modernity and the economy.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The number of scholars in the Third World says that rather than searching for development alternatives, there is a need to go for the &amp;quot;alternatives to development,&amp;quot; that is, a rejection of the entire earlier paradigm.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * In the Third World the process of needs interpretation and satisfaction is inextricably linked to the development apparatus. The &amp;quot;basic human needs&amp;quot; strategy, pushed by the World Bank and adopted by most international agencies, has played a crucial role in this regard. However, the critics say that this strategy is based on a liberal human rights discourse and on the rational, scientific assessment and measurement of &amp;quot;needs&amp;quot;; lacking a significant link to people&amp;#39;s everyday experience, and &amp;quot;basic human needs&amp;quot; discourse does not foster greater political participation.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * This paper argues that the possibility for redefining development rests largely with the action of social movements. Though the paper in most of its parts has discussed the Latin American experiences, it has significance for whole Third World.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;The [inside]main provisions under Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act (MMDR Act)[/inside] are as follows:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://mines.gov.in/policy/noticeapril.pdf&quot;&gt;http://mines.gov.in/policy/noticeapril.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.prsindia.org/uploads/media/draft/Draft%20Mines%20and%20Minerals%20Bill_31%20March%202010.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.prsindia.org/uploads/media/draft/Draft%20Mines%20and%20Minerals%20Bill_31%20March%202010.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;A background and critique:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl2714/stories/20100716271402500.htm&quot;&gt;http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl2714/stories/20100716271402500.htm&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The 1957 Act has outlived its utility despite the several amendments made to it up to 1999. The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation Act, 1957, came into force at a time when governments required much discretionary power to regulate a nascent mining sector. The rise of the market economy in the early 1990s brought about a fundamental change in the government&amp;#39;s attitude to mining.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The National Mineral Policy, 1993, recognised the need to encourage private investment, including foreign direct investment (FDI), and to attract state-of-the-art technology in the mineral sector.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Mining is a three-stage operation, involving regional exploration, detailed exploration, and actual mining.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Procedural delay was identified as one of the impediments in encouraging the flow of private investment and in the introduction of high-end technology for exploration and mining. The Anwarul Hoda Committee, constituted by the Planning Commission in 2005, in its report submitted in 2006 made specific recommendations on the legal framework to avoid procedural delay.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The New Mining Policy (NMP) 2008, while reflecting these recommendations, also sought to develop a sustainable framework for optimum utilisation of mineral resources for industrial growth and for improving the life of people living in the mining areas.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The proposed Act makes significant departures from the existing Act in areas that were seen as instances of micromanagement.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * As per the proposed Act, the union Ministry for mines and minerals give up its &amp;quot;prior approval&amp;quot; power in grant of concessions for minerals in Part C of the First Schedule. In the proposed Act, Part C includes 74 major minerals, while Part A includes coal and lignite and Part B atomic minerals. Part C of the First Schedule of the existing Act includes only 10 metallic and non-metallic minerals.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The proposed Act envisages the setting up of a national mining tribunal, which can check independently decisions as also indecision and delays. It gives more teeth to the Indian Bureau of Mines to regulate the mining plan and mine closure and empowers the Central government to enforce disclosure through databases and websites.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The draft Bill allows the setting up of a national mineral royalty commission with State governments as members, for progressive solutions for revenue-sharing through royalty.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The proposed Act provides for stringent measures to prevent illegal mining. It empowers State governments to detect, prevent and prosecute cases of illegal mining, set up special courts to try such cases and declare those convicted as ineligible for grant of mining concessions.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * One of the consistent demands of the steel industry has been the reservation of mineral-bearing areas for public sector undertakings. The proposed Act rejects this demand, consistent with the Hoda Committee&amp;#39;s recommendation that reservation goes against the principles of providing a level playing field.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The draft Bill guarantees assured annuity to the local population as a percentage of profits (26 per cent) earned by the miner, resettlement and rehabilitation of the local population through employment and skill enhancement.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * It also provides for compulsory consultation with gram sabha/district panchayats in tribal areas before notification of the area for grant of concessions, and preference to tribal cooperatives in the grant of concessions over small deposits.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;According to a report named [inside]SEZs and land acquisition FACTSHEET FOR AN UNCONSTITUTIONAL ECONOMIC POLICY[/inside] Prepared by Citizens&amp;#39; Research Collective&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;SEZ - DISPLACEMENT AND LOSS OF LIVELIHOODS&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Estimates show that close to 114,000 farming households (each household on an average comprising five members) and an additional 82,000 farm worker families who are dependent upon these farms for their livelihoods, will be displaced.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * In other words, at least 10 lakh (1,000,000) people who primarily depend upon agriculture for their survival will face eviction. Experts calculate that the total loss of income to the farming and the farm worker families is at least Rs. 212 crores a year.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * This does not include other income lost (for instance of artisans) due to the demise of local rural economies. The government promises &amp;lsquo;humane&amp;#39; displacement followed by relief and rehabilitation.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * However, the historical record does not offer any room for hope on this count: an estimated 40 million people (of which nearly 40% are Adivasis and 25% Dalits) have lost their land since 1950 on account of displacement due to large development projects. At least 75% of them still await rehabilitation.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Almost 80% of the agricultural population owns only about 17% of the total agriculture land, making them near landless farmers. Far more families and communities depend on a piece of land (for work, grazing) than those who simply own it. However, compensation is being discussed only for those who hold titles to land. No compensation has been planned for those who don&amp;#39;t.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;LOSS OF PUBLIC REVENUE&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Exemptions from customs duties, income tax, sales tax, excise duties and service tax (even on luxury hotel facilities, shopping malls, health clubs and recreation centres) given to SEZs, the Finance ministry estimates a loss of Rs.1,60,000 crore till 2010 in revenue. (The Ministry has also asked for capping the number of SEZs at 100.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Finance Minister P. Chidambaram wrote to Cabinet colleagues saying: &amp;quot;SEZs per se will distort land, capital, and labour cost, which will encourage relocation or shifting of industries in clever ways that can&amp;#39;t be stopped. This will be further aggravated by the proliferation of a large number of SEZs in and around metros.&amp;quot;)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The foregone tax revenue every year is five times the annual allocation for the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and is enough to feed each year 55 million people who go to bed hungry every day.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Furthermore, given the concessions on import duties (not merely for the investors who will produce exportable items but also for the developer, who will not), there are likely to be foreign exchange losses (rather than gains).&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * For the five year period ending 1996-97 the foreign exchange outgo on imports made by units in SEZs and the customs duty forgone amounted to Rs.16461.58 crore against which exports of only Rs.13563.87 crore were reported.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Moreover, these zones are exempt from sales tax, octroi, mandi tax etc on the supply of the goods from the Domestic Tariff Area (rest of India).&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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&amp;nbsp;

&amp;bull; Section 105 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, which provides for excluding 13 Central legislation, including Land Acquisition (Mines) Act 1885, Atomic Energy Act, 1962, Railway Act...&#039;
$disp = &#039;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;KEY TRENDS&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div&gt;&amp;bull; Section 105 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, which provides for excluding 13 Central legislation, including Land Acquisition (Mines) Act 1885, Atomic Energy Act, 1962, Railway Act 1989, National Highways Act 1956 and Metro Railways (Construction of Works) Act, 1978, from its purview, has been amended for payment of compensation with rigours $&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;bull; The amendments have now relaxed the requirements of consent and Social Impact Assessment survey for projects in following areas: 1. Defence and defence production; 2. Rural infrastructure (including rural electrification); 3. Affordable housing; 4. Industrial corridors; 5. Social infrastructure projects including PPPs in which ownership rests with the government $&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&amp;bull; The Standing Committee report on Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011 (submitted on 17 May, 2012) recommended that land may not be acquired for use by private companies and PPPs. The Committee recommended including &amp;ldquo;infrastructure projects&amp;rdquo; within the definition of public purpose. Since sale and purchase of land is a state subject, the threshold for R&amp;amp;R provisions shall be fixed by the states and not the central government. Restriction on land acquisition should also apply to any land under agricultural cultivation. No central act should be exempted from the provisions of the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011 and necessary amendments should be brought in those Acts to bring them at par with this Bill. The Committee recommended that if acquired land is left unutilized for 5 years, the land should be returned to the land owners &amp;alpha;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;bull; India is the third largest dam builder country in the world. It now has over 3600 large dams and over 700 more under construction*&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;bull; Displacement due to dams in India has been variously estimated. Fernandes, Das &amp;amp; Rao (1989) claimed that Indians displaced by dam projects numbered 21 million*&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;bull; Available estimates of people displaced by large and medium dams in India show that the 140 dams for which such figures are available, have displaced over 4.4 million people*&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;bull; Many researchers estimated that the number of people displaced due to big projects comes between 10 and 25 million. In an influential 1989 study, Fernandes, Das and Rao provide an estimate of some 21 million displaced persons. Scholar-administrator Dr. N. C. Saxena, places his estimate of persons displaced by big projects since 1947 at nearly double this figure &amp;mdash; 50 million**&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;bull; India has adopted the policy of promoting the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) for faster industrial development. It needs about 50,000 hectares of agricultural land for SEZs and 1.49 lakh hectares for all projects which include also industrial, mining, irrigation and infrastructural projects***&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;bull; The Land Acquisition Act, 1894 of India is the primary legislation that provides for acquisition of land***&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;bull; Since independence at least 50 million people in India have been displaced by dams, mines, thermal power plants, corridor projects, field firing ranges, express highways, airports, national parks, sanctuaries, industrial townships, even poultry farms@&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Sources:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;$&amp;nbsp;Amendments to the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, Press Information Bureau, dated: 29 December 2014 (Please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Land_act_amendments.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Land Act amendments&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Land_act_amendments.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Land Act amendments&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access)&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;alpha; &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Summary%20of%20the%20Standing%20Committee%20recommendations.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Summary of the Standing Committee recommendations&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Summary%20of%20the%20Standing%20Committee%20recommendations.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Summary of the Standing Committee recommendations&quot;&gt;Standing Committee Report Summary&lt;/a&gt;, PRS Legislative Research&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;* Large Dam Projects and Displacement in India,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;**&amp;nbsp; Planning Commission titled Dams, Displacement, Policy and Law in India,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/art_dam.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/art_dam.pdf&quot;&gt;http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/a&lt;br /&gt;rt_dam.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;*** Environment of Land Diversion, Displacement and Rehabilitation: A Study of Indian SEZs,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;@ The destruction of &amp;#39;development&amp;#39; by Jaideep Hardikar, Infochange&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;amp;do_pdf=1&amp;amp;id=6161&quot; title=&quot;http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;amp;do_pdf=1&amp;amp;id=6161&quot;&gt;http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;a&lt;br /&gt;mp;do_pdf=1&amp;amp;id=6161&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&#039;
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                <strong>Displacement</strong></h1>
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                <p><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">KEY TRENDS</span></p><p>&nbsp;</p><div>&bull; Section 105 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, which provides for excluding 13 Central legislation, including Land Acquisition (Mines) Act 1885, Atomic Energy Act, 1962, Railway Act 1989, National Highways Act 1956 and Metro Railways (Construction of Works) Act, 1978, from its purview, has been amended for payment of compensation with rigours $<br /><br />&bull; The amendments have now relaxed the requirements of consent and Social Impact Assessment survey for projects in following areas: 1. Defence and defence production; 2. Rural infrastructure (including rural electrification); 3. Affordable housing; 4. Industrial corridors; 5. Social infrastructure projects including PPPs in which ownership rests with the government $</div><p>&nbsp;</p><div><p>&nbsp;</p></div><div>&bull; The Standing Committee report on Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011 (submitted on 17 May, 2012) recommended that land may not be acquired for use by private companies and PPPs. The Committee recommended including &ldquo;infrastructure projects&rdquo; within the definition of public purpose. Since sale and purchase of land is a state subject, the threshold for R&amp;R provisions shall be fixed by the states and not the central government. Restriction on land acquisition should also apply to any land under agricultural cultivation. No central act should be exempted from the provisions of the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011 and necessary amendments should be brought in those Acts to bring them at par with this Bill. The Committee recommended that if acquired land is left unutilized for 5 years, the land should be returned to the land owners &alpha;<br /><br />&bull; India is the third largest dam builder country in the world. It now has over 3600 large dams and over 700 more under construction*<br /><br />&bull; Displacement due to dams in India has been variously estimated. Fernandes, Das &amp; Rao (1989) claimed that Indians displaced by dam projects numbered 21 million*<br /><br />&bull; Available estimates of people displaced by large and medium dams in India show that the 140 dams for which such figures are available, have displaced over 4.4 million people*<br /><br />&bull; Many researchers estimated that the number of people displaced due to big projects comes between 10 and 25 million. In an influential 1989 study, Fernandes, Das and Rao provide an estimate of some 21 million displaced persons. Scholar-administrator Dr. N. C. Saxena, places his estimate of persons displaced by big projects since 1947 at nearly double this figure &mdash; 50 million**<br /><br />&bull; India has adopted the policy of promoting the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) for faster industrial development. It needs about 50,000 hectares of agricultural land for SEZs and 1.49 lakh hectares for all projects which include also industrial, mining, irrigation and infrastructural projects***<br /><br />&bull; The Land Acquisition Act, 1894 of India is the primary legislation that provides for acquisition of land***<br /><br />&bull; Since independence at least 50 million people in India have been displaced by dams, mines, thermal power plants, corridor projects, field firing ranges, express highways, airports, national parks, sanctuaries, industrial townships, even poultry farms@<br /><br /><strong><em>Sources:</em></strong></div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>$&nbsp;Amendments to the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, Press Information Bureau, dated: 29 December 2014 (Please <a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Land_act_amendments.pdf" title="Land Act amendments" title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Land_act_amendments.pdf" title="Land Act amendments">click here</a> to access)</div><div>&nbsp;<br />&alpha; <a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Summary%20of%20the%20Standing%20Committee%20recommendations.pdf" title="Summary of the Standing Committee recommendations" title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Summary%20of%20the%20Standing%20Committee%20recommendations.pdf" title="Summary of the Standing Committee recommendations">Standing Committee Report Summary</a>, PRS Legislative Research<br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small">* Large Dam Projects and Displacement in India,</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small"><a href="http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf" title="http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf">http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf</a> </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small">**&nbsp; Planning Commission titled Dams, Displacement, Policy and Law in India,</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small"><a href="http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/art_dam.pdf" title="http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/art_dam.pdf">http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/a<br />rt_dam.pdf</a> </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small">*** Environment of Land Diversion, Displacement and Rehabilitation: A Study of Indian SEZs,</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small"><a href="http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf" title="http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf">http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf</a> </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small">@ The destruction of &#39;development&#39; by Jaideep Hardikar, Infochange</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small"><a href="http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;do_pdf=1&amp;id=6161" title="http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;do_pdf=1&amp;id=6161">http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&a<br />mp;do_pdf=1&amp;id=6161</a> </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small"><a href="http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf" title="http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf">http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf</a> </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">               </font>
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    <link rel="canonical" href="https://im4change.in/<pre class="cake-error"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67eb7b2b9e74a-trace').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67eb7b2b9e74a-trace').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none');"><b>Notice</b> (8)</a>: Undefined variable: urlPrefix [<b>APP/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp</b>, line <b>8</b>]<div id="cakeErr67eb7b2b9e74a-trace" class="cake-stack-trace" style="display: none;"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67eb7b2b9e74a-code').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67eb7b2b9e74a-code').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Code</a> <a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67eb7b2b9e74a-context').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67eb7b2b9e74a-context').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Context</a><pre id="cakeErr67eb7b2b9e74a-code" class="cake-code-dump" style="display: none;"><code><span style="color: #000000"><span style="color: #0000BB"></span><span style="color: #007700">&lt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">head</span><span style="color: #007700">&gt;
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		&#039;id&#039; =&gt; (int) 3192,
		&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;Displacement&#039;,
		&#039;subheading&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;KEY TRENDS&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;bull; Section 105 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, which provides for excluding 13 Central legislation, including Land Acquisition (Mines) Act 1885, Atomic Energy Act, 1962, Railway Act 1989, National Highways Act 1956 and Metro Railways (Construction of Works) Act, 1978, from its purview, has been amended for payment of compensation with rigours $&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; The amendments have now relaxed the requirements of consent and Social Impact Assessment survey for projects in following areas: 1. Defence and defence production; 2. Rural infrastructure (including rural electrification); 3. Affordable housing; 4. Industrial corridors; 5. Social infrastructure projects including PPPs in which ownership rests with the government $&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;bull; The Standing Committee report on Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011 (submitted on 17 May, 2012) recommended that land may not be acquired for use by private companies and PPPs. The Committee recommended including &amp;ldquo;infrastructure projects&amp;rdquo; within the definition of public purpose. Since sale and purchase of land is a state subject, the threshold for R&amp;amp;R provisions shall be fixed by the states and not the central government. Restriction on land acquisition should also apply to any land under agricultural cultivation. No central act should be exempted from the provisions of the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011 and necessary amendments should be brought in those Acts to bring them at par with this Bill. The Committee recommended that if acquired land is left unutilized for 5 years, the land should be returned to the land owners &amp;alpha;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; India is the third largest dam builder country in the world. It now has over 3600 large dams and over 700 more under construction*&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; Displacement due to dams in India has been variously estimated. Fernandes, Das &amp;amp; Rao (1989) claimed that Indians displaced by dam projects numbered 21 million*&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; Available estimates of people displaced by large and medium dams in India show that the 140 dams for which such figures are available, have displaced over 4.4 million people*&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; Many researchers estimated that the number of people displaced due to big projects comes between 10 and 25 million. In an influential 1989 study, Fernandes, Das and Rao provide an estimate of some 21 million displaced persons. Scholar-administrator Dr. N. C. Saxena, places his estimate of persons displaced by big projects since 1947 at nearly double this figure &amp;mdash; 50 million**&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; India has adopted the policy of promoting the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) for faster industrial development. It needs about 50,000 hectares of agricultural land for SEZs and 1.49 lakh hectares for all projects which include also industrial, mining, irrigation and infrastructural projects***&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; The Land Acquisition Act, 1894 of India is the primary legislation that provides for acquisition of land***&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; Since independence at least 50 million people in India have been displaced by dams, mines, thermal power plants, corridor projects, field firing ranges, express highways, airports, national parks, sanctuaries, industrial townships, even poultry farms@&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Sources:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;$&amp;nbsp;Amendments to the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, Press Information Bureau, dated: 29 December 2014 (Please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Land_act_amendments.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Land Act amendments&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access)&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;alpha; &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Summary%20of%20the%20Standing%20Committee%20recommendations.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Summary of the Standing Committee recommendations&quot;&gt;Standing Committee Report Summary&lt;/a&gt;, PRS Legislative Research&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;* Large Dam Projects and Displacement in India,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;**&amp;nbsp; Planning Commission titled Dams, Displacement, Policy and Law in India,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/art_dam.pdf&quot;&gt;http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/art_dam.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;*** Environment of Land Diversion, Displacement and Rehabilitation: A Study of Indian SEZs,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;@ The destruction of &amp;#39;development&amp;#39; by Jaideep Hardikar, Infochange&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;amp;do_pdf=1&amp;amp;id=6161&quot;&gt;http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;amp;do_pdf=1&amp;amp;id=6161&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;**page**&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Second Ordinance 2015.pdf&quot; title=&quot;The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Second Ordinance 2015&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access [inside]The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Second Ordinance 2015[/inside], dated 30 May, 2015&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Second Amendment) Bill 2015.pdf&quot; title=&quot;The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Second Amendment) Bill 2015&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access [inside]The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Second Amendment) Bill 2015[/inside]&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/RFCTLARR%20Act%20(Amendment)%20Ordinance,%202014.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Amended Land Acquisition Act&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access [inside]The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Ordinance 2014[/inside], promulgated by the President on 31 December 2014&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Land_act_amendments.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Land Act amendments&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access the [inside]Amendments made in the&amp;nbsp; Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013[/inside]. Source: Press Information Bureau, dated: 29 December 2014&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;The salient features of [inside]The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013[/inside], which repeals the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 are as follows (Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/files/file/Act_Land_Acqusiition_2013.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp; to access):&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; Payment of compensation upto four times the market value in rural areas and two times the market value in urban areas.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; Rehabilitation and Resettlement is an integral part of the land acquisition. No family will be displaced before rehabilitation.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; A social impact assessment study to be done compulsorily in all cases of land acquisition irrespective of extent of area.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; The definition of &amp;lsquo;affected families&amp;rsquo; has been extended to include not only the land owners but also others dependent on land for their livelihoods like agricultural labourers, tenants.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; To ensure transparency and participation, the Act provides for consent of at least eighty and seventy percent of the land owners in the cases of land acquisition for Private and Public Private Partnership Projects respectively.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; In Scheduled Areas consent of the Gram Sabhas/ Panchayats / Autonomous District Councils is mandatory in all cases of land acquisition.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; To safeguard food security and to prevent arbitrary acquisition, the Act directs the States to impose limits on the multi cropped irrigated land that can be acquired.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; In case, land remains unutilized after acquisition, the new Act empowers States to return the land either to the owner or to the State Land Bank.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/LAAR%20Bill%20as%20passed%20by%20LS.pdf&quot; title=&quot;LARR Bill as passed by LS&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access [inside]The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2013[/inside] that was passed by the Lok Sabha on 29 August, 2013.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;In order to access the [inside]Draft National Land Reforms Policy (dated 18 July, 2013)[/inside], prepared by Ministry of Rural Development, please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Draft_National_Land_Reforms_Policy_July_2013.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Draft Land Reforms Policy 2013&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
The &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Standing%20Committee%20Report%20on%20LARR%20Bill%202011.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Standing Committee report on LARR 2011&quot;&gt;report by the Standing Committee&lt;/a&gt; on Rural Development pertaining to Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (LARR) Bill 2011 was tabled in the Lok Sabha on 17 May, 2012. As per the [inside]Standing Committee Report 2012[/inside], the salient features of the LARR Bill 2011 (now renamed as Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill) are as follows:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(1) New integrated legislation dealing with land acquisition and rehabilitation &amp;amp; resettlement while repealing the Land Acquisition Act, 1894.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(2) Exemption to 16 Central Acts specified in Fourth Schedule from the ambit of the Bill.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(3) Defining the term affected family, which includes both the land losers and livelihood losers.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(4) Provision of R &amp;amp; R benefits in case of specified private purchase of land equal to or more than 100 acres in rural areas and equal to or more than 50 acre in urban areas&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(5) Provides Social Impact Assessment (SIA) study in all cases where the Government intends to acquire land for a public purpose.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(6) Provides for formation of a Committee under the Chief Secretary for examining proposals of land acquisition where land sought to be acquired is equal to or more than 100 acres.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(7) Putting limitations on acquisition of multi-crop land for safeguarding the food security.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(8) Institutional mechanism for R&amp;amp;R in the form of institutions of Administrator for Rehabilitation and Resettlement, Commissioner for Rehabilitation and Resettlement, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Committee at project level, the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation &amp;amp; Resettlement Authority at State level and National Monitoring Committee at Central level.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(9) Provisions of consent of the 80 per-cent affected families for land acquisition for certain projects.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(10) Provision for enhanced compensation to the land owners and rehabilitation and resettlement entitlements.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(11) Provision of 25 per-cent on shares as part of compensation in cases where the Requiring Body offers its shares to the owners of land whose land has been acquired.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(12) Restricting the &amp;lsquo;urgency clause&amp;rsquo; for land acquisition for Defence of India or National Security or for any other emergency out of natural calamities.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(13) Specified timelines for payment of compensation and provision of rehabilitation and resettlement entitlements.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[inside]Recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on LARR 2011 Bill[/inside]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
It has been noted by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on LARR 2011 Bill that despite the Government having more than two years time for wider consultations with all stakeholders i.e. between the constitution of Fifteenth Lok Sabha 01.06.2009 and introduction of the LARR Bill, 2011 in September, 2011, it initiated the process of consultation only on 29 July, 2011 when the Draft Bill was put on Department of Land Resources (DOLR, http://dolr.nic.in/) &amp;quot;website&amp;quot; for consultations and the comments thereon were sought by 31 August 2011. The Cabinet approved the Draft Bill on 5 September, 2011 and the Bill was introduced in Lok Sabha on 7 September 2011, leaving little time at the disposal of the Government to seriously consider the suggestions received from various stakeholders.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Although the Government was late by over two years in bringing the LARR Bill again they gave little time to the stakeholders, including Central Ministries and State Governments concerned to submit their views and also to consider the same. Consultation by the Standing Committee with the State Governments, some of the Central Ministries concerned like Ministries of Urban Development, Panchayati Raj, Tribal Affairs etc. revealed that that their views are at variance with the DoLR in respect of contents of the Bill. This compelled the Standing Committee to invite suggestions from the general public, industry, farmers, NGO&amp;#39;s, experts, Central Ministries, State Governments etc.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The following key issues having relevance to the provisions of the LARR Bill 2011 came up during discussions held with various stakeholders:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
A. Doctrine of Eminent Domain and Acquisition as &amp;#39;Public Purpose&amp;#39; for private corporations, Public Private Partnerships (PPPs).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
B. Powers of the Central Government vis-&amp;agrave;-vis State Governments in legislation for sale/purchase of land and R &amp;amp; R provisions&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
C. Role of Institutions of self government-established by Parts IX &amp;amp; IX A of the Constitution in land acquisition and R&amp;amp;R&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
D. Applicability of LARR Bill, 2011 in Scheduled Areas (Schedules V and VI of the Constitution)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
E. Special provisions to safeguard Food Security (Clause 10)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
F. Exemption of 16 Central Acts from purview of the Bill (Clause 98 &amp;amp; Fourth Schedule)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Standing Committee report on LARR 2011 has provided the detailed discussion on these above-mentioned issues. The suggestions given by the Committee regarding these issues are being provided here.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;A. Doctrine of Eminent Domain and Acquisition as &amp;ldquo;Public Purpose&amp;rdquo; for Private Corporations, Public-Private Partnerships&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Amendment done to section 4 of the original Land Acquisition Act 1894 in 1984 by inserting the words &amp;ldquo;or for a Company&amp;rdquo; after &amp;ldquo;any public purpose&amp;rdquo; extinguished any differentiation between acquisition for a State purpose and &amp;ldquo;acquisition for a private enterprise&amp;rdquo; or &amp;ldquo;State enterprise&amp;rdquo;. What the Courts could interpret from this amendment is that any notification of acquisition issued under section 4 need not specify whether the acquisition is for a &amp;ldquo;public purpose&amp;rdquo; or for &amp;ldquo;a Company&amp;rdquo;. This move led to massive acquisition of land by the State for Companies.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Standing Committee report has alleged that the LARR Bill, 2011 &amp;ldquo;seeks to permit, and even facilitate, the acquisition of land by the Government for private companies&amp;rdquo;. By agreeing with the Government of India appointed Expert Group Report (under the Chairmanship of D. Bandyopadhyay) on Development Challenges in Extremist Affected Areas, the Committee report has mentioned that displacement of people happened due to large scale acquisitions. The Standing Committee has suggested that &amp;ldquo;instead of reverting to the classical concept of Eminent Domain or diluting it, the present 2011 Bill extinguishes the distinction in the original 1894 Act between acquisition by the State for a State purpose from purchase of land by a Company for a private purpose by including &amp;ldquo;Public Private Partnership projects&amp;rdquo; and &amp;ldquo;private companies&amp;rdquo; in the definition given in clause 2(1)(b) and (c), as well as 3(za)(vi)(B) and 3(za)(vii) respectively, subject only to their producing &amp;ldquo;public goods or the provision of public services&amp;rdquo; and &amp;ldquo;the provision of land in the public interest&amp;rdquo;, it being entirely left to the executive to determine what is the &amp;ldquo;public interest&amp;rdquo; or &amp;ldquo;public goods&amp;rdquo; or &amp;ldquo;public services&amp;rdquo;.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Standing Committee has recommended that land acquisition should not be for use by PPPs and private companies. Public purpose should be limited to state sponsored projects as defined in Clause 3(za)(i) to (vi)(A). The Committee has asked for deleting the provisions relating to acquisition of land for private companies and PPPs [(Clause 3(za)(vi)(B) and (vii)]. The Committee has recommended that Clause 3 (o) (v) which gives wide discretion to the government to define infrastructure projects should be deleted. The Committee has suggested that infrastructure projects should be included in the definition of public purpose.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Committee has rejected those sub-clauses of Clauses 2 and 3 that place wide discretion in the hands of the executive to define &amp;ldquo;public purpose&amp;rdquo; and &amp;ldquo;infrastructure projects&amp;rdquo; for for-profit enterprises. It, therefore, has asked for deletion of Clauses 2(1)(b) &amp;amp; (c), 2(2)(b), 3(o)(v), 3(za)vi)(B) and (vii). It has recommended that all cases of land acquisition must entail obligations for adequate compensation, rehabilitation and resettlement to all land losers and other affected persons.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
While questioning the role of Indian State in carrying out land acquisition for Companies in the name of &amp;ldquo;public purpose&amp;rdquo;, the Standing Committee has given the example of countries like USA, Japan, Canada, EU, Australia etc. where private purchase of land and not State acquisition, is the standard. In most developed countries, there is no provision in the laws for State acquisition of privately held land for profit-making private enterprises or for public-private enterprises, the Committee report argued.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;B. Powers of the Central Government vis-vis State Governments in legislation for sale/purchase of land and R&amp;amp;R provisions&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Clause 2 (2) (a) of the LARR Bill 2011 provides that R&amp;amp;R provisions are mandatory for all private purchases if the land purchased is over 100 acres in rural areas and 50 acres in urban areas. However, the Standing Committee has recommended that since sale and purchase of land is a State subject, State legislatures have the discretion and flexibility on whether there should be R&amp;amp;R and if so prescribe a threshold for R&amp;amp;R provisions. The Committee report said: &amp;quot;State legislatures, bearing in mind the provisions of this Act, may by law provide for R&amp;amp;R provisions on sale/purchase of land. Limits/ceiling for the purpose shall be fixed by respective States keeping in view the availability of the land and density of the population.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;C. Role of Institutions of self government established by Parts IX &amp;amp; IX A of the Constitution in land acquisition and R &amp;amp; R&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Criticizing the provision in the LARR Bill 2011, where the role of Gram Sabha is limited to consultation during the time of land acquisition, the Committee has suggested that the role of local institutions of self-government should be broadened so as to ensure centrality of these institutions in the planning and implementation of the Bill, with a view to making the entire process of land acquisition and R&amp;amp;R participative, transparent and pro-people in accordance with the letter and spirit of Articles 243G and 243W of Parts IX and IXA of the Constitution. Under Articles 243G and 243W of Parts IX and IXA of the Constitution, State legislation is required to specifically empower local institutions of self-government so as to undertake both planning and implementation of &amp;quot;economic development and social justice&amp;quot;. &amp;ldquo;Beyond merely &amp;quot;consulting&amp;quot; Gram Sabhas, consensus or, at least, consent by the majority of Gram Sabha members (or equivalent body in urban areas where these have been constituted) should be obtained in all matters pertaining to LARR&amp;rdquo;, emphasized the Committee report. The decision making process regarding issues such as land acquisition, review of R&amp;amp;R schemes, determination of compensation, and any dispute regarding the compensation awarded should be entrusted on local elected authories. The Committee has recommended that the Expert Group evaluating the Social Impact Assessment (SIA) report should also have one or more members nominated from the affected Gram Sabha.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;D. Applicability of LARR Bill, 2011 in Scheduled Areas&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Standing Committee report has found that the &amp;ldquo;provisions of the LARR Bill 2011 in respect of areas covered under Schedules V and VI of the Constitution have not been dealt with separately but through provisos to some of the clauses besides being mentioned in the Schedules of the Bill, particularly the Second Schedule&amp;rdquo;.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Committee has recommended that alienation of land or land acquisition in Scheduled Areas should be avoided as far as possible. In case of unavoidable land acquisition for public purpose projects, &amp;ldquo;special provision should be made for increased compensation and resettlement and rehabilitation provisions that enforce stricter conditions such as relocation in a similar ecological location, with communities being mandatorily relocated together so as to preserve the economic opportunities, language, culture and community life of the tribal communities&amp;rdquo;. Consent or approval by majority of Gram Sabhas and Autonomous District Councils (ADCs) should be made mandatory in case of land acquisition. Independent and neutral persons should be present in order to watch the proceedings of discussions within the Gram Sabhas/ ADCs so as to ensure that the process of &amp;lsquo;consent seeking&amp;rsquo; is transparent. It has been recommended that PESA provisions must be strictly observed and indicated in all related provisions in the LARR Bill, &amp;ldquo;particular care being taken to ensure that Panchayats at the appropriate level and the Gram Sabhas are specifically endowed with powers to prevent alienation of land and to take appropriate action to restore any unlawfully alienated land, as provided for in Section 4m (iii) of PESA&amp;rdquo;.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;E. Special Provisions to safeguard Food Security (Clause 10)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Provisions under the Clause 10 of the LARR Bill want to protect irrigated and multi-cropped land from land acquisition so as to ensure food security. Only under exceptional circumstances a maximum of five per cent of irrigated multi-cropped land may be acquired in a district with certain conditions such as: &amp;ldquo;whenever multi-crop irrigated land is acquired under sub-section (2), an equivalent area of culturable wasteland shall be developed for agricultural purposes&amp;rdquo;. However, the Standing Committee on LARR Bill 2011 is of the opinion that food security is not confined to producing rice and wheat in irrigated land. Cultivation of nutritional coarse grains, pulses and oilseeds in dryland or rain-fed areas cannot be neglected. Hence the Committee has recommended that &amp;ldquo;in Chapter III, all provisions regarding &amp;ldquo;irrigated multi-cropped land&amp;rdquo; be replaced by &amp;ldquo;any land under agriculture cultivation&amp;rdquo; so as to ensure safeguard for food security in a full measure&amp;rdquo;.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;F. Exemption of Central Acts from Provisions of the Bill [Clause 98 and Fourth Schedule]&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Clause 98 of the LARR Bill 2011 made sure that the proposed Act shall not apply to the land acquisition processed under various Acts in the Fourth Schedule, which are listed below:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
1. The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958.&lt;br /&gt;
2. The Atomic Energy Act, 1962.&lt;br /&gt;
3. The Cantonments Act, 2006.&lt;br /&gt;
4. The Damodar Valley Corporation Act, 1948.&lt;br /&gt;
5. The Indian Tramways Act, 1886.&lt;br /&gt;
6. The Land Acquisition (Mines) Act, 1885.&lt;br /&gt;
7. The Metro Railways (Construction of Works) Act, 1978.&lt;br /&gt;
8. The National Highways Act, 1956.&lt;br /&gt;
9. The Petroleum and Minerals Pipelines (Acquisition of Right of User in Land) Act, 1962.&lt;br /&gt;
10. The Requisitioning and Acquisition of Immovable Property Act, 1952.&lt;br /&gt;
11. The Resettlement of Displaced Persons (Land Acquisition) Act, 1948.&lt;br /&gt;
12. The Special Economic Zones Act, 2005.&lt;br /&gt;
13. The Coal Bearing Areas Acquisition and Development Act, 1957.&lt;br /&gt;
14. The Electricity Act, 2003.&lt;br /&gt;
15. The Railways Act, 1989.&lt;br /&gt;
16. The Works of Defence Act, 1903&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
It has been suggested by various organizations and State Governments during the consultation with the Standing Committee that &amp;ldquo;by keeping out the 16 Central Acts outside the purview of the Bill, under which Central Government acquires land for Central Projects, almost 95 percent of land acquisition would be outside the purview of the Bill&amp;rdquo;. Some of the State Governments complained that while Central Government sought to exempt all Central Acts from the purview of the Bill, they wanted to impose the same on the State Governments. Therefore the Standing Committee has recommended not exempting any of these Central Acts from the purview of LARR Bill. The Committee has suggested that necessary amendments should be brought in these Central Acts so as to bring them at par with the LARR Bill 2011.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Definition of &amp;quot;affected family&amp;quot;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Clause 3 (b) &amp;amp; (c) of the LARR Bill 2011 defined &amp;quot;affected family&amp;quot; to include (i) landowners; (ii) agricultural labourers, tenants who have been working in the affected area for three years prior to the acquisition; (iii) tribals and forest dwellers; (iv) families whose livelihood for the previous three years is dependent on the forests or water bodies; and (v) families who have been given land by the state or central government. The Standing Committee has recommended that within the definition of affected family:&lt;br /&gt;
* &amp;ldquo;Tribals&amp;rdquo; should be substituted by &amp;ldquo;Scheduled tribes&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
* &amp;ldquo;Traditional rights&amp;rdquo; should be substituted by &amp;ldquo;forest rights&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
* &amp;ldquo;Affected people&amp;rdquo; should be substituted with &amp;ldquo;affected family&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
* &amp;ldquo;Three years&amp;rdquo; in the definition should become &amp;ldquo;three years or more&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Clause 3 (m) of the LARR Bill 2011 defined family includes a person, his or her spouse, minor children, minor brothers and sisters dependent on him. The Standing Committee has recommended that widows and divorcees and abandoned women should be considered a separate family.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;R&amp;amp;R entitlements&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
R&amp;amp;R entitlements provided to displaced families under the LARR Bill 2011 include among other things: (i) land for a house as per the Indira Awas Yojana in rural areas or a constructed house of at least 50 square metres plinth area in urban areas; (ii) a one-time allowance of Rs 50,000 for affected families; and (iii) the option of choosing either mandatory employment in projects where jobs are being created or a one-time payment of Rs 5 lakh or an inflation adjusted annuity of Rs 2,000 per month per family for 20 years. The Standing Committee has recommended that the monetary components in the R&amp;amp;R entitlements given in Schedule II in the Bill should be indexed to inflation.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Under the LARR Bill 2011, every resettled area is to be provided with certain infrastructural facilities which include roads, drainage, provision for drinking water, grazing land, banks, post offices, public distribution outlets, etc. However, the Standing Committee has recommended that the infrastructure facilities should be decided on a case by case basis.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Unutilized land &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Clause 95 on unutlized land of the LARR Bill said that if an acquired land is left unutilised for a period of 10 years from the date it was acquired, it shall be returned to the Land Bank or the appropriate government. The Standing Committee has recommended that this period should be reduced to five years and if left unutilised, the land should be returned to the land owners. The Committee has also asked for clearly defining the term Land Bank in the LARR Bill 2011.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Urgency provisions&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The LARR Bill 2011 said that if land is acquired in urgency, an additional 75 percent compensation shall be provided. The Committee asked that in cases of urgency it should be clarified that the extra compensation would be 75 per cent of the total compensation package/ solatium calculated. Under the LARR Bill 2011, if a land is proposed to be acquired under the urgency provisions, a Social Impact Assessment (SIA) may not be conducted. The Committee has recommended that a notice should be issued if SIA is not conducted in an acquisition under the urgency provisions.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Compensation package&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Under the LARR Bill 2011, compensation for the land acquired shall be based on the higher of (a) the minimum land value, specified in the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 for the registration of sale deeds; and (b) the average sale price of the higher priced 50% of all sale deeds registered in the previous 3 years for similar type of land situated in the vicinity. In rural areas, this amount would be doubled. The value of the assets (trees, plants, buildings etc) attached to the land being acquired will be added to this amount. This total amount will then be multiplied by two to get the final compensation amount. In cases of the urgency Clause, additional 75 per cent compensation would be offered.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Standing Committee has recommended that the term &amp;ldquo;market value&amp;rdquo; should replace &amp;ldquo;minimum value&amp;rdquo;. In addition, a multi-member land pricing commission or authority should be constituted by appropriate government to finalize the cost of land acquisition state wise/area wise. Award given for the land acquired should be treated only as compensation and not as a base for circle rate for subsequent acquisitions so as to allay the fears of corporate sector regarding a speculative price spiral. Also, 12 per cent interest per annum should be paid in addition to the compensation from the date of the notification till the date of the award.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;**page**&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;
&lt;div&gt;According to the National Advisory Council 2, &lt;a href=&quot;http://nac.nic.in/press_releases/25_may_2011.pdf&quot;&gt;http://nac.nic.in/press_releases/25_may_2011.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[inside]Suggestions for Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill 2009 &amp;amp; Resettlement and Rehabilitation Bill, 2009[/inside], &lt;a href=&quot;http://nac.nic.in/pdf/working_group_proposal_for_larr.pdf&quot;&gt;http://nac.nic.in/pdf/working_group_proposal_for_larr.pdf&lt;/a&gt;: &amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The NAC has recommended that it is upto the states to decide the extent of percentage of the total land to be acquired by them. In principle, the NAC disagrees with the 70:30 formula.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Acquired land non-performing for five years should be returned to original owners is another recommendation of NAC, which has been also well received.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Giving freedom to the industry to acquire land directly could result in large scale cheating and deception in tribal and poor areas of India.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The NAC has recently asked for consolidating the Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill 2009 and Resettlement and Rehabilitation Bill, 2009 under the title Land Acquisition, Resettlement and Rehabilitation Act, 2011. The NAC wants a combined Bill instead of two separate bills since both the Bills are intrinsically inter-related, and having two separate Bills may lead to possibility of amending one without amending the other, and selective application of provisions of each Act, thereby defeating the purpose of providing justice and relief to those displaced.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Passing of separate bills will set in motion fragmented processes, causing confusion, delays, and therefore avoidable distress and suffering for the people. According to the NAC, a separate R&amp;amp;R Bill won&amp;#39;t be required to address displacement due to natural disasters and communal and caste violence since there are separate laws being enacted for Natural Disasters and Communal Violence.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The NAC thinks that the proposed Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill, 2009 does not explicitly mention the poor, and incorporates infrastructure and strategic interests. It has a provision for state acquisition of land for private for-profit companies. Section 5 of the Land Acquisition (Amendment Act) Bill, 2009 is silent on the nature of public interest proposed and the financial, social and environmental costs and benefits associated with a project.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Compensation&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;div&gt;&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Project Affected Families (PAFs) can make a choice in the way compensation is offered- i.) as a lump-sum amount; ii.) 30% as a lumpsum amount, and the rest as an annuity at the rate of 12% interest escalating every year for 33 years; or iii.) The total value as an annuity at the rate of 12% interest escalating every year, for 33 years. The latter two would be adjusted for inflation by escalating every year by 10%.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Share-croppers, landless labourers, artisans et al should receive ten days&amp;rsquo; minimum wage per month for thirty three years when land is acquired by the State for &amp;lsquo;public purposes&amp;rsquo;.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; For such persons, there would be additional provisions for homestead land, training and employment rehabilitation in the rehabilitation and resettlement package.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The NAC has emphasized that lawfully recorded tenants and sharecroppers should be compensated (and paid solatium) for the parcels of land that they are losing, on an 80%:20% basis with the landowner being given 20%, which should not be less than four times their current income.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; A minimum of 5% shares should be distributed (equitably) free of cost to PAFs (increased by 5% for every additional 100 acres acquired). If the Government is allowed to acquire land, then land owners and non-land owners who depended on that land should enjoy four times their present monthly income after acquisition.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The NAC has proposed that compensation for those who lose land will be six times the registered sale deed value including solatium.&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Rehabilitation and Resettlement&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;div&gt;&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The NAC has demanded transparency, public consulting, and prior informed consent during the process of land acquisition. The legal rights of Project Affected Families (PAFs) to challenge the entitlement cannot be withdrawn as it has been done under R&amp;amp;R Bill, 2009. Section 11 of the R&amp;amp;R Bill, 2009 needs to be amended so that all compensation must be paid and R&amp;amp;R for all affected persons must be completed in all aspects at least 6 months before taking possession.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Section 3(b) (ii) of the R&amp;amp;R Bill, 2009 does not mention the extent to which affected families have been deprived of their primary source of livelihood.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; All individual entitlements, such as land for land (where applicable), housing, employment and training opportunities, should be compulsorily offered to all PAFs irrespective of size of acquisition as per the NAC. Compulsory provisions for land for land are non-negotiable in case of all tribal and dalit families (to discourage acquisition of tribal and dalit land) and all irrigation projects. There should be an authority like the Auditor General of Displacement and Rehabilitation (AG-DR) to find out after 5 or 10 years of displacement as to what is the present condition of those displaced.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Instead of the Government notifying what amenities are to be provided in resettlement sites as per the Section 30 of the R&amp;amp;R 2009 Bill, basic amenities like roads, safe drinking water, hygiene, educational facilities, community hall, and basic irrigation facilities should be present at resettlement sites. Every PAF family (and not just the BPL homeless families) should be given a built house and homestead land title.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Consent of 70 percent of the affected families in a gram sabha before acquisition is compulsory. A National Commission for Land Acquisition, Resettlement and Rehabilitation (NCLRR) should be established to assess extent of displacement based on the Social Impact Assessment (SIA) and and urgency clause for land acquisition should be used for purposes such as defence, national security and safety of lives as per recommendations of the NAC. The SIA would assess the social and environmental impacts from the project, and the R&amp;amp;R plan drawn up.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;According to the [inside]Standing Committee Report on the Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill 2007[/inside]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;http://prsindia.org/uploads/media/Land%20Acquisition/scr1226484896_SC_Report_Land_Acquisition_Bill__2008.pdf&quot;&gt;http://prsindia.org/uploads/media/Land%20Acquisition/scr1226484896_SC_Report_Land_Acquisition_Bill__2008.pdf&lt;/a&gt;: &amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Optimum size of land required for a project needs to be determined so that excessive acquisition of land doesn&amp;#39;t take place.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; There should be some legislation like Forest Conservation Act 1980 so that agricultural land can be protected like forest land.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; There is an urgent need to develop wasteland where agricultural land is acquired.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Since displacement leads to traumatic psychological and socio-cultural consequences, multiple displacements of affected families need to be avoided.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; States should declare the area where the tribals are rehabilitated as Scheduled Area. Land rights of tribals and forest dwellers should be recognized as per the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 so that they are compensated and rehabilitated during the process of land acquisition.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The details of the property to be acquired viz. khasra numbers in rural areas and quarter number in urban areas should be identified and widely publicized through prominent local English, Hindi and regional language newspapers. There is a need to avoid complications arising due to inadequacy of communicating the intent of acquisition through notification especially in hilly, tribal and remote areas. In order to circulate notification on rehabilitation and resettlement, the Government should rely on newspapers in local vernacular.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Affected persons should be provided 60 days from the date of publication of the notification to object to the acquisition of land.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Social Impact Assessment study should be done for all projects that displace physically more than 400 families in plain and 200 families in hilly, tribal and scheduled areas (same as NAC recommendation).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Highest price of sale deed as indicated in the sale deeds of the last three years plus 50 per cent of the said highest price should be the criteria for assessing and determining the market value of the land. For tribal areas, the highest price of a sale deed of the adjoining non-tribal blocks/ village for the last three years plus 50 per cent should be the criteria for assessing and determining the market value of land.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Non agricultural land having valuable mineral resources underneath should be properly evaluated for granting compensation.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; A share of the economic benefits earned due to setting up a project in a land, which is acquired should go to the affected families.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Issue of shares and debentures as part of the compensation is impractical and as such issue of shares and debentures should be over and above the admissible compensation. The rate of solatium should be increased from thirty per centum on market value to sixty per centum on market value.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Land Acquisition Compensation Disputes Settlement Authorities (a kind of Ombudsman) at the Centre and State level should be created for the disposal of disputes, which remain pending in the courts of law.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Record of large tracts of unutilized land available with various Ministries needs to be kept before further land acquisition.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
**page**&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;According to [inside]A CITIZENS REPORT CARD ON SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONES[/inside] prepared by civil society organization, South Asia Citizens&amp;#39; web:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sacw.net/IMG/pdf/CITIZENSREPORTONSEZs.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.sacw.net/IMG/pdf/CITIZENSREPORTONSEZs.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;THE NUMBERS&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Total amount of land to be acquired across India: 150,000 hectares (the area of National Capital Region). This land - predominantly agricultural and typically multicropped - is capable of producing close to 1 million tons of foodgrains. If SEZs are seen to be successful in the future and more cultivated land is acquired, they will endanger the food security of the country.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The latest available statistics on Special Economic Zones show that the Board of Approvals at the Ministry of Commerce, the central body authorised to clear SEZ proposals, has approved 578 SEZs of which 315 have been notified.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * An analysis of figures up to 8th December 2008 displays a continuation of the pattern which has been evident since SEZ Act in 2005.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * As of December 2008 the Central government gave formal approvals to a staggering 552 SEZs in 19 states; 272 of these have been notified. (As of April 2009 the total number of Formal approvals was 578 and notified SEZs were 330)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * With the significant economic slow-down towards the end of 2008 for the first time we started to see companies applying to de-register/denotify SEZs and it remains to be seen what the net effect will be.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The overwhelming part of SEZs continues to be in information technology and related industries. 181 notified SEZs exist for IT companies representing 66% of the total number of SEZs. Additionally there are 341 formally approved and 11 in-principle approvals.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * With all the different SEZs taken together at various stages of approval the IT sector still accounts for more than half at 55% of the total. The second largest sector will be multi-product with 9% of the all zones.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Andhra Pradesh tops the list of notified SEZs with 57, followed by Tamil Nadu on 44 and Maharashtra on 43.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Maharashtra has the most SEZs waiting to be notified however with 104 formally approved and 34 in principle, compared to AP&amp;#39;s 99 and 2 respectively and Tamil Nadu&amp;#39;s 66 and 18.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * These three states thus account for almost half of all the SEZs in the country. The share is especially significant among the already notified SEZs with 144 out of the total 274.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Even more imbalanced is the spread of SEZs when one considers the locations within each state. 48 out of the 99 formally approved SEZs in Andhra Pradesh are in or close to Hyderabad, while 34 of 66 formally approved are similarly in or close to Chennai.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The main number of SEZs can thus easily be characterised as being in the IT-sector and in one of primarily Western or Southern cities.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * This said, almost every state has tried to get a couple of SEZs to be established within their territories includingtiny Dadra &amp;amp; Haveli&amp;#39;s 4, and Pondicherry&amp;#39;s 1 formally approved zones.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * 53 multiproduct SEZs are at the in principle approval stage meaning they might soon become formally notified. These are the zones which require really large areas of land and have been contentious on the issue of displacement.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Recently the rule preventing larger SEZs than 5,000 hectares was lifted which lead the Adani group to apply for and get granted a merger between the 3 zones of (4498 + 2658 + 2648 hectares) it had created next to each other at Mundra in Gujarat to avoid the land ceiling&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Among the actually operating SEZs the biggest ones apart from the Mundra zone(s) in Gujarat is APIIC 2,206 ha SEZ in Visakhapatnam and the Kakinada SEZ 1,035 ha both in Andhra Pradesh and the Navi Mumbai SEZ 1,223 ha in Maharashtra&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * With the many really large multi-product SEZs in the In Principle category these cover an area of 1.22 lakh hectares, or 869 hectares per SEZ on average.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;ISSUES OF CONCERN&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 1. Large scale requirement of land and Forced Acquisition of Land - India is almost unique in its concept of creating SEZs on demand: i.e. the location, size and nature of the zone is explicitly determined not by state economic policy but by the demands of private capital.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 2. Despite issuing of guidelines by the Ministry of Commerce and the EGoM, that no forced acquisition of land will take place for private SEZs on 15th June 2007, nearly all states are using the Land Acquisition Act 1894 to acquire the land for developers of SEZs and that too in the absence of any provision for rehabilitation&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 3. In some states like Tamil Nadu and AP the governments are even using the urgency clause - 17/4 of the LAA to acquire land compulsorily.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 4. It is argued that much of the land being diverted for SEZs is already available with the State Industrial development Corporations (IDCs). While this is a fact, it needs to be specified that in many cases lands which had previously been acquired by IDCs and are now being transferred to SEZ developers also used the Land Acquisition Act.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 5. These sales are obviously at much higher rates than their original acquisition price from the farmers.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 6. The issue of compensation at market value, even to land owners is meaningless as the scales are heavily weighed in favor of private buyers and Government owned Industrial corporations, who are the informed negotiators in deciding the package&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Landless and Agricultural labourers displaced without compensation-&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 1. Almost 80% of the agricultural population in India owns only about 17% of the total agriculture land, making them near-landless workers. Far more families and communities depend on a piece of land (for work, grazing) than those who own it outright. However, compensation is being discussed only for those who hold titles to land. No compensation has been planned for those who do not.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 2. In states like Gujarat a large part of the land being diverted to SEZs is in the category of common or gowcher land (referred to wrongly as&amp;#39;wasteland&amp;#39;).Since these lands are &amp;#39;common lands&amp;#39; with no individual titles, they are transferred without even consulting the local communities and panchayats.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 3. Temple or Panchami land in Tamil Nadu and Waqf board lands in Andhra Pradesh are other examples of Public lands that have been expropriated and privatised for SEZs.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 4. The most outrageous acquisitions are taking place in Andhra Pradesh which has the highest number of SEZ approvals, in the form of acquiring assigned lands (allotted to Dalits and Scheduled Tribes) for SEZs. . This has been seen clearly in places like Polepally, Kakinada, Chittoor and Anantapur where SEZs are proposed.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Destruction of Agro-based and rural economies-&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 1. The bulk of land being acquired for SEZs is fertile, agricultural land, especially in case of the multi-product zones. Agriculture Scientists have estimated that close to 1.14 lakh farming households (each household on an average comprising five members) and an additional 82,000 farm worker families who are dependent upon these farms for their livelihoods, will be displaced.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 2. The total loss of income to the farming and the farm worker families, then, is an astounding Rs.212-crore a year. These were the estimates in 2006 after the initial SEZ approvals which are now multiplied three-fold.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Creation of exploitative employment opportunities and working conditions resulting from nullification of labour protection laws -&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The SEZ policy of the government transfers all the powers of the state Labor Commissioner to the Development Commissioners of the SEZs.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The power in the hands of the development Commissioner to declare SEZs as &amp;quot;public utility services&amp;quot; under the Industrial Disputes Act would mean that in SEZ areas workers will have no rights to strike or even to form unions and organize collectively to bargain for better wages or working conditions.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;ECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The Ministry of Finance conducted a study, and came up with the figures that the cumulative revenue loss from tax holidays to SEZs over the period 2004-05 to 2009-10 is estimated to be 1,75,487 Cr.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The Ministry of Finance conducted a study, and came up with the figures that the cumulative revenue loss from tax holidays to SEZs over the period 2004-05 to 2009-10 is estimated to be 1,75,487 Cr.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * In its performance audit-report on indirect taxes for Union Government tabled in parliament on 11 March 2008, the CAG brought 370 SEZ units under scanner with a limited objective to verify if they had complied with existing Customs Act, Rules, notifications etc. The review brought out systemic as well as compliance weaknesses that caused lost revenues to the tune of Rs.246.72 crores.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Stated objectives remain unfulfilled?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce has admitted that 40% of the SEZs approved may never really &amp;quot;take off the ground&amp;quot; (Panos-Kalpavriksh media dialogue on SEZs -December 2008). Additionally the figures of 3.5 lakhs employment and 90,000 crores investment generated by SEZs are being questioned on their authenticity and efficacy since these have to be established through a detailed and independent evaluation.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Further the conditions of contract labour in SEZs are the most pathetic. Wages in existing SEZs are often below minimum. Sen and Dasgupta in a May 2007 survey found that in the NOIDA SEZ workers were getting Rs.80 a day for 9 hours of work. Likewise in Falta in West Bengal.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Indian policy has very little regulation on the activity within a zone. Notwithstanding claims of export-orientation, the only requirement imposed on SEZ units is a vague need for them to have a &amp;lsquo;positive net foreign exchange balance.&amp;#39; Even that only applies to industrial units in the zone. If the goal of SEZs is indeed exports surely a more stringent clause than merely &amp;quot;positive net foreign exchange&amp;quot; for the SEZ as a whole ought to be applied.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * It needs to be mentioned further that a great recession in the world economy is not a good omen for promoting SEZs, which will produce for an increasingly shrinking and protected export market. Also, it&amp;#39;s not specified what happens to a developer whose SEZ does not meet the export requirement.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Just like it&amp;#39;s not specified what the procedure for denotification is. The recession - and the accompanying demand for denotification by developers like DLF (SEZs) is exposing this loophole. In such cases what happens to the land? Will it be returned to farmers? If so, how?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The SEZ Act (Section 9, 11, 12 and 31) takes power back to the center and bureaucracy (by creating &amp;#39;Board of Approvals&amp;#39; and &amp;#39;Development Commissioner&amp;#39; and &amp;lsquo;SEZ Authority&amp;#39;, whose accountability is not certain.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The fact that the SEZs would have their own regulations, the rights for environmental and labour related clearances, security arrangements, means that they would be &amp;#39;self contained privatized autonomous entities&amp;#39;, where existing constitutional rights would be difficult to exercise.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The creation of separate courts for SEZs ridicules the existing judicial system. There is no clarity about how elections will be conducted, and what happens to the governing authority of the Gram Sabha/ Municipality, under the 73rd/74th amendments.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * There is no transparency in the guidelines formulated for selection, modification and rejection of SEZ proposals by the BoA.The Chairman of the Administrative reforms committee, M Veerappa Moily&amp;#39;s report on SEZs states that &amp;#39;We need to restructure the Board of Approval by putting in people who are objective and can take a balanced view.&amp;#39;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The Commerce Ministry had made public announcements of various studies/ comparison of SEZ with other countries. Mr. Kirit Somaya filed an RTI regarding this, and in the answer that was given stated - &amp;quot;study of export of nearby countries of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka was done. No other studies or scientific analysis available.&amp;quot;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The SEZ Act was passed in haste without much public debate.In both houses of Indian Democracy has passed this bill was passed within a day (10th and 11th May 2005) with virtually no discussion, undermining many of the objections that were raised.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Further, information that has been demanded from the Ministry of Commerce on the approved projects under the RTI Act, 2005 has been denied on the clause of maintaining &amp;quot;trade secrets&amp;quot;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * There is great deal of ambiguity and contradictions when one compares how environment clearances are dealt with in the EIA notification and the SEZ legislations.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * While it is units with the SEZs which are exempt from Environment Clearance public hearings, the SEZs itself are required to under go public hearing. However, there are cases like the Mundra SEZ where the Ministry of Environment has recommended that Public Hearing be exempted for the creation of the Multi Product SEZ.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;The CAG report on the Goa Industrial Development Corporation, referred to the Government of India in June 2008, concluded (direct quotes):&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Corporation deviated from its established role, of acquiring and allotting land directly to the entrepreneur, by allotting land to developers for further allotments by them&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Allotments were made without any transparent selection procedures&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Allotments to SEZs were made without publicising, that too before the State Government formulated its SEZ policy&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Land acquired for small and medium scale industries under IGC (Industrial Growth Centre) Scheme was allotted to SEZ violating GOI guidelines&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Revision of premium rate of Verna Phase IV (industrial estate proposed to house SEZs) only after major chunk was allotted at lower rate, tentatively fixed, resulted in loss of Rs. 36.89 crore&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Allotment of land contiguous to the land allotted to four SEZs at lesser rate resulted in loss of Rs. 39.47 crore&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Allotment of 14.36 lakh square metre land to two SEZ developers without adopting approved formula resulted in loss of Rs 17.76 crore&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;(Source: The Comptroller and Auditor General of India, Goa State Report, Chapter VII Government Commercial and Trading Activities)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;POINTS RAISED BY PARLIAMENTARY STANDING COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 1. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce of the previous government under the Chairman ship of Murli Manohar Joshi submitted its 83rd report on the &amp;#39;Functioning of SEZs&amp;#39; to the parliament on 20th June 2007.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 2. The most critical recommendation made by the committee included the need to &amp;#39;pause and ponder&amp;#39;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 3. The report clearly expressed concern about the fast pace at which approvals have been granted by the BoA despite apprehensions raised from all quarters.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 4. Parliamentary Standing committee slammed the Ministry of Commerce on the ground that at the time of the release of the 83rd report there were 152 formal approvals and 82 notifications by the Board of Approvals and there was no effort to put a halt on the approvals despite the committee&amp;#39;s recommendation to hold approvals till amendments were put in place.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 5. By the time the ATR was presented in the Rajya Sabha the total number of approved SEZs had crossed 500. The MoC has merely stated that it was in the process of getting a &amp;#39;scientific evaluation&amp;#39; done on the performance and impacts of SEZs.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 6. Most importantly the report criticised the escalation of displacement as a result of the large SEZs leading to displacement and speculation in many situations.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 7. Some of the other recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee which were brushed aside by the Ministry of Commerce in the ATR include:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 8. Region wise cap on the SEZ approvals to allow for balanced regional development of SEZs.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 9. Imposition of restrictions on unnecessary social infrastructure Linking of fiscal incentives to exports&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp; 10. Tax concessions in SEZs are similar to STPs and EoUs - then why is there are a need for SEZs?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp; 11. Re-look at delegation of Labour Commissioner&amp;#39;s powers to the Development Commissioner&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp; 12. 83rd report of the parliamentary standing committee on commerce &amp;#39;on the functioning of Special Economic Zones&amp;#39;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;**page**&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;FOR MORE PLEASE CLICK THE LINKS LISTED BELOW&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Paper presented at the National Seminar on &amp;#39;Special Economic Zones: Engines of Growth and Social Development for India: Present Problems and Future Prospects&amp;#39; (16 - 17 October &amp;#39;08 at Hyderabad) organised by the Department of Sociology, Osmania University.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sacw.net/article574.html&quot;&gt;http://www.sacw.net/article574.html&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;SEZ Act-2005&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cnisbss.org/Newsline/PDF/SEZ/SEZ%20Act,%202005.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.cnisbss.org/Newsline/PDF/SEZ/SEZ%20Act,%202005.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Fact Sheet on Special Economic Zones by GOI- MINISTRY OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://sezindia.nic.in/writereaddata/updates/FACT%20sheet.pdf&quot;&gt;http://sezindia.nic.in/writereaddata/updates/FACT%20sheet.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;List of operational SEZs&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://sezindia.nic.in/writereaddata/pdf/ListofoperationalSEZs.pdf&quot;&gt;http://sezindia.nic.in/writereaddata/pdf/ListofoperationalSEZs.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;List of Formal Approvals granted under the SEZ Act,2005 &lt;a href=&quot;http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp&quot;&gt;http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;In principle approvals granted under the SEZ Act, 2005- &lt;a href=&quot;http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp&quot;&gt;http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Statewise distribution of SEZs approved under the SEZ, Act, 2005- &lt;a href=&quot;http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp&quot;&gt;http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Sectorwise distribution of SEZs approved under the SEZ Act, 2005- &lt;a href=&quot;http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp&quot;&gt;http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;[inside]A critique of the National Policy for Rehabilitation and Resettlement (2007)[/inside] by Priyanca Mathur Velath,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;amp;do_pdf=1&amp;amp;id=7235&quot;&gt;http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;amp;do_pdf=1&amp;amp;id=7235&lt;/a&gt; show&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; *&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt; On October 11, 2007, the Union Government announced the National Policy for Rehabilitation and Resettlement 2007 (NPRR 2007), replacing the National Policy on Resettlement and Rehabilitation for Project-Affected Families, 2003.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The new policy fails to examine the process of displacement, which is taken for granted. The draft makes no attempt to question the need for displacement in the first place, or to seek out and actively promote non-displacing or least-displacing alternatives.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The timing and true intention of the new policy along with govt.&amp;#39;s declaration to amend the outdated Land Acquisition Act of 1894 are suspect.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Attempt to redefine the &amp;lsquo;public purpose&amp;#39; under the amendment to the land acquisition act actually favours private interest and big companies over the poor and marginalised.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Under the 2007 policy it has become simpler to required land for big companies as well as strategic and public infrastructure projects.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * &amp;#39;Public purpose&amp;#39; has been redefined to allow the state government to acquire land for a private company, association or body of individuals, provided it is &amp;#39;useful for general public&amp;#39;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * &amp;#39;Land for land&amp;#39; principle in the 2007 policy suffers from ambiguity, as land is being offered as compensation but &amp;#39;to the extent that government land is available in resettlement areas&amp;#39;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The policy outlines a number of benefits such as scholarships for the education of eligible people from affected families; preference for groups of cooperatives of affected persons in the allotment of contracts and other economic opportunities in and around the project site; housing benefits to landless affected families in both rural and urban areas; and wage employment to willing affected persons in construction work on the project. But the &amp;lsquo;employment guarantee&amp;#39; to one person from each nuclear family is &amp;lsquo;subject to the availability&amp;#39; of vacancies and &amp;lsquo;suitability of the affected person&amp;#39;. Such qualifying clauses as &amp;quot;if available&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;as far as possible&amp;quot; are widely used by project authorities and policymakers to shirk responsibility.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Conducting a Social Impact Assessment (SIA) has been made mandatory in the policy, but only if more than 400 families have been displaced in the plains areas and 200 in tribal, hilly and other scheduled areas. Why is the SIA mandatory only in projects above a certain size?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * There are provisions in the 2007 policy to introduce a Land Acquisition Compensation Settlement Authority (at the local level, removed from normal civil courts, to assist quick disposal of cases involving compensation disputes), a standing relief and rehabilitation authority at the district level, an ombudsman at the state level (to monitor rehabilitation under any project), a national monitoring committee and national monitoring cell (for effective monitoring of implementation of resettlement plans, with which state governments will have to share information) and a national rehabilitation commission (which will be empowered to exercise independent oversight over the rehabilitation and resettlement of affected families). Aggrieved persons can appeal to the high court and above against settlements decided by the Land Acquisition Compensation Settlement Authority. But the policy does not answer the crucial question as to whether these committees and commissions are empowered to stop a project from proceeding if there are indeed any discrepancies or issues of inadequate resettlement.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Resettlement rights must be guaranteed before any project begins and, in the event of faulty or inadequate resettlement, the project should be stopped from proceeding any further and the project developers held accountable. NPRR 2007 does not address any of these issues; nor does it give displaced persons &amp;lsquo;first rights&amp;#39; over the benefits of the project in question.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Positive points about the National Policy for Rehabilitation and Resettlement:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * This policy makes an important announcement that land acquired by the government will revert to the government in case the proposed project does not take off within five years of the acquisition. Since land is often acquired in excess of what is needed and later handed over to the developers for extraneous purposes like building hotels, parks and golf courses, this new clause is a positive one.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Another creditable clause in the new policy is that if the land is sold after the project has taken off, 80% of the net profit earned from the sale goes to the original landowner. Also, that land acquired for &amp;lsquo;public purpose&amp;#39; cannot be changed to any other purpose.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;The study by Planning Commission titled [inside]Dams, Displacement, Policy and Law in India[/inside],&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/art_dam.pdf&quot;&gt;http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/art_dam.pdf&lt;/a&gt; show:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * With the adoption of policies for planned development after freedom in India, a major priority for policymakers was the harnessing of the country&amp;#39;s water resources for irrigation and power. Large storage works such as the Bhakra, the Hirakud, the Tungabhadra and the Damodar Valley Dams were amongst the earliest projects undertaken in the post-Independence period in the country.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * A formidable body of independent empirical research into many of these large dams has established how their social, human and environmental costs have been ignored or grossly understated in the planning of these projects. Of the very many neglected costs of the big dams, some of the most grave are the social and human consequences of displacement.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * There are no reliable official statistics of the numbers of people displaced by large projects since Independence. Many researchers place their estimates between 10 and 25 million. In an influential 1989 study, Fernandes, Das and Rao provide an estimate of some 21 million displaced persons. Scholar-administrator Dr. N. C. Saxena, places his estimate of persons displaced by big projects since 1947 at nearly double this figure - 50 million.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * From the inception of planning of most projects, through various stages of displacement and resettlement, it is to be expected that those likely to be negatively affected by the projects would be consulted and kept informed in such a way as to enable them to best rebuild their ravaged lives. This, however, is very far from being the case. The studies have revealed that the level of information that the oustees had regarding the dam, submergence and subsequent displacement due to them, is lamentably low.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * It is only in recent years that, chiefly under the impact of people&amp;#39;s movements, project authorities, state governments and international funding agencies have accepted responsibility for rehabilitation-one that extends beyond the payment of monetary compensation for expropriated individual assets and the provision of house sites. This neglect of rehabilitation assumes the gravest aspect when seen in relation to older projects, particularly those that commenced or were concluded in the first three decades after Independence.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * It has been observed that the driving objective of project authorities has not been to prepare and assist the families to relocate and to make a gradual and less painful transition to their new habitats. Instead frequently the only objective is to vacate the submergence zone of what are perceived to be its human encumbrances, with the brute force of the state if necessary. The evacuation of the villages was carried out with brutal insensitivity towards the feelings of the villagers who, not unnaturally, were bewildered and distressed at being forced out of their homes.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Resettlement sites are often inhospitable in a number of ways and their locations are selected without reference to availability of livelihood opportunities, or the preferences of displaced persons themselves.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * With the destruction of community and social bonds, the displaced are mired in anomie and a profound sense of loneliness and helplessness. The inflow of money creates greater pressure on family bonds. The outcomes are psychological pathologies and alcoholism, common among displaced populations.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Arguably the most culpable aspect of state-induced impoverishment of displaced populations is the phenomenon of multiple displacements. It has been documented, for instance, that as a direct result of the lack of co-ordination between the multiplicity of irrigation, thermal power and coal-mining agencies in Singrauli, most oustees have been displaced at least twice, and some three or four times in a matter of two or three decades.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * A frequently neglected, but extremely serious problem, is the unwillingness of host populations to accept resettled oustees in their midst.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The vast majority of tribal people displaced by big projects face danger of extinction as traditionally they depend more on natural resources. They are pushed inexorably into a vortex of increasing assetlessness, unemployment, debt-bondage and hunger.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Any loss of access to traditional sources of livelihood - land, forest, sea, river, pasture, cattle or saltpan land - marginalizes women on the labour market. Women not only suffered in terms of health and nutrition, they also lost the capacity to provide a secure future for their children.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Another extremely vulnerable group of oustees is oustees without land, including landless agricultural workers. The only legal reparation to displaced persons recognised by the statutes in India is compensation for loss of assets that are compulsorily acquired by the state for what the state designates as a `public purpose&amp;#39;. However a landless family dependent on the acquired land for their livelihood may be most severely pauperised by the displacement because it loses its only source of economic survival. However, the law and most ehabilitation policies still do not recognise this profound vulnerability.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;**page**&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;[inside]Opposition to Big Dams: Lessons for Policy[/inside]&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Even before Independence, there were instances of anti-dam struggles such as the one led by Senapati Bapat in opposition to the Mulshi hydroelectric project in the Western Ghats.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The first large river valley project in India, Hirakud, resulted in widespread protests in 1946 after the initial notifications. People also launched a struggle against the Rihand project in 1963-64. However, such early protests could not be sustained, partly because of their failure to attract larger alliances, under the overwhelming influence of the nationalist rhetoric of nation-building that accompanied the construction of large dams in India.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The success of the mobilisation against the Silent Valley project, resulting in the decision to shelve the project in 1983, led to a new phase in the history of resistance to big dams in India.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Other notable early struggles against big dams were local movements opposed to the Suvarnarekha, Koel Karo and Srisailam projects.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The most celebrated protest movement against big dams so far has centred around the mega Sardar Sarovar Project on the river Narmada. A number of protest groups gathered under the leadership of activist Medha Patkar and in 1988, local resistance organisations federated into a common platform known as the Narmada Bachao Andolan (Save the Narmada Movement).&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * A significant development has been the revival of struggles by people displaced by dams completed years ago, such as on the Bargi (completed 1990), Koyna (1964), Tawa (1975) and Mahi-Kadana (1978). We have already noted the success at Bargi and Tawa to secure fishing rights for cooperative societies of oustees in the dam reservoirs.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * By ensuring that these voices are heard, these movements have succeeded in compelling governments, both central and state, and powerful funding agencies like the World Bank, to rethink their policies on displacement and rehabilitation.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Opponents of big dams have argued that big dams are part of a development strategy that intrinsically impoverishes and disempowers the poor. The opponents to big dams in India have also challenged the dominant orthodoxy that development,especially state-induced development, by necessity entails the human costs of displacement or involuntary resettlement.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Another important issue in the debate around big dams in India is the question of whether the state should retain the power to compulsorily acquire private land for development projects without the consent of the owner or owners of such land.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The next issue in the debate is the nature and extent of state responsibility for the rehabilitation of the displaced. It is chiefly under the impact of people&amp;#39;s movements, supported by painstaking empirical social science research, that the state has in recent times acknowledged that its responsibility for rehabilitation to extend beyond the payment of market value for compulsorily acquired assets. However, the state in India has continued to resist the laying down of the nature of its precise responsibilities for rehabilitation in the form of even a comprehensive policy statement, let alone legislating the right to rehabilitation as a legally enforceable right.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Displacement and Rehabilitation: Suggested Directions for Policy&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Objectives of any just and equitable law and policy dealing with the colossal social and human impacts of big dams cannot be limited only to minimising the trauma of displacement, and ensuring the just resettlement of the victims of displacement. It must incorporate the objective to end, or severely curtail, displacement itself, to no longer accept state-induced involuntary resettlement as an inevitable cost of all development projects. It must enable people to effectively challenge as equal partners, a form of development which takes for granted the inevitability of displacement.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * It is incumbent upon the government before the launching of the project to justify that in the light of various technical and locational options, this is the least displacing alternative available. This claim should also be justiciable.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * It is imperative that the population likely to be affected by the acquisition be involved in the process from the time that decisions are sought to be made about where a project is to be located. They should be given full information to help them participate in decisions about whether the stated purpose is a public purpose; to explore options which may be less displacing; to work out the costs it involves for them; ando find out how they may gain from the process of change that the acquisition will bring.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Another institutional mechanism to limit displacement is to ensure that in the planning of any project the social and human costs are more accurately assessed and internalised in the cost-benefit analysis of the project.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Compensation, Resettlement and Rehabilitation&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The policy of rehabilitation must contain safeguards for detailed advance planning for rehabilitation.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * All persons whose source of livelihood, place of residence or other property is affected notwithstanding the legal status enjoyed by them in relation to the concerned location of the resource base for their livelihood and subsistence, shall be deemed to be project affected persons (PAPs).&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * If the guiding principle of rehabilitation is that displaced persons should become better off than they were in the past, one proviso that needs to be firmly embedded in the law is that compensation must be paid not at market but at replacement value.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The second guiding principle for assessment and payment of compensation should be that it is not only the loss of assets but also, far more significantly, the loss of livelihoods that must be compensated.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * A third guiding principle is that any displaced person must be fully compensated before displacement from land, house or livelihood is executed.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * If the objectives of rehabilitation of persons displaced as a result of large dams is to ensure that they are not only better off, but are direct project beneficiaries, then at the heart of such a strategy must be a policy of replacing agricultural land and agriculture-based livelihoods with alternate agricultural land of viable size and productivity and with appropriate complements of credit and input assistance.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Simultaneously, the scope for complementary non land-based livelihoods should also be explored along with land-based strategies. One such livelihood opportunity that is always created as a by-product of any large dam project is fresh-water fishing in the large reservoir.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The resettlement sites for displaced tribal families should be selected with great care and in consultation with the traditional/elected leaders or representatives of the displaced families as well as host populations, and established local NGOs. Efforts should be made to ensure that all tribal families of ousted villages are resettled together in a particular area.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Women headed households or single women should not be discriminated against in eligibility for benefits.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Still we are left with the most difficult issue of displaced persons from older dams. It has been estimated that as many as 3 out of every 4 persons displaced by big dams in India have been rendered worse off than they were before. Some reparation must be made, some attempt to rebuild so many millions of broken lives.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;The study titled [inside]Environment of Land Diversion, Displacement and Rehabilitation: A Study of Indian SEZs[/inside], &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf&lt;/a&gt; show:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * India has adopted the policy of promoting the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) for faster industrial development. It needs about 50,000 hectares of agricultural land for SEZs and 1.49 lakh hectares for all projects which include also industrial, mining, irrigation and infrastructural projects.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Farmers in many parts of the country are resisting for land diversion and acquisition for these purposes.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Land especially agricultural land in India, is a very delicate subject and has been an emotional issue ever since the Zamindari days. Land is livelihood of millions of people. Not only the immediate owners of the land are affected because of land shifting, but also share-croppers or daily wage labourers who forgo their living through a scant, but reasonably reliable source of income.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * While acquiring the land the government agency normally fixes the market value of land much below the prevailing rate in the open market.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * India ratified the ILO Indigenous and Tribal Populations Convention, 1957 in 1958. This Convention deals primarily with the protection and integration of indigenous, tribal and semi-tribal groups. The Convention provides that where as an exceptional measure tribal groups are removed from their land they should be provided with lands of quality at least equal to that of the lands previously occupied by them. It goes on to provide that they should be compensated for any &amp;quot;resulting injury or loss&amp;quot;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The UN Guiding Principles on Internally Displaced Persons, 1998 is meant to serve as an international standard to guide governments as well as international humanitarian and development agencies in providing assistance and protection to IDPs. They provide protection against arbitrary displacement, offer a basis for protection and assistance during displacement, and set forth guarantees for safe return, resettlement and reintegration.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The Land Acquisition Act, 1894 of India is the primary legislation that provides for acquisition of land. But this Act has been criticized &amp;quot;for considering land only as a commodity generating income&amp;quot;. However, when a family is settled on a piece of land not only does it earn its livelihood from it but it also has a whole social network.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2007 puts provisions for &amp;quot;rehabilitation and resettlement of persons affected by acquisition of land under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894&amp;quot; or due to any other legislation by the Central or State governments or involuntary displacement due to any other reason. The Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 6 December 2007 and has since been referred to the Standing Committee on Rural Development.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * National Rehabilitation and Resettlement Policy, 2007 came in order to solve issues arising out of policies of economic liberalization/de-regularization. The NRRP, 2007 has come into force from Oct. 2007. The new policy is applicable to all affected persons and families whose land, property or livelihood are adversely affected by land acquisition or by involuntary displacement of a permanent nature due to any other reason.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Now, by and large there is unanimity that no development can be accepted at the cost of social equity. Land acquisition needs total reform and rehabilitation package. Land owners, should get adequate compensation of their land.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;According to the study titled: [inside]Large Dam Projects and Displacement in India[/inside], &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The government of India does not have figures of people displaced by large dams. This fact is the biggest sign of the fact that displacement and resettlement of people is the least concern of large dam builders.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * India is the third largest dam builder country in the world. It now has over 3600 large dams and over 700 more under construction.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The large dams are the single largest cause of displacement in India.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * A World Bank review of the status of displacement and rehabilitation has shown that the displacement of as many as 0.6 million people across 192 projects had not been accounted for in project planning. In at least one instance, the number of people actually displaced was seven times the number stated in the project documents.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Often only reservoir displacement is taken into account. Whereas Large dam projects can displace people in a number of ways including due to colonies, due to canals, downstream impacts, catchment area treatment, compensatory afforestation, secondary displacement (at resettlement colonies, for example) and due to related conservation schemes like sanctuaries and national parks.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Displacement due to dams in India has been variously estimated. Fernandes, Das &amp;amp; Rao (1989) claimed that Indians displaced by dam projects numbered 21 million.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Available estimates of people displaced by large and medium dams in India show that the 140 dams for which such figures are available, have displaced over 4.4 million people.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;The study titled [inside]Right to displace, but no duty to rehabilitate (A critique of the Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2007)[/inside].&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.indiatogether.org/2008/jan/law-resettle.htm&quot;&gt;http://www.indiatogether.org/2008/jan/law-resettle.htm&lt;/a&gt; shows:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The bill seems to be based on the premise that the acquiring land for a &amp;#39;public purpose&amp;#39; is a right by the state under its powers of eminent domain, but it accepts no duty to resettle and rehabilitate all the affected citizens. Instead, rehabilitation is presented as an act of benevolence.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2007 seeks to &amp;quot;provide for the rehabilitation and resettlement of persons affected by the acquisition of land for projects of public purpose or involuntary displacement due to any other reason&amp;quot;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The bill came at a time when concerted efforts were about to begin made by both the central and state governments to increase economic activity through the deployment of domestic and foreign private capital on a gigantic scale in new infrastructure and industry.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The history of large scale land acquisition and consequent displacement goes back to the 1950s, when the newly independent republic embarked on large state owned projects for irrigation, power, steel and heavy engineering that were meant to occupy the &amp;#39;towering heights of the economy&amp;#39;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Land for even such gigantic projects was (and continues to be) acquired using the coercive powers provided by the colonial Land Acquisition Act. It narrowly defined persons affected by an acquisition to be either land owners or occupiers (tenants), and limited compensation to purely monetary terms.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Even those who were compensated monetarily were hard put to replace their lost land assets and regain their means of livelihood. In the absence of any rehabilitation plan, people displaced by Hirakud dam project occupied whatever open lands they could locate. These lands were not legally theirs, making them vulnerable to constant harassment by officials.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The Narmada Sardar Sarovar project is illustrative of how things have changed over the last six decades. Struggle against displacement by the PAPs led by Narmada Bachao Andolan contributed immensely to change the discourse of the development and displacement.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * But the experience of the Sardar Sarovar and many other projects over the last 60 years reveals the inadequacy of R&amp;amp;R policy - at the project, company, state or even national level- to address the legal neglect of displacement and the rights of the affected people, particularly those without land or tenancy.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * These are some of the issues that came under debate as the Rehabilitation and Resettlement bill 2007 was introduced.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The bill prescribes conditions for project affected families to qualify as beneficiaries and makes the benefits themselves conditional on external circumstances.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Under the provisions of the bill, an area will be notified as an &amp;#39;affected area&amp;#39; &amp;quot;where the appropriate Government is of the opinion that there is likely to be involuntary displacement of four hundred or more families en masse in plain areas&amp;quot; (the number is less for hilly and tribal areas).&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Thus the opinion of the Government on the scale of the displacement will decide if there will be planned R&amp;amp;R of the displaced.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * There are many other conditions attached to the benefits.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * While acquiring land for a &amp;#39;public purpose&amp;#39;, with its attendant displacement and denial of livelihood, is claimed as a right of the state under its powers of eminent domain, the R&amp;amp;R bill does not accept that it is the unconditional duty of the state to resettle and rehabilitate all the affected citizens so that they are able to maintain, if not improve, their current standard of living.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;**page**&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;The paper by Jaideep Hardikar, published in &amp;lsquo;Infochange&amp;#39; titled [inside]The destruction of &amp;#39;development&amp;#39;[/inside],&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;amp;do_pdf=1&amp;amp;id=6161&quot;&gt;http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;amp;do_pdf=1&amp;amp;id=6161&lt;/a&gt;, does not go into depths and details, but it gives a bird&amp;#39;s views of the problem.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Main Points:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Since independence at least 50 million people in India have been displaced by dams, mines, thermal power plants, corridor projects, field firing ranges, express highways, airports, national parks, sanctuaries, industrial townships, even poultry farms. They continue to pay the price for India&amp;#39;s &amp;#39;development&amp;#39;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * These may be conservative figures. Because displacement is usually only understood as direct displacement from land, such figures exclude many groups who are affected but who do not own land.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * A vast majority are landless and marginal farmers, mostly tribal, dalit or other economically backward communities. One study suggests that roughly one in every ten Indian tribals is a displaced person. Tribals constitute 8% of the country&amp;#39;s population, and more than 40% of the displaced persons.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Displacement by mines or thermal power plants is perhaps less visible than the forced movements of people triggered by dams. The acquisition takes place in phases. The would-be oustees are the last ones to know about their eviction by mines. This gives them little or no chance of resistance or coming together to bargain for a better rehabilitation package.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * As things stand today, there&amp;#39;s no region in the country where people haven&amp;#39;t been displaced by development projects. And there&amp;#39;s no region in the country where you would find people rehabilitated according to their aspirations and priorities.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;[inside]World Bank: Resettlement and Rehabilitation (R&amp;amp;R) Policy[/inside]&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;The World Bank has a policy for Resettlement and Rehabilitation (R&amp;amp;R),&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.his.com/~mesas/policy.htm&quot;&gt;http://www.his.com/~mesas/policy.htm&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;The Bank&amp;#39;s present policy is contained in the document &amp;quot;Involuntary Resettlement,&amp;quot; Operational Directive (OD) 4.30, adopted June 1990. According to the WB, the objective of its resettlement policy is to ensure that the population displaced by a project receives benefits from it.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;The WB says, &amp;quot;Development projects that displace people involuntarily generally give rise to severe economic, social, and environmental problems.&amp;quot;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Its R&amp;amp;R policy emphasizes the need for:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Minimizing involuntary resettlement;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Providing people displaced by a project with the means to improve, or at least restore, their former living standards, earning capacity, and production levels;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Involving both re-settlers and hosts in resettlement activities;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * A time-bound resettlement plan; and&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Valuation and compensation principles for land and other assets affected by the project.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;For environmental point of view, the World Bank has categorised the projects into three groups. According to this, Group &amp;quot;A&amp;quot; projects need a full environmental assessment (EA). Category B projects do not require a full EA but do require some environmental analysis. Category C projects do not require environmental analysis.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Category A projects are:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Dams and reservoirs;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Forestry production projects;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Industrial plants (large-scale) and industrial estates;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Irrigation, drainage, and flood control (large-scale);&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Land clearance and levelling;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Mineral development (including oil and gas);&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Port and harbour development;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Reclamation and new land development;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Resettlement and all projects with potentially major impacts on people;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * River basin development;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Thermal and hydropower development; and&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Manufacture, transportation, and use of pesticides or other hazardous and/or toxic materials.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Category B projects are:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Agro-industries (small-scale);&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Electrical transmission;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Aquaculture and mariculture;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Irrigation and drainage (small-scale);&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Renewable energy;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Rural electrification;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Tourism;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Rural water supply and sanitation;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Watershed projects (management or rehabilitation); and&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Rehabilitation, maintenance, and upgrading projects (small-scale).&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Category C projects might be:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Education,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Family planning,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Health,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Nutrition,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Institutional development,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Technical assistance, and&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Most human resource projects.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;**page**&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;[inside]Imagining a Post-Development Era? Critical thought, Development and Social Movements by Arturo Escobar[/inside] is a paper, which gives a fair idea of debates on developments till 1960s and afterwards. This is an important reading for a deeper understanding of evolution of concepts of developments in last few decades. As there is a cause and effect relationship between development projects and displacement, therefore while looking into the issue of displacement it is desirable to have an understanding of this whole debate on development.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Main Points:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Nowadays it has become difficult to talk about development with the same confidence and encompassing scope with which intellectuals and activists spoke about these vital matters in the past decades. Now there are differing views. When one speaks about development, other voices emphasize on the &amp;quot;crisis of development&amp;quot;. The &amp;quot;new social actors&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;new social movements&amp;quot; are raising fundamental questions on the conventional sense of development.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * To examine development as discourse requires understanding why so many countries started to see themselves as underdeveloped, and, how &amp;quot;to develop&amp;quot; became for them a fundamental problem.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * In the previous period, from the early post-War years to the end of the 1970s, development was chiefly a matter of capital, technology, and education and the appropriate policy and planning mechanisms to successfully combine these elements.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Resistance, on the other hand, was primarily a class issue and a question of imperialism. Nowadays, even imperialism and class are thought to be the object of innumerable mediations. Now we come across new ways of thinking on these issues, especially in relation to social movements.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * With the emergence of the new critique it is being argued that development has been an invention and strategy produced by the &amp;quot;First World&amp;quot; about the &amp;quot;underdevelopment&amp;quot; of the &amp;quot;Third World.&amp;quot; Largely, it has been an instrument of economic control over the physical and social reality of much of Asia, Africa and Latin America.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * These schools of thought now are now advocating for &amp;quot;alternatives to development&amp;quot; that needs transformation of the notions of development, modernity and the economy.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The number of scholars in the Third World says that rather than searching for development alternatives, there is a need to go for the &amp;quot;alternatives to development,&amp;quot; that is, a rejection of the entire earlier paradigm.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * In the Third World the process of needs interpretation and satisfaction is inextricably linked to the development apparatus. The &amp;quot;basic human needs&amp;quot; strategy, pushed by the World Bank and adopted by most international agencies, has played a crucial role in this regard. However, the critics say that this strategy is based on a liberal human rights discourse and on the rational, scientific assessment and measurement of &amp;quot;needs&amp;quot;; lacking a significant link to people&amp;#39;s everyday experience, and &amp;quot;basic human needs&amp;quot; discourse does not foster greater political participation.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * This paper argues that the possibility for redefining development rests largely with the action of social movements. Though the paper in most of its parts has discussed the Latin American experiences, it has significance for whole Third World.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;The [inside]main provisions under Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act (MMDR Act)[/inside] are as follows:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://mines.gov.in/policy/noticeapril.pdf&quot;&gt;http://mines.gov.in/policy/noticeapril.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.prsindia.org/uploads/media/draft/Draft%20Mines%20and%20Minerals%20Bill_31%20March%202010.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.prsindia.org/uploads/media/draft/Draft%20Mines%20and%20Minerals%20Bill_31%20March%202010.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;A background and critique:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl2714/stories/20100716271402500.htm&quot;&gt;http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl2714/stories/20100716271402500.htm&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The 1957 Act has outlived its utility despite the several amendments made to it up to 1999. The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation Act, 1957, came into force at a time when governments required much discretionary power to regulate a nascent mining sector. The rise of the market economy in the early 1990s brought about a fundamental change in the government&amp;#39;s attitude to mining.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The National Mineral Policy, 1993, recognised the need to encourage private investment, including foreign direct investment (FDI), and to attract state-of-the-art technology in the mineral sector.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Mining is a three-stage operation, involving regional exploration, detailed exploration, and actual mining.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Procedural delay was identified as one of the impediments in encouraging the flow of private investment and in the introduction of high-end technology for exploration and mining. The Anwarul Hoda Committee, constituted by the Planning Commission in 2005, in its report submitted in 2006 made specific recommendations on the legal framework to avoid procedural delay.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The New Mining Policy (NMP) 2008, while reflecting these recommendations, also sought to develop a sustainable framework for optimum utilisation of mineral resources for industrial growth and for improving the life of people living in the mining areas.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The proposed Act makes significant departures from the existing Act in areas that were seen as instances of micromanagement.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * As per the proposed Act, the union Ministry for mines and minerals give up its &amp;quot;prior approval&amp;quot; power in grant of concessions for minerals in Part C of the First Schedule. In the proposed Act, Part C includes 74 major minerals, while Part A includes coal and lignite and Part B atomic minerals. Part C of the First Schedule of the existing Act includes only 10 metallic and non-metallic minerals.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The proposed Act envisages the setting up of a national mining tribunal, which can check independently decisions as also indecision and delays. It gives more teeth to the Indian Bureau of Mines to regulate the mining plan and mine closure and empowers the Central government to enforce disclosure through databases and websites.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The draft Bill allows the setting up of a national mineral royalty commission with State governments as members, for progressive solutions for revenue-sharing through royalty.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The proposed Act provides for stringent measures to prevent illegal mining. It empowers State governments to detect, prevent and prosecute cases of illegal mining, set up special courts to try such cases and declare those convicted as ineligible for grant of mining concessions.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * One of the consistent demands of the steel industry has been the reservation of mineral-bearing areas for public sector undertakings. The proposed Act rejects this demand, consistent with the Hoda Committee&amp;#39;s recommendation that reservation goes against the principles of providing a level playing field.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The draft Bill guarantees assured annuity to the local population as a percentage of profits (26 per cent) earned by the miner, resettlement and rehabilitation of the local population through employment and skill enhancement.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * It also provides for compulsory consultation with gram sabha/district panchayats in tribal areas before notification of the area for grant of concessions, and preference to tribal cooperatives in the grant of concessions over small deposits.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;According to a report named [inside]SEZs and land acquisition FACTSHEET FOR AN UNCONSTITUTIONAL ECONOMIC POLICY[/inside] Prepared by Citizens&amp;#39; Research Collective&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;SEZ - DISPLACEMENT AND LOSS OF LIVELIHOODS&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Estimates show that close to 114,000 farming households (each household on an average comprising five members) and an additional 82,000 farm worker families who are dependent upon these farms for their livelihoods, will be displaced.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * In other words, at least 10 lakh (1,000,000) people who primarily depend upon agriculture for their survival will face eviction. Experts calculate that the total loss of income to the farming and the farm worker families is at least Rs. 212 crores a year.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * This does not include other income lost (for instance of artisans) due to the demise of local rural economies. The government promises &amp;lsquo;humane&amp;#39; displacement followed by relief and rehabilitation.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * However, the historical record does not offer any room for hope on this count: an estimated 40 million people (of which nearly 40% are Adivasis and 25% Dalits) have lost their land since 1950 on account of displacement due to large development projects. At least 75% of them still await rehabilitation.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Almost 80% of the agricultural population owns only about 17% of the total agriculture land, making them near landless farmers. Far more families and communities depend on a piece of land (for work, grazing) than those who simply own it. However, compensation is being discussed only for those who hold titles to land. No compensation has been planned for those who don&amp;#39;t.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;LOSS OF PUBLIC REVENUE&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Exemptions from customs duties, income tax, sales tax, excise duties and service tax (even on luxury hotel facilities, shopping malls, health clubs and recreation centres) given to SEZs, the Finance ministry estimates a loss of Rs.1,60,000 crore till 2010 in revenue. (The Ministry has also asked for capping the number of SEZs at 100.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Finance Minister P. Chidambaram wrote to Cabinet colleagues saying: &amp;quot;SEZs per se will distort land, capital, and labour cost, which will encourage relocation or shifting of industries in clever ways that can&amp;#39;t be stopped. This will be further aggravated by the proliferation of a large number of SEZs in and around metros.&amp;quot;)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The foregone tax revenue every year is five times the annual allocation for the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and is enough to feed each year 55 million people who go to bed hungry every day.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Furthermore, given the concessions on import duties (not merely for the investors who will produce exportable items but also for the developer, who will not), there are likely to be foreign exchange losses (rather than gains).&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * For the five year period ending 1996-97 the foreign exchange outgo on imports made by units in SEZs and the customs duty forgone amounted to Rs.16461.58 crore against which exports of only Rs.13563.87 crore were reported.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Moreover, these zones are exempt from sales tax, octroi, mandi tax etc on the supply of the goods from the Domestic Tariff Area (rest of India).&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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	&#039;metaTitle&#039; =&gt; &#039;Empowerment | Displacement&#039;,
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	&#039;metaDesc&#039; =&gt; &#039;KEY TRENDS

&amp;nbsp;

&amp;bull; Section 105 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, which provides for excluding 13 Central legislation, including Land Acquisition (Mines) Act 1885, Atomic Energy Act, 1962, Railway Act...&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;KEY TRENDS&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div&gt;&amp;bull; Section 105 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, which provides for excluding 13 Central legislation, including Land Acquisition (Mines) Act 1885, Atomic Energy Act, 1962, Railway Act 1989, National Highways Act 1956 and Metro Railways (Construction of Works) Act, 1978, from its purview, has been amended for payment of compensation with rigours $&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;bull; The amendments have now relaxed the requirements of consent and Social Impact Assessment survey for projects in following areas: 1. Defence and defence production; 2. Rural infrastructure (including rural electrification); 3. Affordable housing; 4. Industrial corridors; 5. Social infrastructure projects including PPPs in which ownership rests with the government $&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&amp;bull; The Standing Committee report on Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011 (submitted on 17 May, 2012) recommended that land may not be acquired for use by private companies and PPPs. The Committee recommended including &amp;ldquo;infrastructure projects&amp;rdquo; within the definition of public purpose. Since sale and purchase of land is a state subject, the threshold for R&amp;amp;R provisions shall be fixed by the states and not the central government. Restriction on land acquisition should also apply to any land under agricultural cultivation. No central act should be exempted from the provisions of the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011 and necessary amendments should be brought in those Acts to bring them at par with this Bill. The Committee recommended that if acquired land is left unutilized for 5 years, the land should be returned to the land owners &amp;alpha;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;bull; India is the third largest dam builder country in the world. It now has over 3600 large dams and over 700 more under construction*&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;bull; Displacement due to dams in India has been variously estimated. Fernandes, Das &amp;amp; Rao (1989) claimed that Indians displaced by dam projects numbered 21 million*&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;bull; Available estimates of people displaced by large and medium dams in India show that the 140 dams for which such figures are available, have displaced over 4.4 million people*&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;bull; Many researchers estimated that the number of people displaced due to big projects comes between 10 and 25 million. In an influential 1989 study, Fernandes, Das and Rao provide an estimate of some 21 million displaced persons. Scholar-administrator Dr. N. C. Saxena, places his estimate of persons displaced by big projects since 1947 at nearly double this figure &amp;mdash; 50 million**&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;bull; India has adopted the policy of promoting the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) for faster industrial development. It needs about 50,000 hectares of agricultural land for SEZs and 1.49 lakh hectares for all projects which include also industrial, mining, irrigation and infrastructural projects***&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;bull; The Land Acquisition Act, 1894 of India is the primary legislation that provides for acquisition of land***&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;bull; Since independence at least 50 million people in India have been displaced by dams, mines, thermal power plants, corridor projects, field firing ranges, express highways, airports, national parks, sanctuaries, industrial townships, even poultry farms@&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Sources:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;$&amp;nbsp;Amendments to the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, Press Information Bureau, dated: 29 December 2014 (Please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Land_act_amendments.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Land Act amendments&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Land_act_amendments.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Land Act amendments&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access)&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;alpha; &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Summary%20of%20the%20Standing%20Committee%20recommendations.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Summary of the Standing Committee recommendations&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Summary%20of%20the%20Standing%20Committee%20recommendations.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Summary of the Standing Committee recommendations&quot;&gt;Standing Committee Report Summary&lt;/a&gt;, PRS Legislative Research&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;* Large Dam Projects and Displacement in India,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;**&amp;nbsp; Planning Commission titled Dams, Displacement, Policy and Law in India,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/art_dam.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/art_dam.pdf&quot;&gt;http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/a&lt;br /&gt;rt_dam.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;*** Environment of Land Diversion, Displacement and Rehabilitation: A Study of Indian SEZs,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;@ The destruction of &amp;#39;development&amp;#39; by Jaideep Hardikar, Infochange&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;amp;do_pdf=1&amp;amp;id=6161&quot; title=&quot;http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;amp;do_pdf=1&amp;amp;id=6161&quot;&gt;http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;a&lt;br /&gt;mp;do_pdf=1&amp;amp;id=6161&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&#039;,
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	&#039;id&#039; =&gt; (int) 3192,
	&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;Displacement&#039;,
	&#039;subheading&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;KEY TRENDS&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;bull; Section 105 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, which provides for excluding 13 Central legislation, including Land Acquisition (Mines) Act 1885, Atomic Energy Act, 1962, Railway Act 1989, National Highways Act 1956 and Metro Railways (Construction of Works) Act, 1978, from its purview, has been amended for payment of compensation with rigours $&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; The amendments have now relaxed the requirements of consent and Social Impact Assessment survey for projects in following areas: 1. Defence and defence production; 2. Rural infrastructure (including rural electrification); 3. Affordable housing; 4. Industrial corridors; 5. Social infrastructure projects including PPPs in which ownership rests with the government $&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;bull; The Standing Committee report on Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011 (submitted on 17 May, 2012) recommended that land may not be acquired for use by private companies and PPPs. The Committee recommended including &amp;ldquo;infrastructure projects&amp;rdquo; within the definition of public purpose. Since sale and purchase of land is a state subject, the threshold for R&amp;amp;R provisions shall be fixed by the states and not the central government. Restriction on land acquisition should also apply to any land under agricultural cultivation. No central act should be exempted from the provisions of the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011 and necessary amendments should be brought in those Acts to bring them at par with this Bill. The Committee recommended that if acquired land is left unutilized for 5 years, the land should be returned to the land owners &amp;alpha;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; India is the third largest dam builder country in the world. It now has over 3600 large dams and over 700 more under construction*&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; Displacement due to dams in India has been variously estimated. Fernandes, Das &amp;amp; Rao (1989) claimed that Indians displaced by dam projects numbered 21 million*&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; Available estimates of people displaced by large and medium dams in India show that the 140 dams for which such figures are available, have displaced over 4.4 million people*&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; Many researchers estimated that the number of people displaced due to big projects comes between 10 and 25 million. In an influential 1989 study, Fernandes, Das and Rao provide an estimate of some 21 million displaced persons. Scholar-administrator Dr. N. C. Saxena, places his estimate of persons displaced by big projects since 1947 at nearly double this figure &amp;mdash; 50 million**&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; India has adopted the policy of promoting the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) for faster industrial development. It needs about 50,000 hectares of agricultural land for SEZs and 1.49 lakh hectares for all projects which include also industrial, mining, irrigation and infrastructural projects***&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; The Land Acquisition Act, 1894 of India is the primary legislation that provides for acquisition of land***&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; Since independence at least 50 million people in India have been displaced by dams, mines, thermal power plants, corridor projects, field firing ranges, express highways, airports, national parks, sanctuaries, industrial townships, even poultry farms@&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Sources:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;$&amp;nbsp;Amendments to the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, Press Information Bureau, dated: 29 December 2014 (Please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Land_act_amendments.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Land Act amendments&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access)&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;alpha; &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Summary%20of%20the%20Standing%20Committee%20recommendations.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Summary of the Standing Committee recommendations&quot;&gt;Standing Committee Report Summary&lt;/a&gt;, PRS Legislative Research&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;* Large Dam Projects and Displacement in India,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;**&amp;nbsp; Planning Commission titled Dams, Displacement, Policy and Law in India,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/art_dam.pdf&quot;&gt;http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/art_dam.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;*** Environment of Land Diversion, Displacement and Rehabilitation: A Study of Indian SEZs,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;@ The destruction of &amp;#39;development&amp;#39; by Jaideep Hardikar, Infochange&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;amp;do_pdf=1&amp;amp;id=6161&quot;&gt;http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;amp;do_pdf=1&amp;amp;id=6161&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;**page**&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Second Ordinance 2015.pdf&quot; title=&quot;The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Second Ordinance 2015&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access [inside]The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Second Ordinance 2015[/inside], dated 30 May, 2015&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Second Amendment) Bill 2015.pdf&quot; title=&quot;The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Second Amendment) Bill 2015&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access [inside]The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Second Amendment) Bill 2015[/inside]&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/RFCTLARR%20Act%20(Amendment)%20Ordinance,%202014.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Amended Land Acquisition Act&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access [inside]The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Ordinance 2014[/inside], promulgated by the President on 31 December 2014&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Land_act_amendments.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Land Act amendments&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access the [inside]Amendments made in the&amp;nbsp; Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013[/inside]. Source: Press Information Bureau, dated: 29 December 2014&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;The salient features of [inside]The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013[/inside], which repeals the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 are as follows (Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/files/file/Act_Land_Acqusiition_2013.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp; to access):&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; Payment of compensation upto four times the market value in rural areas and two times the market value in urban areas.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; Rehabilitation and Resettlement is an integral part of the land acquisition. No family will be displaced before rehabilitation.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; A social impact assessment study to be done compulsorily in all cases of land acquisition irrespective of extent of area.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; The definition of &amp;lsquo;affected families&amp;rsquo; has been extended to include not only the land owners but also others dependent on land for their livelihoods like agricultural labourers, tenants.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; To ensure transparency and participation, the Act provides for consent of at least eighty and seventy percent of the land owners in the cases of land acquisition for Private and Public Private Partnership Projects respectively.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; In Scheduled Areas consent of the Gram Sabhas/ Panchayats / Autonomous District Councils is mandatory in all cases of land acquisition.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; To safeguard food security and to prevent arbitrary acquisition, the Act directs the States to impose limits on the multi cropped irrigated land that can be acquired.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; In case, land remains unutilized after acquisition, the new Act empowers States to return the land either to the owner or to the State Land Bank.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/LAAR%20Bill%20as%20passed%20by%20LS.pdf&quot; title=&quot;LARR Bill as passed by LS&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access [inside]The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2013[/inside] that was passed by the Lok Sabha on 29 August, 2013.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;In order to access the [inside]Draft National Land Reforms Policy (dated 18 July, 2013)[/inside], prepared by Ministry of Rural Development, please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Draft_National_Land_Reforms_Policy_July_2013.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Draft Land Reforms Policy 2013&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
The &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Standing%20Committee%20Report%20on%20LARR%20Bill%202011.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Standing Committee report on LARR 2011&quot;&gt;report by the Standing Committee&lt;/a&gt; on Rural Development pertaining to Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (LARR) Bill 2011 was tabled in the Lok Sabha on 17 May, 2012. As per the [inside]Standing Committee Report 2012[/inside], the salient features of the LARR Bill 2011 (now renamed as Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill) are as follows:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(1) New integrated legislation dealing with land acquisition and rehabilitation &amp;amp; resettlement while repealing the Land Acquisition Act, 1894.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(2) Exemption to 16 Central Acts specified in Fourth Schedule from the ambit of the Bill.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(3) Defining the term affected family, which includes both the land losers and livelihood losers.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(4) Provision of R &amp;amp; R benefits in case of specified private purchase of land equal to or more than 100 acres in rural areas and equal to or more than 50 acre in urban areas&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(5) Provides Social Impact Assessment (SIA) study in all cases where the Government intends to acquire land for a public purpose.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(6) Provides for formation of a Committee under the Chief Secretary for examining proposals of land acquisition where land sought to be acquired is equal to or more than 100 acres.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(7) Putting limitations on acquisition of multi-crop land for safeguarding the food security.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(8) Institutional mechanism for R&amp;amp;R in the form of institutions of Administrator for Rehabilitation and Resettlement, Commissioner for Rehabilitation and Resettlement, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Committee at project level, the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation &amp;amp; Resettlement Authority at State level and National Monitoring Committee at Central level.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(9) Provisions of consent of the 80 per-cent affected families for land acquisition for certain projects.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(10) Provision for enhanced compensation to the land owners and rehabilitation and resettlement entitlements.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(11) Provision of 25 per-cent on shares as part of compensation in cases where the Requiring Body offers its shares to the owners of land whose land has been acquired.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(12) Restricting the &amp;lsquo;urgency clause&amp;rsquo; for land acquisition for Defence of India or National Security or for any other emergency out of natural calamities.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(13) Specified timelines for payment of compensation and provision of rehabilitation and resettlement entitlements.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[inside]Recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on LARR 2011 Bill[/inside]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
It has been noted by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on LARR 2011 Bill that despite the Government having more than two years time for wider consultations with all stakeholders i.e. between the constitution of Fifteenth Lok Sabha 01.06.2009 and introduction of the LARR Bill, 2011 in September, 2011, it initiated the process of consultation only on 29 July, 2011 when the Draft Bill was put on Department of Land Resources (DOLR, http://dolr.nic.in/) &amp;quot;website&amp;quot; for consultations and the comments thereon were sought by 31 August 2011. The Cabinet approved the Draft Bill on 5 September, 2011 and the Bill was introduced in Lok Sabha on 7 September 2011, leaving little time at the disposal of the Government to seriously consider the suggestions received from various stakeholders.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Although the Government was late by over two years in bringing the LARR Bill again they gave little time to the stakeholders, including Central Ministries and State Governments concerned to submit their views and also to consider the same. Consultation by the Standing Committee with the State Governments, some of the Central Ministries concerned like Ministries of Urban Development, Panchayati Raj, Tribal Affairs etc. revealed that that their views are at variance with the DoLR in respect of contents of the Bill. This compelled the Standing Committee to invite suggestions from the general public, industry, farmers, NGO&amp;#39;s, experts, Central Ministries, State Governments etc.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The following key issues having relevance to the provisions of the LARR Bill 2011 came up during discussions held with various stakeholders:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
A. Doctrine of Eminent Domain and Acquisition as &amp;#39;Public Purpose&amp;#39; for private corporations, Public Private Partnerships (PPPs).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
B. Powers of the Central Government vis-&amp;agrave;-vis State Governments in legislation for sale/purchase of land and R &amp;amp; R provisions&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
C. Role of Institutions of self government-established by Parts IX &amp;amp; IX A of the Constitution in land acquisition and R&amp;amp;R&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
D. Applicability of LARR Bill, 2011 in Scheduled Areas (Schedules V and VI of the Constitution)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
E. Special provisions to safeguard Food Security (Clause 10)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
F. Exemption of 16 Central Acts from purview of the Bill (Clause 98 &amp;amp; Fourth Schedule)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Standing Committee report on LARR 2011 has provided the detailed discussion on these above-mentioned issues. The suggestions given by the Committee regarding these issues are being provided here.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;A. Doctrine of Eminent Domain and Acquisition as &amp;ldquo;Public Purpose&amp;rdquo; for Private Corporations, Public-Private Partnerships&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Amendment done to section 4 of the original Land Acquisition Act 1894 in 1984 by inserting the words &amp;ldquo;or for a Company&amp;rdquo; after &amp;ldquo;any public purpose&amp;rdquo; extinguished any differentiation between acquisition for a State purpose and &amp;ldquo;acquisition for a private enterprise&amp;rdquo; or &amp;ldquo;State enterprise&amp;rdquo;. What the Courts could interpret from this amendment is that any notification of acquisition issued under section 4 need not specify whether the acquisition is for a &amp;ldquo;public purpose&amp;rdquo; or for &amp;ldquo;a Company&amp;rdquo;. This move led to massive acquisition of land by the State for Companies.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Standing Committee report has alleged that the LARR Bill, 2011 &amp;ldquo;seeks to permit, and even facilitate, the acquisition of land by the Government for private companies&amp;rdquo;. By agreeing with the Government of India appointed Expert Group Report (under the Chairmanship of D. Bandyopadhyay) on Development Challenges in Extremist Affected Areas, the Committee report has mentioned that displacement of people happened due to large scale acquisitions. The Standing Committee has suggested that &amp;ldquo;instead of reverting to the classical concept of Eminent Domain or diluting it, the present 2011 Bill extinguishes the distinction in the original 1894 Act between acquisition by the State for a State purpose from purchase of land by a Company for a private purpose by including &amp;ldquo;Public Private Partnership projects&amp;rdquo; and &amp;ldquo;private companies&amp;rdquo; in the definition given in clause 2(1)(b) and (c), as well as 3(za)(vi)(B) and 3(za)(vii) respectively, subject only to their producing &amp;ldquo;public goods or the provision of public services&amp;rdquo; and &amp;ldquo;the provision of land in the public interest&amp;rdquo;, it being entirely left to the executive to determine what is the &amp;ldquo;public interest&amp;rdquo; or &amp;ldquo;public goods&amp;rdquo; or &amp;ldquo;public services&amp;rdquo;.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Standing Committee has recommended that land acquisition should not be for use by PPPs and private companies. Public purpose should be limited to state sponsored projects as defined in Clause 3(za)(i) to (vi)(A). The Committee has asked for deleting the provisions relating to acquisition of land for private companies and PPPs [(Clause 3(za)(vi)(B) and (vii)]. The Committee has recommended that Clause 3 (o) (v) which gives wide discretion to the government to define infrastructure projects should be deleted. The Committee has suggested that infrastructure projects should be included in the definition of public purpose.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Committee has rejected those sub-clauses of Clauses 2 and 3 that place wide discretion in the hands of the executive to define &amp;ldquo;public purpose&amp;rdquo; and &amp;ldquo;infrastructure projects&amp;rdquo; for for-profit enterprises. It, therefore, has asked for deletion of Clauses 2(1)(b) &amp;amp; (c), 2(2)(b), 3(o)(v), 3(za)vi)(B) and (vii). It has recommended that all cases of land acquisition must entail obligations for adequate compensation, rehabilitation and resettlement to all land losers and other affected persons.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
While questioning the role of Indian State in carrying out land acquisition for Companies in the name of &amp;ldquo;public purpose&amp;rdquo;, the Standing Committee has given the example of countries like USA, Japan, Canada, EU, Australia etc. where private purchase of land and not State acquisition, is the standard. In most developed countries, there is no provision in the laws for State acquisition of privately held land for profit-making private enterprises or for public-private enterprises, the Committee report argued.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;B. Powers of the Central Government vis-vis State Governments in legislation for sale/purchase of land and R&amp;amp;R provisions&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Clause 2 (2) (a) of the LARR Bill 2011 provides that R&amp;amp;R provisions are mandatory for all private purchases if the land purchased is over 100 acres in rural areas and 50 acres in urban areas. However, the Standing Committee has recommended that since sale and purchase of land is a State subject, State legislatures have the discretion and flexibility on whether there should be R&amp;amp;R and if so prescribe a threshold for R&amp;amp;R provisions. The Committee report said: &amp;quot;State legislatures, bearing in mind the provisions of this Act, may by law provide for R&amp;amp;R provisions on sale/purchase of land. Limits/ceiling for the purpose shall be fixed by respective States keeping in view the availability of the land and density of the population.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;C. Role of Institutions of self government established by Parts IX &amp;amp; IX A of the Constitution in land acquisition and R &amp;amp; R&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Criticizing the provision in the LARR Bill 2011, where the role of Gram Sabha is limited to consultation during the time of land acquisition, the Committee has suggested that the role of local institutions of self-government should be broadened so as to ensure centrality of these institutions in the planning and implementation of the Bill, with a view to making the entire process of land acquisition and R&amp;amp;R participative, transparent and pro-people in accordance with the letter and spirit of Articles 243G and 243W of Parts IX and IXA of the Constitution. Under Articles 243G and 243W of Parts IX and IXA of the Constitution, State legislation is required to specifically empower local institutions of self-government so as to undertake both planning and implementation of &amp;quot;economic development and social justice&amp;quot;. &amp;ldquo;Beyond merely &amp;quot;consulting&amp;quot; Gram Sabhas, consensus or, at least, consent by the majority of Gram Sabha members (or equivalent body in urban areas where these have been constituted) should be obtained in all matters pertaining to LARR&amp;rdquo;, emphasized the Committee report. The decision making process regarding issues such as land acquisition, review of R&amp;amp;R schemes, determination of compensation, and any dispute regarding the compensation awarded should be entrusted on local elected authories. The Committee has recommended that the Expert Group evaluating the Social Impact Assessment (SIA) report should also have one or more members nominated from the affected Gram Sabha.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;D. Applicability of LARR Bill, 2011 in Scheduled Areas&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Standing Committee report has found that the &amp;ldquo;provisions of the LARR Bill 2011 in respect of areas covered under Schedules V and VI of the Constitution have not been dealt with separately but through provisos to some of the clauses besides being mentioned in the Schedules of the Bill, particularly the Second Schedule&amp;rdquo;.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Committee has recommended that alienation of land or land acquisition in Scheduled Areas should be avoided as far as possible. In case of unavoidable land acquisition for public purpose projects, &amp;ldquo;special provision should be made for increased compensation and resettlement and rehabilitation provisions that enforce stricter conditions such as relocation in a similar ecological location, with communities being mandatorily relocated together so as to preserve the economic opportunities, language, culture and community life of the tribal communities&amp;rdquo;. Consent or approval by majority of Gram Sabhas and Autonomous District Councils (ADCs) should be made mandatory in case of land acquisition. Independent and neutral persons should be present in order to watch the proceedings of discussions within the Gram Sabhas/ ADCs so as to ensure that the process of &amp;lsquo;consent seeking&amp;rsquo; is transparent. It has been recommended that PESA provisions must be strictly observed and indicated in all related provisions in the LARR Bill, &amp;ldquo;particular care being taken to ensure that Panchayats at the appropriate level and the Gram Sabhas are specifically endowed with powers to prevent alienation of land and to take appropriate action to restore any unlawfully alienated land, as provided for in Section 4m (iii) of PESA&amp;rdquo;.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;E. Special Provisions to safeguard Food Security (Clause 10)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Provisions under the Clause 10 of the LARR Bill want to protect irrigated and multi-cropped land from land acquisition so as to ensure food security. Only under exceptional circumstances a maximum of five per cent of irrigated multi-cropped land may be acquired in a district with certain conditions such as: &amp;ldquo;whenever multi-crop irrigated land is acquired under sub-section (2), an equivalent area of culturable wasteland shall be developed for agricultural purposes&amp;rdquo;. However, the Standing Committee on LARR Bill 2011 is of the opinion that food security is not confined to producing rice and wheat in irrigated land. Cultivation of nutritional coarse grains, pulses and oilseeds in dryland or rain-fed areas cannot be neglected. Hence the Committee has recommended that &amp;ldquo;in Chapter III, all provisions regarding &amp;ldquo;irrigated multi-cropped land&amp;rdquo; be replaced by &amp;ldquo;any land under agriculture cultivation&amp;rdquo; so as to ensure safeguard for food security in a full measure&amp;rdquo;.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;F. Exemption of Central Acts from Provisions of the Bill [Clause 98 and Fourth Schedule]&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Clause 98 of the LARR Bill 2011 made sure that the proposed Act shall not apply to the land acquisition processed under various Acts in the Fourth Schedule, which are listed below:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
1. The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958.&lt;br /&gt;
2. The Atomic Energy Act, 1962.&lt;br /&gt;
3. The Cantonments Act, 2006.&lt;br /&gt;
4. The Damodar Valley Corporation Act, 1948.&lt;br /&gt;
5. The Indian Tramways Act, 1886.&lt;br /&gt;
6. The Land Acquisition (Mines) Act, 1885.&lt;br /&gt;
7. The Metro Railways (Construction of Works) Act, 1978.&lt;br /&gt;
8. The National Highways Act, 1956.&lt;br /&gt;
9. The Petroleum and Minerals Pipelines (Acquisition of Right of User in Land) Act, 1962.&lt;br /&gt;
10. The Requisitioning and Acquisition of Immovable Property Act, 1952.&lt;br /&gt;
11. The Resettlement of Displaced Persons (Land Acquisition) Act, 1948.&lt;br /&gt;
12. The Special Economic Zones Act, 2005.&lt;br /&gt;
13. The Coal Bearing Areas Acquisition and Development Act, 1957.&lt;br /&gt;
14. The Electricity Act, 2003.&lt;br /&gt;
15. The Railways Act, 1989.&lt;br /&gt;
16. The Works of Defence Act, 1903&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
It has been suggested by various organizations and State Governments during the consultation with the Standing Committee that &amp;ldquo;by keeping out the 16 Central Acts outside the purview of the Bill, under which Central Government acquires land for Central Projects, almost 95 percent of land acquisition would be outside the purview of the Bill&amp;rdquo;. Some of the State Governments complained that while Central Government sought to exempt all Central Acts from the purview of the Bill, they wanted to impose the same on the State Governments. Therefore the Standing Committee has recommended not exempting any of these Central Acts from the purview of LARR Bill. The Committee has suggested that necessary amendments should be brought in these Central Acts so as to bring them at par with the LARR Bill 2011.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Definition of &amp;quot;affected family&amp;quot;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Clause 3 (b) &amp;amp; (c) of the LARR Bill 2011 defined &amp;quot;affected family&amp;quot; to include (i) landowners; (ii) agricultural labourers, tenants who have been working in the affected area for three years prior to the acquisition; (iii) tribals and forest dwellers; (iv) families whose livelihood for the previous three years is dependent on the forests or water bodies; and (v) families who have been given land by the state or central government. The Standing Committee has recommended that within the definition of affected family:&lt;br /&gt;
* &amp;ldquo;Tribals&amp;rdquo; should be substituted by &amp;ldquo;Scheduled tribes&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
* &amp;ldquo;Traditional rights&amp;rdquo; should be substituted by &amp;ldquo;forest rights&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
* &amp;ldquo;Affected people&amp;rdquo; should be substituted with &amp;ldquo;affected family&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
* &amp;ldquo;Three years&amp;rdquo; in the definition should become &amp;ldquo;three years or more&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Clause 3 (m) of the LARR Bill 2011 defined family includes a person, his or her spouse, minor children, minor brothers and sisters dependent on him. The Standing Committee has recommended that widows and divorcees and abandoned women should be considered a separate family.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;R&amp;amp;R entitlements&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
R&amp;amp;R entitlements provided to displaced families under the LARR Bill 2011 include among other things: (i) land for a house as per the Indira Awas Yojana in rural areas or a constructed house of at least 50 square metres plinth area in urban areas; (ii) a one-time allowance of Rs 50,000 for affected families; and (iii) the option of choosing either mandatory employment in projects where jobs are being created or a one-time payment of Rs 5 lakh or an inflation adjusted annuity of Rs 2,000 per month per family for 20 years. The Standing Committee has recommended that the monetary components in the R&amp;amp;R entitlements given in Schedule II in the Bill should be indexed to inflation.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Under the LARR Bill 2011, every resettled area is to be provided with certain infrastructural facilities which include roads, drainage, provision for drinking water, grazing land, banks, post offices, public distribution outlets, etc. However, the Standing Committee has recommended that the infrastructure facilities should be decided on a case by case basis.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Unutilized land &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Clause 95 on unutlized land of the LARR Bill said that if an acquired land is left unutilised for a period of 10 years from the date it was acquired, it shall be returned to the Land Bank or the appropriate government. The Standing Committee has recommended that this period should be reduced to five years and if left unutilised, the land should be returned to the land owners. The Committee has also asked for clearly defining the term Land Bank in the LARR Bill 2011.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Urgency provisions&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The LARR Bill 2011 said that if land is acquired in urgency, an additional 75 percent compensation shall be provided. The Committee asked that in cases of urgency it should be clarified that the extra compensation would be 75 per cent of the total compensation package/ solatium calculated. Under the LARR Bill 2011, if a land is proposed to be acquired under the urgency provisions, a Social Impact Assessment (SIA) may not be conducted. The Committee has recommended that a notice should be issued if SIA is not conducted in an acquisition under the urgency provisions.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Compensation package&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Under the LARR Bill 2011, compensation for the land acquired shall be based on the higher of (a) the minimum land value, specified in the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 for the registration of sale deeds; and (b) the average sale price of the higher priced 50% of all sale deeds registered in the previous 3 years for similar type of land situated in the vicinity. In rural areas, this amount would be doubled. The value of the assets (trees, plants, buildings etc) attached to the land being acquired will be added to this amount. This total amount will then be multiplied by two to get the final compensation amount. In cases of the urgency Clause, additional 75 per cent compensation would be offered.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Standing Committee has recommended that the term &amp;ldquo;market value&amp;rdquo; should replace &amp;ldquo;minimum value&amp;rdquo;. In addition, a multi-member land pricing commission or authority should be constituted by appropriate government to finalize the cost of land acquisition state wise/area wise. Award given for the land acquired should be treated only as compensation and not as a base for circle rate for subsequent acquisitions so as to allay the fears of corporate sector regarding a speculative price spiral. Also, 12 per cent interest per annum should be paid in addition to the compensation from the date of the notification till the date of the award.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;**page**&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;
&lt;div&gt;According to the National Advisory Council 2, &lt;a href=&quot;http://nac.nic.in/press_releases/25_may_2011.pdf&quot;&gt;http://nac.nic.in/press_releases/25_may_2011.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[inside]Suggestions for Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill 2009 &amp;amp; Resettlement and Rehabilitation Bill, 2009[/inside], &lt;a href=&quot;http://nac.nic.in/pdf/working_group_proposal_for_larr.pdf&quot;&gt;http://nac.nic.in/pdf/working_group_proposal_for_larr.pdf&lt;/a&gt;: &amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The NAC has recommended that it is upto the states to decide the extent of percentage of the total land to be acquired by them. In principle, the NAC disagrees with the 70:30 formula.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Acquired land non-performing for five years should be returned to original owners is another recommendation of NAC, which has been also well received.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Giving freedom to the industry to acquire land directly could result in large scale cheating and deception in tribal and poor areas of India.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The NAC has recently asked for consolidating the Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill 2009 and Resettlement and Rehabilitation Bill, 2009 under the title Land Acquisition, Resettlement and Rehabilitation Act, 2011. The NAC wants a combined Bill instead of two separate bills since both the Bills are intrinsically inter-related, and having two separate Bills may lead to possibility of amending one without amending the other, and selective application of provisions of each Act, thereby defeating the purpose of providing justice and relief to those displaced.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Passing of separate bills will set in motion fragmented processes, causing confusion, delays, and therefore avoidable distress and suffering for the people. According to the NAC, a separate R&amp;amp;R Bill won&amp;#39;t be required to address displacement due to natural disasters and communal and caste violence since there are separate laws being enacted for Natural Disasters and Communal Violence.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The NAC thinks that the proposed Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill, 2009 does not explicitly mention the poor, and incorporates infrastructure and strategic interests. It has a provision for state acquisition of land for private for-profit companies. Section 5 of the Land Acquisition (Amendment Act) Bill, 2009 is silent on the nature of public interest proposed and the financial, social and environmental costs and benefits associated with a project.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Compensation&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;div&gt;&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Project Affected Families (PAFs) can make a choice in the way compensation is offered- i.) as a lump-sum amount; ii.) 30% as a lumpsum amount, and the rest as an annuity at the rate of 12% interest escalating every year for 33 years; or iii.) The total value as an annuity at the rate of 12% interest escalating every year, for 33 years. The latter two would be adjusted for inflation by escalating every year by 10%.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Share-croppers, landless labourers, artisans et al should receive ten days&amp;rsquo; minimum wage per month for thirty three years when land is acquired by the State for &amp;lsquo;public purposes&amp;rsquo;.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; For such persons, there would be additional provisions for homestead land, training and employment rehabilitation in the rehabilitation and resettlement package.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The NAC has emphasized that lawfully recorded tenants and sharecroppers should be compensated (and paid solatium) for the parcels of land that they are losing, on an 80%:20% basis with the landowner being given 20%, which should not be less than four times their current income.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; A minimum of 5% shares should be distributed (equitably) free of cost to PAFs (increased by 5% for every additional 100 acres acquired). If the Government is allowed to acquire land, then land owners and non-land owners who depended on that land should enjoy four times their present monthly income after acquisition.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The NAC has proposed that compensation for those who lose land will be six times the registered sale deed value including solatium.&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Rehabilitation and Resettlement&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;div&gt;&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The NAC has demanded transparency, public consulting, and prior informed consent during the process of land acquisition. The legal rights of Project Affected Families (PAFs) to challenge the entitlement cannot be withdrawn as it has been done under R&amp;amp;R Bill, 2009. Section 11 of the R&amp;amp;R Bill, 2009 needs to be amended so that all compensation must be paid and R&amp;amp;R for all affected persons must be completed in all aspects at least 6 months before taking possession.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Section 3(b) (ii) of the R&amp;amp;R Bill, 2009 does not mention the extent to which affected families have been deprived of their primary source of livelihood.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; All individual entitlements, such as land for land (where applicable), housing, employment and training opportunities, should be compulsorily offered to all PAFs irrespective of size of acquisition as per the NAC. Compulsory provisions for land for land are non-negotiable in case of all tribal and dalit families (to discourage acquisition of tribal and dalit land) and all irrigation projects. There should be an authority like the Auditor General of Displacement and Rehabilitation (AG-DR) to find out after 5 or 10 years of displacement as to what is the present condition of those displaced.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Instead of the Government notifying what amenities are to be provided in resettlement sites as per the Section 30 of the R&amp;amp;R 2009 Bill, basic amenities like roads, safe drinking water, hygiene, educational facilities, community hall, and basic irrigation facilities should be present at resettlement sites. Every PAF family (and not just the BPL homeless families) should be given a built house and homestead land title.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Consent of 70 percent of the affected families in a gram sabha before acquisition is compulsory. A National Commission for Land Acquisition, Resettlement and Rehabilitation (NCLRR) should be established to assess extent of displacement based on the Social Impact Assessment (SIA) and and urgency clause for land acquisition should be used for purposes such as defence, national security and safety of lives as per recommendations of the NAC. The SIA would assess the social and environmental impacts from the project, and the R&amp;amp;R plan drawn up.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;According to the [inside]Standing Committee Report on the Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill 2007[/inside]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;http://prsindia.org/uploads/media/Land%20Acquisition/scr1226484896_SC_Report_Land_Acquisition_Bill__2008.pdf&quot;&gt;http://prsindia.org/uploads/media/Land%20Acquisition/scr1226484896_SC_Report_Land_Acquisition_Bill__2008.pdf&lt;/a&gt;: &amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Optimum size of land required for a project needs to be determined so that excessive acquisition of land doesn&amp;#39;t take place.&lt;br /&gt;
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&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; There should be some legislation like Forest Conservation Act 1980 so that agricultural land can be protected like forest land.&lt;br /&gt;
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&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; There is an urgent need to develop wasteland where agricultural land is acquired.&lt;br /&gt;
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&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Since displacement leads to traumatic psychological and socio-cultural consequences, multiple displacements of affected families need to be avoided.&lt;br /&gt;
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&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; States should declare the area where the tribals are rehabilitated as Scheduled Area. Land rights of tribals and forest dwellers should be recognized as per the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 so that they are compensated and rehabilitated during the process of land acquisition.&lt;br /&gt;
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&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The details of the property to be acquired viz. khasra numbers in rural areas and quarter number in urban areas should be identified and widely publicized through prominent local English, Hindi and regional language newspapers. There is a need to avoid complications arising due to inadequacy of communicating the intent of acquisition through notification especially in hilly, tribal and remote areas. In order to circulate notification on rehabilitation and resettlement, the Government should rely on newspapers in local vernacular.&lt;br /&gt;
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&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Affected persons should be provided 60 days from the date of publication of the notification to object to the acquisition of land.&lt;br /&gt;
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&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Social Impact Assessment study should be done for all projects that displace physically more than 400 families in plain and 200 families in hilly, tribal and scheduled areas (same as NAC recommendation).&lt;br /&gt;
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&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Highest price of sale deed as indicated in the sale deeds of the last three years plus 50 per cent of the said highest price should be the criteria for assessing and determining the market value of the land. For tribal areas, the highest price of a sale deed of the adjoining non-tribal blocks/ village for the last three years plus 50 per cent should be the criteria for assessing and determining the market value of land.&lt;br /&gt;
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&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Non agricultural land having valuable mineral resources underneath should be properly evaluated for granting compensation.&lt;br /&gt;
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&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; A share of the economic benefits earned due to setting up a project in a land, which is acquired should go to the affected families.&lt;br /&gt;
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&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Issue of shares and debentures as part of the compensation is impractical and as such issue of shares and debentures should be over and above the admissible compensation. The rate of solatium should be increased from thirty per centum on market value to sixty per centum on market value.&lt;br /&gt;
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&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Land Acquisition Compensation Disputes Settlement Authorities (a kind of Ombudsman) at the Centre and State level should be created for the disposal of disputes, which remain pending in the courts of law.&lt;br /&gt;
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&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Record of large tracts of unutilized land available with various Ministries needs to be kept before further land acquisition.&lt;br /&gt;
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**page**&lt;/div&gt;

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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;According to [inside]A CITIZENS REPORT CARD ON SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONES[/inside] prepared by civil society organization, South Asia Citizens&amp;#39; web:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sacw.net/IMG/pdf/CITIZENSREPORTONSEZs.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.sacw.net/IMG/pdf/CITIZENSREPORTONSEZs.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;THE NUMBERS&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Total amount of land to be acquired across India: 150,000 hectares (the area of National Capital Region). This land - predominantly agricultural and typically multicropped - is capable of producing close to 1 million tons of foodgrains. If SEZs are seen to be successful in the future and more cultivated land is acquired, they will endanger the food security of the country.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The latest available statistics on Special Economic Zones show that the Board of Approvals at the Ministry of Commerce, the central body authorised to clear SEZ proposals, has approved 578 SEZs of which 315 have been notified.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * An analysis of figures up to 8th December 2008 displays a continuation of the pattern which has been evident since SEZ Act in 2005.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * As of December 2008 the Central government gave formal approvals to a staggering 552 SEZs in 19 states; 272 of these have been notified. (As of April 2009 the total number of Formal approvals was 578 and notified SEZs were 330)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * With the significant economic slow-down towards the end of 2008 for the first time we started to see companies applying to de-register/denotify SEZs and it remains to be seen what the net effect will be.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The overwhelming part of SEZs continues to be in information technology and related industries. 181 notified SEZs exist for IT companies representing 66% of the total number of SEZs. Additionally there are 341 formally approved and 11 in-principle approvals.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * With all the different SEZs taken together at various stages of approval the IT sector still accounts for more than half at 55% of the total. The second largest sector will be multi-product with 9% of the all zones.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Andhra Pradesh tops the list of notified SEZs with 57, followed by Tamil Nadu on 44 and Maharashtra on 43.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Maharashtra has the most SEZs waiting to be notified however with 104 formally approved and 34 in principle, compared to AP&amp;#39;s 99 and 2 respectively and Tamil Nadu&amp;#39;s 66 and 18.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * These three states thus account for almost half of all the SEZs in the country. The share is especially significant among the already notified SEZs with 144 out of the total 274.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Even more imbalanced is the spread of SEZs when one considers the locations within each state. 48 out of the 99 formally approved SEZs in Andhra Pradesh are in or close to Hyderabad, while 34 of 66 formally approved are similarly in or close to Chennai.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The main number of SEZs can thus easily be characterised as being in the IT-sector and in one of primarily Western or Southern cities.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * This said, almost every state has tried to get a couple of SEZs to be established within their territories includingtiny Dadra &amp;amp; Haveli&amp;#39;s 4, and Pondicherry&amp;#39;s 1 formally approved zones.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * 53 multiproduct SEZs are at the in principle approval stage meaning they might soon become formally notified. These are the zones which require really large areas of land and have been contentious on the issue of displacement.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Recently the rule preventing larger SEZs than 5,000 hectares was lifted which lead the Adani group to apply for and get granted a merger between the 3 zones of (4498 + 2658 + 2648 hectares) it had created next to each other at Mundra in Gujarat to avoid the land ceiling&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Among the actually operating SEZs the biggest ones apart from the Mundra zone(s) in Gujarat is APIIC 2,206 ha SEZ in Visakhapatnam and the Kakinada SEZ 1,035 ha both in Andhra Pradesh and the Navi Mumbai SEZ 1,223 ha in Maharashtra&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * With the many really large multi-product SEZs in the In Principle category these cover an area of 1.22 lakh hectares, or 869 hectares per SEZ on average.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;ISSUES OF CONCERN&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 1. Large scale requirement of land and Forced Acquisition of Land - India is almost unique in its concept of creating SEZs on demand: i.e. the location, size and nature of the zone is explicitly determined not by state economic policy but by the demands of private capital.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 2. Despite issuing of guidelines by the Ministry of Commerce and the EGoM, that no forced acquisition of land will take place for private SEZs on 15th June 2007, nearly all states are using the Land Acquisition Act 1894 to acquire the land for developers of SEZs and that too in the absence of any provision for rehabilitation&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 3. In some states like Tamil Nadu and AP the governments are even using the urgency clause - 17/4 of the LAA to acquire land compulsorily.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 4. It is argued that much of the land being diverted for SEZs is already available with the State Industrial development Corporations (IDCs). While this is a fact, it needs to be specified that in many cases lands which had previously been acquired by IDCs and are now being transferred to SEZ developers also used the Land Acquisition Act.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 5. These sales are obviously at much higher rates than their original acquisition price from the farmers.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 6. The issue of compensation at market value, even to land owners is meaningless as the scales are heavily weighed in favor of private buyers and Government owned Industrial corporations, who are the informed negotiators in deciding the package&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Landless and Agricultural labourers displaced without compensation-&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 1. Almost 80% of the agricultural population in India owns only about 17% of the total agriculture land, making them near-landless workers. Far more families and communities depend on a piece of land (for work, grazing) than those who own it outright. However, compensation is being discussed only for those who hold titles to land. No compensation has been planned for those who do not.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 2. In states like Gujarat a large part of the land being diverted to SEZs is in the category of common or gowcher land (referred to wrongly as&amp;#39;wasteland&amp;#39;).Since these lands are &amp;#39;common lands&amp;#39; with no individual titles, they are transferred without even consulting the local communities and panchayats.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 3. Temple or Panchami land in Tamil Nadu and Waqf board lands in Andhra Pradesh are other examples of Public lands that have been expropriated and privatised for SEZs.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 4. The most outrageous acquisitions are taking place in Andhra Pradesh which has the highest number of SEZ approvals, in the form of acquiring assigned lands (allotted to Dalits and Scheduled Tribes) for SEZs. . This has been seen clearly in places like Polepally, Kakinada, Chittoor and Anantapur where SEZs are proposed.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Destruction of Agro-based and rural economies-&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 1. The bulk of land being acquired for SEZs is fertile, agricultural land, especially in case of the multi-product zones. Agriculture Scientists have estimated that close to 1.14 lakh farming households (each household on an average comprising five members) and an additional 82,000 farm worker families who are dependent upon these farms for their livelihoods, will be displaced.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 2. The total loss of income to the farming and the farm worker families, then, is an astounding Rs.212-crore a year. These were the estimates in 2006 after the initial SEZ approvals which are now multiplied three-fold.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Creation of exploitative employment opportunities and working conditions resulting from nullification of labour protection laws -&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The SEZ policy of the government transfers all the powers of the state Labor Commissioner to the Development Commissioners of the SEZs.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The power in the hands of the development Commissioner to declare SEZs as &amp;quot;public utility services&amp;quot; under the Industrial Disputes Act would mean that in SEZ areas workers will have no rights to strike or even to form unions and organize collectively to bargain for better wages or working conditions.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;ECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The Ministry of Finance conducted a study, and came up with the figures that the cumulative revenue loss from tax holidays to SEZs over the period 2004-05 to 2009-10 is estimated to be 1,75,487 Cr.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The Ministry of Finance conducted a study, and came up with the figures that the cumulative revenue loss from tax holidays to SEZs over the period 2004-05 to 2009-10 is estimated to be 1,75,487 Cr.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * In its performance audit-report on indirect taxes for Union Government tabled in parliament on 11 March 2008, the CAG brought 370 SEZ units under scanner with a limited objective to verify if they had complied with existing Customs Act, Rules, notifications etc. The review brought out systemic as well as compliance weaknesses that caused lost revenues to the tune of Rs.246.72 crores.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Stated objectives remain unfulfilled?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce has admitted that 40% of the SEZs approved may never really &amp;quot;take off the ground&amp;quot; (Panos-Kalpavriksh media dialogue on SEZs -December 2008). Additionally the figures of 3.5 lakhs employment and 90,000 crores investment generated by SEZs are being questioned on their authenticity and efficacy since these have to be established through a detailed and independent evaluation.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Further the conditions of contract labour in SEZs are the most pathetic. Wages in existing SEZs are often below minimum. Sen and Dasgupta in a May 2007 survey found that in the NOIDA SEZ workers were getting Rs.80 a day for 9 hours of work. Likewise in Falta in West Bengal.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Indian policy has very little regulation on the activity within a zone. Notwithstanding claims of export-orientation, the only requirement imposed on SEZ units is a vague need for them to have a &amp;lsquo;positive net foreign exchange balance.&amp;#39; Even that only applies to industrial units in the zone. If the goal of SEZs is indeed exports surely a more stringent clause than merely &amp;quot;positive net foreign exchange&amp;quot; for the SEZ as a whole ought to be applied.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * It needs to be mentioned further that a great recession in the world economy is not a good omen for promoting SEZs, which will produce for an increasingly shrinking and protected export market. Also, it&amp;#39;s not specified what happens to a developer whose SEZ does not meet the export requirement.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Just like it&amp;#39;s not specified what the procedure for denotification is. The recession - and the accompanying demand for denotification by developers like DLF (SEZs) is exposing this loophole. In such cases what happens to the land? Will it be returned to farmers? If so, how?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The SEZ Act (Section 9, 11, 12 and 31) takes power back to the center and bureaucracy (by creating &amp;#39;Board of Approvals&amp;#39; and &amp;#39;Development Commissioner&amp;#39; and &amp;lsquo;SEZ Authority&amp;#39;, whose accountability is not certain.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The fact that the SEZs would have their own regulations, the rights for environmental and labour related clearances, security arrangements, means that they would be &amp;#39;self contained privatized autonomous entities&amp;#39;, where existing constitutional rights would be difficult to exercise.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The creation of separate courts for SEZs ridicules the existing judicial system. There is no clarity about how elections will be conducted, and what happens to the governing authority of the Gram Sabha/ Municipality, under the 73rd/74th amendments.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * There is no transparency in the guidelines formulated for selection, modification and rejection of SEZ proposals by the BoA.The Chairman of the Administrative reforms committee, M Veerappa Moily&amp;#39;s report on SEZs states that &amp;#39;We need to restructure the Board of Approval by putting in people who are objective and can take a balanced view.&amp;#39;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The Commerce Ministry had made public announcements of various studies/ comparison of SEZ with other countries. Mr. Kirit Somaya filed an RTI regarding this, and in the answer that was given stated - &amp;quot;study of export of nearby countries of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka was done. No other studies or scientific analysis available.&amp;quot;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The SEZ Act was passed in haste without much public debate.In both houses of Indian Democracy has passed this bill was passed within a day (10th and 11th May 2005) with virtually no discussion, undermining many of the objections that were raised.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Further, information that has been demanded from the Ministry of Commerce on the approved projects under the RTI Act, 2005 has been denied on the clause of maintaining &amp;quot;trade secrets&amp;quot;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * There is great deal of ambiguity and contradictions when one compares how environment clearances are dealt with in the EIA notification and the SEZ legislations.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * While it is units with the SEZs which are exempt from Environment Clearance public hearings, the SEZs itself are required to under go public hearing. However, there are cases like the Mundra SEZ where the Ministry of Environment has recommended that Public Hearing be exempted for the creation of the Multi Product SEZ.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;The CAG report on the Goa Industrial Development Corporation, referred to the Government of India in June 2008, concluded (direct quotes):&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Corporation deviated from its established role, of acquiring and allotting land directly to the entrepreneur, by allotting land to developers for further allotments by them&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Allotments were made without any transparent selection procedures&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Allotments to SEZs were made without publicising, that too before the State Government formulated its SEZ policy&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Land acquired for small and medium scale industries under IGC (Industrial Growth Centre) Scheme was allotted to SEZ violating GOI guidelines&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Revision of premium rate of Verna Phase IV (industrial estate proposed to house SEZs) only after major chunk was allotted at lower rate, tentatively fixed, resulted in loss of Rs. 36.89 crore&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Allotment of land contiguous to the land allotted to four SEZs at lesser rate resulted in loss of Rs. 39.47 crore&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Allotment of 14.36 lakh square metre land to two SEZ developers without adopting approved formula resulted in loss of Rs 17.76 crore&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;(Source: The Comptroller and Auditor General of India, Goa State Report, Chapter VII Government Commercial and Trading Activities)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;POINTS RAISED BY PARLIAMENTARY STANDING COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 1. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce of the previous government under the Chairman ship of Murli Manohar Joshi submitted its 83rd report on the &amp;#39;Functioning of SEZs&amp;#39; to the parliament on 20th June 2007.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 2. The most critical recommendation made by the committee included the need to &amp;#39;pause and ponder&amp;#39;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 3. The report clearly expressed concern about the fast pace at which approvals have been granted by the BoA despite apprehensions raised from all quarters.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 4. Parliamentary Standing committee slammed the Ministry of Commerce on the ground that at the time of the release of the 83rd report there were 152 formal approvals and 82 notifications by the Board of Approvals and there was no effort to put a halt on the approvals despite the committee&amp;#39;s recommendation to hold approvals till amendments were put in place.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 5. By the time the ATR was presented in the Rajya Sabha the total number of approved SEZs had crossed 500. The MoC has merely stated that it was in the process of getting a &amp;#39;scientific evaluation&amp;#39; done on the performance and impacts of SEZs.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 6. Most importantly the report criticised the escalation of displacement as a result of the large SEZs leading to displacement and speculation in many situations.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 7. Some of the other recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee which were brushed aside by the Ministry of Commerce in the ATR include:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 8. Region wise cap on the SEZ approvals to allow for balanced regional development of SEZs.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 9. Imposition of restrictions on unnecessary social infrastructure Linking of fiscal incentives to exports&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp; 10. Tax concessions in SEZs are similar to STPs and EoUs - then why is there are a need for SEZs?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp; 11. Re-look at delegation of Labour Commissioner&amp;#39;s powers to the Development Commissioner&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp; 12. 83rd report of the parliamentary standing committee on commerce &amp;#39;on the functioning of Special Economic Zones&amp;#39;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;**page**&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;FOR MORE PLEASE CLICK THE LINKS LISTED BELOW&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Paper presented at the National Seminar on &amp;#39;Special Economic Zones: Engines of Growth and Social Development for India: Present Problems and Future Prospects&amp;#39; (16 - 17 October &amp;#39;08 at Hyderabad) organised by the Department of Sociology, Osmania University.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sacw.net/article574.html&quot;&gt;http://www.sacw.net/article574.html&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;SEZ Act-2005&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cnisbss.org/Newsline/PDF/SEZ/SEZ%20Act,%202005.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.cnisbss.org/Newsline/PDF/SEZ/SEZ%20Act,%202005.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Fact Sheet on Special Economic Zones by GOI- MINISTRY OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://sezindia.nic.in/writereaddata/updates/FACT%20sheet.pdf&quot;&gt;http://sezindia.nic.in/writereaddata/updates/FACT%20sheet.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;List of operational SEZs&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://sezindia.nic.in/writereaddata/pdf/ListofoperationalSEZs.pdf&quot;&gt;http://sezindia.nic.in/writereaddata/pdf/ListofoperationalSEZs.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;List of Formal Approvals granted under the SEZ Act,2005 &lt;a href=&quot;http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp&quot;&gt;http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;In principle approvals granted under the SEZ Act, 2005- &lt;a href=&quot;http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp&quot;&gt;http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Statewise distribution of SEZs approved under the SEZ, Act, 2005- &lt;a href=&quot;http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp&quot;&gt;http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Sectorwise distribution of SEZs approved under the SEZ Act, 2005- &lt;a href=&quot;http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp&quot;&gt;http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;[inside]A critique of the National Policy for Rehabilitation and Resettlement (2007)[/inside] by Priyanca Mathur Velath,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;amp;do_pdf=1&amp;amp;id=7235&quot;&gt;http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;amp;do_pdf=1&amp;amp;id=7235&lt;/a&gt; show&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; *&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt; On October 11, 2007, the Union Government announced the National Policy for Rehabilitation and Resettlement 2007 (NPRR 2007), replacing the National Policy on Resettlement and Rehabilitation for Project-Affected Families, 2003.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The new policy fails to examine the process of displacement, which is taken for granted. The draft makes no attempt to question the need for displacement in the first place, or to seek out and actively promote non-displacing or least-displacing alternatives.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The timing and true intention of the new policy along with govt.&amp;#39;s declaration to amend the outdated Land Acquisition Act of 1894 are suspect.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Attempt to redefine the &amp;lsquo;public purpose&amp;#39; under the amendment to the land acquisition act actually favours private interest and big companies over the poor and marginalised.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Under the 2007 policy it has become simpler to required land for big companies as well as strategic and public infrastructure projects.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * &amp;#39;Public purpose&amp;#39; has been redefined to allow the state government to acquire land for a private company, association or body of individuals, provided it is &amp;#39;useful for general public&amp;#39;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * &amp;#39;Land for land&amp;#39; principle in the 2007 policy suffers from ambiguity, as land is being offered as compensation but &amp;#39;to the extent that government land is available in resettlement areas&amp;#39;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The policy outlines a number of benefits such as scholarships for the education of eligible people from affected families; preference for groups of cooperatives of affected persons in the allotment of contracts and other economic opportunities in and around the project site; housing benefits to landless affected families in both rural and urban areas; and wage employment to willing affected persons in construction work on the project. But the &amp;lsquo;employment guarantee&amp;#39; to one person from each nuclear family is &amp;lsquo;subject to the availability&amp;#39; of vacancies and &amp;lsquo;suitability of the affected person&amp;#39;. Such qualifying clauses as &amp;quot;if available&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;as far as possible&amp;quot; are widely used by project authorities and policymakers to shirk responsibility.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Conducting a Social Impact Assessment (SIA) has been made mandatory in the policy, but only if more than 400 families have been displaced in the plains areas and 200 in tribal, hilly and other scheduled areas. Why is the SIA mandatory only in projects above a certain size?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * There are provisions in the 2007 policy to introduce a Land Acquisition Compensation Settlement Authority (at the local level, removed from normal civil courts, to assist quick disposal of cases involving compensation disputes), a standing relief and rehabilitation authority at the district level, an ombudsman at the state level (to monitor rehabilitation under any project), a national monitoring committee and national monitoring cell (for effective monitoring of implementation of resettlement plans, with which state governments will have to share information) and a national rehabilitation commission (which will be empowered to exercise independent oversight over the rehabilitation and resettlement of affected families). Aggrieved persons can appeal to the high court and above against settlements decided by the Land Acquisition Compensation Settlement Authority. But the policy does not answer the crucial question as to whether these committees and commissions are empowered to stop a project from proceeding if there are indeed any discrepancies or issues of inadequate resettlement.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Resettlement rights must be guaranteed before any project begins and, in the event of faulty or inadequate resettlement, the project should be stopped from proceeding any further and the project developers held accountable. NPRR 2007 does not address any of these issues; nor does it give displaced persons &amp;lsquo;first rights&amp;#39; over the benefits of the project in question.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Positive points about the National Policy for Rehabilitation and Resettlement:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * This policy makes an important announcement that land acquired by the government will revert to the government in case the proposed project does not take off within five years of the acquisition. Since land is often acquired in excess of what is needed and later handed over to the developers for extraneous purposes like building hotels, parks and golf courses, this new clause is a positive one.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Another creditable clause in the new policy is that if the land is sold after the project has taken off, 80% of the net profit earned from the sale goes to the original landowner. Also, that land acquired for &amp;lsquo;public purpose&amp;#39; cannot be changed to any other purpose.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;The study by Planning Commission titled [inside]Dams, Displacement, Policy and Law in India[/inside],&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/art_dam.pdf&quot;&gt;http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/art_dam.pdf&lt;/a&gt; show:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * With the adoption of policies for planned development after freedom in India, a major priority for policymakers was the harnessing of the country&amp;#39;s water resources for irrigation and power. Large storage works such as the Bhakra, the Hirakud, the Tungabhadra and the Damodar Valley Dams were amongst the earliest projects undertaken in the post-Independence period in the country.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * A formidable body of independent empirical research into many of these large dams has established how their social, human and environmental costs have been ignored or grossly understated in the planning of these projects. Of the very many neglected costs of the big dams, some of the most grave are the social and human consequences of displacement.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * There are no reliable official statistics of the numbers of people displaced by large projects since Independence. Many researchers place their estimates between 10 and 25 million. In an influential 1989 study, Fernandes, Das and Rao provide an estimate of some 21 million displaced persons. Scholar-administrator Dr. N. C. Saxena, places his estimate of persons displaced by big projects since 1947 at nearly double this figure - 50 million.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * From the inception of planning of most projects, through various stages of displacement and resettlement, it is to be expected that those likely to be negatively affected by the projects would be consulted and kept informed in such a way as to enable them to best rebuild their ravaged lives. This, however, is very far from being the case. The studies have revealed that the level of information that the oustees had regarding the dam, submergence and subsequent displacement due to them, is lamentably low.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * It is only in recent years that, chiefly under the impact of people&amp;#39;s movements, project authorities, state governments and international funding agencies have accepted responsibility for rehabilitation-one that extends beyond the payment of monetary compensation for expropriated individual assets and the provision of house sites. This neglect of rehabilitation assumes the gravest aspect when seen in relation to older projects, particularly those that commenced or were concluded in the first three decades after Independence.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * It has been observed that the driving objective of project authorities has not been to prepare and assist the families to relocate and to make a gradual and less painful transition to their new habitats. Instead frequently the only objective is to vacate the submergence zone of what are perceived to be its human encumbrances, with the brute force of the state if necessary. The evacuation of the villages was carried out with brutal insensitivity towards the feelings of the villagers who, not unnaturally, were bewildered and distressed at being forced out of their homes.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Resettlement sites are often inhospitable in a number of ways and their locations are selected without reference to availability of livelihood opportunities, or the preferences of displaced persons themselves.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * With the destruction of community and social bonds, the displaced are mired in anomie and a profound sense of loneliness and helplessness. The inflow of money creates greater pressure on family bonds. The outcomes are psychological pathologies and alcoholism, common among displaced populations.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Arguably the most culpable aspect of state-induced impoverishment of displaced populations is the phenomenon of multiple displacements. It has been documented, for instance, that as a direct result of the lack of co-ordination between the multiplicity of irrigation, thermal power and coal-mining agencies in Singrauli, most oustees have been displaced at least twice, and some three or four times in a matter of two or three decades.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * A frequently neglected, but extremely serious problem, is the unwillingness of host populations to accept resettled oustees in their midst.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The vast majority of tribal people displaced by big projects face danger of extinction as traditionally they depend more on natural resources. They are pushed inexorably into a vortex of increasing assetlessness, unemployment, debt-bondage and hunger.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Any loss of access to traditional sources of livelihood - land, forest, sea, river, pasture, cattle or saltpan land - marginalizes women on the labour market. Women not only suffered in terms of health and nutrition, they also lost the capacity to provide a secure future for their children.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Another extremely vulnerable group of oustees is oustees without land, including landless agricultural workers. The only legal reparation to displaced persons recognised by the statutes in India is compensation for loss of assets that are compulsorily acquired by the state for what the state designates as a `public purpose&amp;#39;. However a landless family dependent on the acquired land for their livelihood may be most severely pauperised by the displacement because it loses its only source of economic survival. However, the law and most ehabilitation policies still do not recognise this profound vulnerability.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;[inside]Opposition to Big Dams: Lessons for Policy[/inside]&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Even before Independence, there were instances of anti-dam struggles such as the one led by Senapati Bapat in opposition to the Mulshi hydroelectric project in the Western Ghats.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The first large river valley project in India, Hirakud, resulted in widespread protests in 1946 after the initial notifications. People also launched a struggle against the Rihand project in 1963-64. However, such early protests could not be sustained, partly because of their failure to attract larger alliances, under the overwhelming influence of the nationalist rhetoric of nation-building that accompanied the construction of large dams in India.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The success of the mobilisation against the Silent Valley project, resulting in the decision to shelve the project in 1983, led to a new phase in the history of resistance to big dams in India.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Other notable early struggles against big dams were local movements opposed to the Suvarnarekha, Koel Karo and Srisailam projects.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The most celebrated protest movement against big dams so far has centred around the mega Sardar Sarovar Project on the river Narmada. A number of protest groups gathered under the leadership of activist Medha Patkar and in 1988, local resistance organisations federated into a common platform known as the Narmada Bachao Andolan (Save the Narmada Movement).&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * A significant development has been the revival of struggles by people displaced by dams completed years ago, such as on the Bargi (completed 1990), Koyna (1964), Tawa (1975) and Mahi-Kadana (1978). We have already noted the success at Bargi and Tawa to secure fishing rights for cooperative societies of oustees in the dam reservoirs.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * By ensuring that these voices are heard, these movements have succeeded in compelling governments, both central and state, and powerful funding agencies like the World Bank, to rethink their policies on displacement and rehabilitation.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Opponents of big dams have argued that big dams are part of a development strategy that intrinsically impoverishes and disempowers the poor. The opponents to big dams in India have also challenged the dominant orthodoxy that development,especially state-induced development, by necessity entails the human costs of displacement or involuntary resettlement.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Another important issue in the debate around big dams in India is the question of whether the state should retain the power to compulsorily acquire private land for development projects without the consent of the owner or owners of such land.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The next issue in the debate is the nature and extent of state responsibility for the rehabilitation of the displaced. It is chiefly under the impact of people&amp;#39;s movements, supported by painstaking empirical social science research, that the state has in recent times acknowledged that its responsibility for rehabilitation to extend beyond the payment of market value for compulsorily acquired assets. However, the state in India has continued to resist the laying down of the nature of its precise responsibilities for rehabilitation in the form of even a comprehensive policy statement, let alone legislating the right to rehabilitation as a legally enforceable right.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Displacement and Rehabilitation: Suggested Directions for Policy&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Objectives of any just and equitable law and policy dealing with the colossal social and human impacts of big dams cannot be limited only to minimising the trauma of displacement, and ensuring the just resettlement of the victims of displacement. It must incorporate the objective to end, or severely curtail, displacement itself, to no longer accept state-induced involuntary resettlement as an inevitable cost of all development projects. It must enable people to effectively challenge as equal partners, a form of development which takes for granted the inevitability of displacement.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * It is incumbent upon the government before the launching of the project to justify that in the light of various technical and locational options, this is the least displacing alternative available. This claim should also be justiciable.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * It is imperative that the population likely to be affected by the acquisition be involved in the process from the time that decisions are sought to be made about where a project is to be located. They should be given full information to help them participate in decisions about whether the stated purpose is a public purpose; to explore options which may be less displacing; to work out the costs it involves for them; ando find out how they may gain from the process of change that the acquisition will bring.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Another institutional mechanism to limit displacement is to ensure that in the planning of any project the social and human costs are more accurately assessed and internalised in the cost-benefit analysis of the project.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Compensation, Resettlement and Rehabilitation&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The policy of rehabilitation must contain safeguards for detailed advance planning for rehabilitation.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * All persons whose source of livelihood, place of residence or other property is affected notwithstanding the legal status enjoyed by them in relation to the concerned location of the resource base for their livelihood and subsistence, shall be deemed to be project affected persons (PAPs).&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * If the guiding principle of rehabilitation is that displaced persons should become better off than they were in the past, one proviso that needs to be firmly embedded in the law is that compensation must be paid not at market but at replacement value.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The second guiding principle for assessment and payment of compensation should be that it is not only the loss of assets but also, far more significantly, the loss of livelihoods that must be compensated.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * A third guiding principle is that any displaced person must be fully compensated before displacement from land, house or livelihood is executed.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * If the objectives of rehabilitation of persons displaced as a result of large dams is to ensure that they are not only better off, but are direct project beneficiaries, then at the heart of such a strategy must be a policy of replacing agricultural land and agriculture-based livelihoods with alternate agricultural land of viable size and productivity and with appropriate complements of credit and input assistance.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Simultaneously, the scope for complementary non land-based livelihoods should also be explored along with land-based strategies. One such livelihood opportunity that is always created as a by-product of any large dam project is fresh-water fishing in the large reservoir.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The resettlement sites for displaced tribal families should be selected with great care and in consultation with the traditional/elected leaders or representatives of the displaced families as well as host populations, and established local NGOs. Efforts should be made to ensure that all tribal families of ousted villages are resettled together in a particular area.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Women headed households or single women should not be discriminated against in eligibility for benefits.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Still we are left with the most difficult issue of displaced persons from older dams. It has been estimated that as many as 3 out of every 4 persons displaced by big dams in India have been rendered worse off than they were before. Some reparation must be made, some attempt to rebuild so many millions of broken lives.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;The study titled [inside]Environment of Land Diversion, Displacement and Rehabilitation: A Study of Indian SEZs[/inside], &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf&lt;/a&gt; show:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * India has adopted the policy of promoting the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) for faster industrial development. It needs about 50,000 hectares of agricultural land for SEZs and 1.49 lakh hectares for all projects which include also industrial, mining, irrigation and infrastructural projects.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Farmers in many parts of the country are resisting for land diversion and acquisition for these purposes.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Land especially agricultural land in India, is a very delicate subject and has been an emotional issue ever since the Zamindari days. Land is livelihood of millions of people. Not only the immediate owners of the land are affected because of land shifting, but also share-croppers or daily wage labourers who forgo their living through a scant, but reasonably reliable source of income.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * While acquiring the land the government agency normally fixes the market value of land much below the prevailing rate in the open market.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * India ratified the ILO Indigenous and Tribal Populations Convention, 1957 in 1958. This Convention deals primarily with the protection and integration of indigenous, tribal and semi-tribal groups. The Convention provides that where as an exceptional measure tribal groups are removed from their land they should be provided with lands of quality at least equal to that of the lands previously occupied by them. It goes on to provide that they should be compensated for any &amp;quot;resulting injury or loss&amp;quot;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The UN Guiding Principles on Internally Displaced Persons, 1998 is meant to serve as an international standard to guide governments as well as international humanitarian and development agencies in providing assistance and protection to IDPs. They provide protection against arbitrary displacement, offer a basis for protection and assistance during displacement, and set forth guarantees for safe return, resettlement and reintegration.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The Land Acquisition Act, 1894 of India is the primary legislation that provides for acquisition of land. But this Act has been criticized &amp;quot;for considering land only as a commodity generating income&amp;quot;. However, when a family is settled on a piece of land not only does it earn its livelihood from it but it also has a whole social network.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2007 puts provisions for &amp;quot;rehabilitation and resettlement of persons affected by acquisition of land under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894&amp;quot; or due to any other legislation by the Central or State governments or involuntary displacement due to any other reason. The Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 6 December 2007 and has since been referred to the Standing Committee on Rural Development.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * National Rehabilitation and Resettlement Policy, 2007 came in order to solve issues arising out of policies of economic liberalization/de-regularization. The NRRP, 2007 has come into force from Oct. 2007. The new policy is applicable to all affected persons and families whose land, property or livelihood are adversely affected by land acquisition or by involuntary displacement of a permanent nature due to any other reason.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Now, by and large there is unanimity that no development can be accepted at the cost of social equity. Land acquisition needs total reform and rehabilitation package. Land owners, should get adequate compensation of their land.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;According to the study titled: [inside]Large Dam Projects and Displacement in India[/inside], &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The government of India does not have figures of people displaced by large dams. This fact is the biggest sign of the fact that displacement and resettlement of people is the least concern of large dam builders.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * India is the third largest dam builder country in the world. It now has over 3600 large dams and over 700 more under construction.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The large dams are the single largest cause of displacement in India.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * A World Bank review of the status of displacement and rehabilitation has shown that the displacement of as many as 0.6 million people across 192 projects had not been accounted for in project planning. In at least one instance, the number of people actually displaced was seven times the number stated in the project documents.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Often only reservoir displacement is taken into account. Whereas Large dam projects can displace people in a number of ways including due to colonies, due to canals, downstream impacts, catchment area treatment, compensatory afforestation, secondary displacement (at resettlement colonies, for example) and due to related conservation schemes like sanctuaries and national parks.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Displacement due to dams in India has been variously estimated. Fernandes, Das &amp;amp; Rao (1989) claimed that Indians displaced by dam projects numbered 21 million.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Available estimates of people displaced by large and medium dams in India show that the 140 dams for which such figures are available, have displaced over 4.4 million people.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;The study titled [inside]Right to displace, but no duty to rehabilitate (A critique of the Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2007)[/inside].&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.indiatogether.org/2008/jan/law-resettle.htm&quot;&gt;http://www.indiatogether.org/2008/jan/law-resettle.htm&lt;/a&gt; shows:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The bill seems to be based on the premise that the acquiring land for a &amp;#39;public purpose&amp;#39; is a right by the state under its powers of eminent domain, but it accepts no duty to resettle and rehabilitate all the affected citizens. Instead, rehabilitation is presented as an act of benevolence.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2007 seeks to &amp;quot;provide for the rehabilitation and resettlement of persons affected by the acquisition of land for projects of public purpose or involuntary displacement due to any other reason&amp;quot;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The bill came at a time when concerted efforts were about to begin made by both the central and state governments to increase economic activity through the deployment of domestic and foreign private capital on a gigantic scale in new infrastructure and industry.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The history of large scale land acquisition and consequent displacement goes back to the 1950s, when the newly independent republic embarked on large state owned projects for irrigation, power, steel and heavy engineering that were meant to occupy the &amp;#39;towering heights of the economy&amp;#39;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Land for even such gigantic projects was (and continues to be) acquired using the coercive powers provided by the colonial Land Acquisition Act. It narrowly defined persons affected by an acquisition to be either land owners or occupiers (tenants), and limited compensation to purely monetary terms.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Even those who were compensated monetarily were hard put to replace their lost land assets and regain their means of livelihood. In the absence of any rehabilitation plan, people displaced by Hirakud dam project occupied whatever open lands they could locate. These lands were not legally theirs, making them vulnerable to constant harassment by officials.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The Narmada Sardar Sarovar project is illustrative of how things have changed over the last six decades. Struggle against displacement by the PAPs led by Narmada Bachao Andolan contributed immensely to change the discourse of the development and displacement.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * But the experience of the Sardar Sarovar and many other projects over the last 60 years reveals the inadequacy of R&amp;amp;R policy - at the project, company, state or even national level- to address the legal neglect of displacement and the rights of the affected people, particularly those without land or tenancy.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * These are some of the issues that came under debate as the Rehabilitation and Resettlement bill 2007 was introduced.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The bill prescribes conditions for project affected families to qualify as beneficiaries and makes the benefits themselves conditional on external circumstances.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Under the provisions of the bill, an area will be notified as an &amp;#39;affected area&amp;#39; &amp;quot;where the appropriate Government is of the opinion that there is likely to be involuntary displacement of four hundred or more families en masse in plain areas&amp;quot; (the number is less for hilly and tribal areas).&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Thus the opinion of the Government on the scale of the displacement will decide if there will be planned R&amp;amp;R of the displaced.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * There are many other conditions attached to the benefits.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * While acquiring land for a &amp;#39;public purpose&amp;#39;, with its attendant displacement and denial of livelihood, is claimed as a right of the state under its powers of eminent domain, the R&amp;amp;R bill does not accept that it is the unconditional duty of the state to resettle and rehabilitate all the affected citizens so that they are able to maintain, if not improve, their current standard of living.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;**page**&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;The paper by Jaideep Hardikar, published in &amp;lsquo;Infochange&amp;#39; titled [inside]The destruction of &amp;#39;development&amp;#39;[/inside],&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;amp;do_pdf=1&amp;amp;id=6161&quot;&gt;http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;amp;do_pdf=1&amp;amp;id=6161&lt;/a&gt;, does not go into depths and details, but it gives a bird&amp;#39;s views of the problem.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Main Points:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Since independence at least 50 million people in India have been displaced by dams, mines, thermal power plants, corridor projects, field firing ranges, express highways, airports, national parks, sanctuaries, industrial townships, even poultry farms. They continue to pay the price for India&amp;#39;s &amp;#39;development&amp;#39;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * These may be conservative figures. Because displacement is usually only understood as direct displacement from land, such figures exclude many groups who are affected but who do not own land.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * A vast majority are landless and marginal farmers, mostly tribal, dalit or other economically backward communities. One study suggests that roughly one in every ten Indian tribals is a displaced person. Tribals constitute 8% of the country&amp;#39;s population, and more than 40% of the displaced persons.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Displacement by mines or thermal power plants is perhaps less visible than the forced movements of people triggered by dams. The acquisition takes place in phases. The would-be oustees are the last ones to know about their eviction by mines. This gives them little or no chance of resistance or coming together to bargain for a better rehabilitation package.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * As things stand today, there&amp;#39;s no region in the country where people haven&amp;#39;t been displaced by development projects. And there&amp;#39;s no region in the country where you would find people rehabilitated according to their aspirations and priorities.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;[inside]World Bank: Resettlement and Rehabilitation (R&amp;amp;R) Policy[/inside]&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;The World Bank has a policy for Resettlement and Rehabilitation (R&amp;amp;R),&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.his.com/~mesas/policy.htm&quot;&gt;http://www.his.com/~mesas/policy.htm&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;The Bank&amp;#39;s present policy is contained in the document &amp;quot;Involuntary Resettlement,&amp;quot; Operational Directive (OD) 4.30, adopted June 1990. According to the WB, the objective of its resettlement policy is to ensure that the population displaced by a project receives benefits from it.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;The WB says, &amp;quot;Development projects that displace people involuntarily generally give rise to severe economic, social, and environmental problems.&amp;quot;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Its R&amp;amp;R policy emphasizes the need for:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Minimizing involuntary resettlement;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Providing people displaced by a project with the means to improve, or at least restore, their former living standards, earning capacity, and production levels;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Involving both re-settlers and hosts in resettlement activities;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * A time-bound resettlement plan; and&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Valuation and compensation principles for land and other assets affected by the project.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;For environmental point of view, the World Bank has categorised the projects into three groups. According to this, Group &amp;quot;A&amp;quot; projects need a full environmental assessment (EA). Category B projects do not require a full EA but do require some environmental analysis. Category C projects do not require environmental analysis.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Category A projects are:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Dams and reservoirs;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Forestry production projects;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Industrial plants (large-scale) and industrial estates;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Irrigation, drainage, and flood control (large-scale);&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Land clearance and levelling;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Mineral development (including oil and gas);&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Port and harbour development;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Reclamation and new land development;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Resettlement and all projects with potentially major impacts on people;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * River basin development;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Thermal and hydropower development; and&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Manufacture, transportation, and use of pesticides or other hazardous and/or toxic materials.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Category B projects are:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Agro-industries (small-scale);&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Electrical transmission;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Aquaculture and mariculture;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Irrigation and drainage (small-scale);&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Renewable energy;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Rural electrification;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Tourism;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Rural water supply and sanitation;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Watershed projects (management or rehabilitation); and&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Rehabilitation, maintenance, and upgrading projects (small-scale).&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Category C projects might be:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Education,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Family planning,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Health,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Nutrition,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Institutional development,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Technical assistance, and&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Most human resource projects.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;**page**&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;[inside]Imagining a Post-Development Era? Critical thought, Development and Social Movements by Arturo Escobar[/inside] is a paper, which gives a fair idea of debates on developments till 1960s and afterwards. This is an important reading for a deeper understanding of evolution of concepts of developments in last few decades. As there is a cause and effect relationship between development projects and displacement, therefore while looking into the issue of displacement it is desirable to have an understanding of this whole debate on development.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Main Points:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Nowadays it has become difficult to talk about development with the same confidence and encompassing scope with which intellectuals and activists spoke about these vital matters in the past decades. Now there are differing views. When one speaks about development, other voices emphasize on the &amp;quot;crisis of development&amp;quot;. The &amp;quot;new social actors&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;new social movements&amp;quot; are raising fundamental questions on the conventional sense of development.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * To examine development as discourse requires understanding why so many countries started to see themselves as underdeveloped, and, how &amp;quot;to develop&amp;quot; became for them a fundamental problem.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * In the previous period, from the early post-War years to the end of the 1970s, development was chiefly a matter of capital, technology, and education and the appropriate policy and planning mechanisms to successfully combine these elements.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Resistance, on the other hand, was primarily a class issue and a question of imperialism. Nowadays, even imperialism and class are thought to be the object of innumerable mediations. Now we come across new ways of thinking on these issues, especially in relation to social movements.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * With the emergence of the new critique it is being argued that development has been an invention and strategy produced by the &amp;quot;First World&amp;quot; about the &amp;quot;underdevelopment&amp;quot; of the &amp;quot;Third World.&amp;quot; Largely, it has been an instrument of economic control over the physical and social reality of much of Asia, Africa and Latin America.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * These schools of thought now are now advocating for &amp;quot;alternatives to development&amp;quot; that needs transformation of the notions of development, modernity and the economy.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The number of scholars in the Third World says that rather than searching for development alternatives, there is a need to go for the &amp;quot;alternatives to development,&amp;quot; that is, a rejection of the entire earlier paradigm.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * In the Third World the process of needs interpretation and satisfaction is inextricably linked to the development apparatus. The &amp;quot;basic human needs&amp;quot; strategy, pushed by the World Bank and adopted by most international agencies, has played a crucial role in this regard. However, the critics say that this strategy is based on a liberal human rights discourse and on the rational, scientific assessment and measurement of &amp;quot;needs&amp;quot;; lacking a significant link to people&amp;#39;s everyday experience, and &amp;quot;basic human needs&amp;quot; discourse does not foster greater political participation.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * This paper argues that the possibility for redefining development rests largely with the action of social movements. Though the paper in most of its parts has discussed the Latin American experiences, it has significance for whole Third World.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;The [inside]main provisions under Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act (MMDR Act)[/inside] are as follows:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://mines.gov.in/policy/noticeapril.pdf&quot;&gt;http://mines.gov.in/policy/noticeapril.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.prsindia.org/uploads/media/draft/Draft%20Mines%20and%20Minerals%20Bill_31%20March%202010.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.prsindia.org/uploads/media/draft/Draft%20Mines%20and%20Minerals%20Bill_31%20March%202010.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;A background and critique:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl2714/stories/20100716271402500.htm&quot;&gt;http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl2714/stories/20100716271402500.htm&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The 1957 Act has outlived its utility despite the several amendments made to it up to 1999. The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation Act, 1957, came into force at a time when governments required much discretionary power to regulate a nascent mining sector. The rise of the market economy in the early 1990s brought about a fundamental change in the government&amp;#39;s attitude to mining.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The National Mineral Policy, 1993, recognised the need to encourage private investment, including foreign direct investment (FDI), and to attract state-of-the-art technology in the mineral sector.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Mining is a three-stage operation, involving regional exploration, detailed exploration, and actual mining.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Procedural delay was identified as one of the impediments in encouraging the flow of private investment and in the introduction of high-end technology for exploration and mining. The Anwarul Hoda Committee, constituted by the Planning Commission in 2005, in its report submitted in 2006 made specific recommendations on the legal framework to avoid procedural delay.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The New Mining Policy (NMP) 2008, while reflecting these recommendations, also sought to develop a sustainable framework for optimum utilisation of mineral resources for industrial growth and for improving the life of people living in the mining areas.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The proposed Act makes significant departures from the existing Act in areas that were seen as instances of micromanagement.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * As per the proposed Act, the union Ministry for mines and minerals give up its &amp;quot;prior approval&amp;quot; power in grant of concessions for minerals in Part C of the First Schedule. In the proposed Act, Part C includes 74 major minerals, while Part A includes coal and lignite and Part B atomic minerals. Part C of the First Schedule of the existing Act includes only 10 metallic and non-metallic minerals.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The proposed Act envisages the setting up of a national mining tribunal, which can check independently decisions as also indecision and delays. It gives more teeth to the Indian Bureau of Mines to regulate the mining plan and mine closure and empowers the Central government to enforce disclosure through databases and websites.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The draft Bill allows the setting up of a national mineral royalty commission with State governments as members, for progressive solutions for revenue-sharing through royalty.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The proposed Act provides for stringent measures to prevent illegal mining. It empowers State governments to detect, prevent and prosecute cases of illegal mining, set up special courts to try such cases and declare those convicted as ineligible for grant of mining concessions.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * One of the consistent demands of the steel industry has been the reservation of mineral-bearing areas for public sector undertakings. The proposed Act rejects this demand, consistent with the Hoda Committee&amp;#39;s recommendation that reservation goes against the principles of providing a level playing field.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The draft Bill guarantees assured annuity to the local population as a percentage of profits (26 per cent) earned by the miner, resettlement and rehabilitation of the local population through employment and skill enhancement.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * It also provides for compulsory consultation with gram sabha/district panchayats in tribal areas before notification of the area for grant of concessions, and preference to tribal cooperatives in the grant of concessions over small deposits.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;According to a report named [inside]SEZs and land acquisition FACTSHEET FOR AN UNCONSTITUTIONAL ECONOMIC POLICY[/inside] Prepared by Citizens&amp;#39; Research Collective&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;SEZ - DISPLACEMENT AND LOSS OF LIVELIHOODS&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Estimates show that close to 114,000 farming households (each household on an average comprising five members) and an additional 82,000 farm worker families who are dependent upon these farms for their livelihoods, will be displaced.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * In other words, at least 10 lakh (1,000,000) people who primarily depend upon agriculture for their survival will face eviction. Experts calculate that the total loss of income to the farming and the farm worker families is at least Rs. 212 crores a year.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * This does not include other income lost (for instance of artisans) due to the demise of local rural economies. The government promises &amp;lsquo;humane&amp;#39; displacement followed by relief and rehabilitation.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * However, the historical record does not offer any room for hope on this count: an estimated 40 million people (of which nearly 40% are Adivasis and 25% Dalits) have lost their land since 1950 on account of displacement due to large development projects. At least 75% of them still await rehabilitation.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Almost 80% of the agricultural population owns only about 17% of the total agriculture land, making them near landless farmers. Far more families and communities depend on a piece of land (for work, grazing) than those who simply own it. However, compensation is being discussed only for those who hold titles to land. No compensation has been planned for those who don&amp;#39;t.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;LOSS OF PUBLIC REVENUE&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Exemptions from customs duties, income tax, sales tax, excise duties and service tax (even on luxury hotel facilities, shopping malls, health clubs and recreation centres) given to SEZs, the Finance ministry estimates a loss of Rs.1,60,000 crore till 2010 in revenue. (The Ministry has also asked for capping the number of SEZs at 100.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Finance Minister P. Chidambaram wrote to Cabinet colleagues saying: &amp;quot;SEZs per se will distort land, capital, and labour cost, which will encourage relocation or shifting of industries in clever ways that can&amp;#39;t be stopped. This will be further aggravated by the proliferation of a large number of SEZs in and around metros.&amp;quot;)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The foregone tax revenue every year is five times the annual allocation for the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and is enough to feed each year 55 million people who go to bed hungry every day.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Furthermore, given the concessions on import duties (not merely for the investors who will produce exportable items but also for the developer, who will not), there are likely to be foreign exchange losses (rather than gains).&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * For the five year period ending 1996-97 the foreign exchange outgo on imports made by units in SEZs and the customs duty forgone amounted to Rs.16461.58 crore against which exports of only Rs.13563.87 crore were reported.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Moreover, these zones are exempt from sales tax, octroi, mandi tax etc on the supply of the goods from the Domestic Tariff Area (rest of India).&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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&amp;nbsp;

&amp;bull; Section 105 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, which provides for excluding 13 Central legislation, including Land Acquisition (Mines) Act 1885, Atomic Energy Act, 1962, Railway Act...&#039;
$disp = &#039;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;KEY TRENDS&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div&gt;&amp;bull; Section 105 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, which provides for excluding 13 Central legislation, including Land Acquisition (Mines) Act 1885, Atomic Energy Act, 1962, Railway Act 1989, National Highways Act 1956 and Metro Railways (Construction of Works) Act, 1978, from its purview, has been amended for payment of compensation with rigours $&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;bull; The amendments have now relaxed the requirements of consent and Social Impact Assessment survey for projects in following areas: 1. Defence and defence production; 2. Rural infrastructure (including rural electrification); 3. Affordable housing; 4. Industrial corridors; 5. Social infrastructure projects including PPPs in which ownership rests with the government $&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&amp;bull; The Standing Committee report on Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011 (submitted on 17 May, 2012) recommended that land may not be acquired for use by private companies and PPPs. The Committee recommended including &amp;ldquo;infrastructure projects&amp;rdquo; within the definition of public purpose. Since sale and purchase of land is a state subject, the threshold for R&amp;amp;R provisions shall be fixed by the states and not the central government. Restriction on land acquisition should also apply to any land under agricultural cultivation. No central act should be exempted from the provisions of the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011 and necessary amendments should be brought in those Acts to bring them at par with this Bill. The Committee recommended that if acquired land is left unutilized for 5 years, the land should be returned to the land owners &amp;alpha;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;bull; India is the third largest dam builder country in the world. It now has over 3600 large dams and over 700 more under construction*&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;bull; Displacement due to dams in India has been variously estimated. Fernandes, Das &amp;amp; Rao (1989) claimed that Indians displaced by dam projects numbered 21 million*&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;bull; Available estimates of people displaced by large and medium dams in India show that the 140 dams for which such figures are available, have displaced over 4.4 million people*&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;bull; Many researchers estimated that the number of people displaced due to big projects comes between 10 and 25 million. In an influential 1989 study, Fernandes, Das and Rao provide an estimate of some 21 million displaced persons. Scholar-administrator Dr. N. C. Saxena, places his estimate of persons displaced by big projects since 1947 at nearly double this figure &amp;mdash; 50 million**&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;bull; India has adopted the policy of promoting the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) for faster industrial development. It needs about 50,000 hectares of agricultural land for SEZs and 1.49 lakh hectares for all projects which include also industrial, mining, irrigation and infrastructural projects***&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;bull; The Land Acquisition Act, 1894 of India is the primary legislation that provides for acquisition of land***&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;bull; Since independence at least 50 million people in India have been displaced by dams, mines, thermal power plants, corridor projects, field firing ranges, express highways, airports, national parks, sanctuaries, industrial townships, even poultry farms@&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Sources:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;$&amp;nbsp;Amendments to the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, Press Information Bureau, dated: 29 December 2014 (Please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Land_act_amendments.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Land Act amendments&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Land_act_amendments.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Land Act amendments&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access)&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;alpha; &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Summary%20of%20the%20Standing%20Committee%20recommendations.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Summary of the Standing Committee recommendations&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Summary%20of%20the%20Standing%20Committee%20recommendations.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Summary of the Standing Committee recommendations&quot;&gt;Standing Committee Report Summary&lt;/a&gt;, PRS Legislative Research&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;* Large Dam Projects and Displacement in India,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;**&amp;nbsp; Planning Commission titled Dams, Displacement, Policy and Law in India,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/art_dam.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/art_dam.pdf&quot;&gt;http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/a&lt;br /&gt;rt_dam.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;*** Environment of Land Diversion, Displacement and Rehabilitation: A Study of Indian SEZs,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;@ The destruction of &amp;#39;development&amp;#39; by Jaideep Hardikar, Infochange&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;amp;do_pdf=1&amp;amp;id=6161&quot; title=&quot;http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;amp;do_pdf=1&amp;amp;id=6161&quot;&gt;http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;a&lt;br /&gt;mp;do_pdf=1&amp;amp;id=6161&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&#039;
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                <strong>Displacement</strong></h1>
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                <p><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">KEY TRENDS</span></p><p>&nbsp;</p><div>&bull; Section 105 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, which provides for excluding 13 Central legislation, including Land Acquisition (Mines) Act 1885, Atomic Energy Act, 1962, Railway Act 1989, National Highways Act 1956 and Metro Railways (Construction of Works) Act, 1978, from its purview, has been amended for payment of compensation with rigours $<br /><br />&bull; The amendments have now relaxed the requirements of consent and Social Impact Assessment survey for projects in following areas: 1. Defence and defence production; 2. Rural infrastructure (including rural electrification); 3. Affordable housing; 4. Industrial corridors; 5. Social infrastructure projects including PPPs in which ownership rests with the government $</div><p>&nbsp;</p><div><p>&nbsp;</p></div><div>&bull; The Standing Committee report on Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011 (submitted on 17 May, 2012) recommended that land may not be acquired for use by private companies and PPPs. The Committee recommended including &ldquo;infrastructure projects&rdquo; within the definition of public purpose. Since sale and purchase of land is a state subject, the threshold for R&amp;R provisions shall be fixed by the states and not the central government. Restriction on land acquisition should also apply to any land under agricultural cultivation. No central act should be exempted from the provisions of the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011 and necessary amendments should be brought in those Acts to bring them at par with this Bill. The Committee recommended that if acquired land is left unutilized for 5 years, the land should be returned to the land owners &alpha;<br /><br />&bull; India is the third largest dam builder country in the world. It now has over 3600 large dams and over 700 more under construction*<br /><br />&bull; Displacement due to dams in India has been variously estimated. Fernandes, Das &amp; Rao (1989) claimed that Indians displaced by dam projects numbered 21 million*<br /><br />&bull; Available estimates of people displaced by large and medium dams in India show that the 140 dams for which such figures are available, have displaced over 4.4 million people*<br /><br />&bull; Many researchers estimated that the number of people displaced due to big projects comes between 10 and 25 million. In an influential 1989 study, Fernandes, Das and Rao provide an estimate of some 21 million displaced persons. Scholar-administrator Dr. N. C. Saxena, places his estimate of persons displaced by big projects since 1947 at nearly double this figure &mdash; 50 million**<br /><br />&bull; India has adopted the policy of promoting the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) for faster industrial development. It needs about 50,000 hectares of agricultural land for SEZs and 1.49 lakh hectares for all projects which include also industrial, mining, irrigation and infrastructural projects***<br /><br />&bull; The Land Acquisition Act, 1894 of India is the primary legislation that provides for acquisition of land***<br /><br />&bull; Since independence at least 50 million people in India have been displaced by dams, mines, thermal power plants, corridor projects, field firing ranges, express highways, airports, national parks, sanctuaries, industrial townships, even poultry farms@<br /><br /><strong><em>Sources:</em></strong></div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>$&nbsp;Amendments to the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, Press Information Bureau, dated: 29 December 2014 (Please <a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Land_act_amendments.pdf" title="Land Act amendments" title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Land_act_amendments.pdf" title="Land Act amendments">click here</a> to access)</div><div>&nbsp;<br />&alpha; <a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Summary%20of%20the%20Standing%20Committee%20recommendations.pdf" title="Summary of the Standing Committee recommendations" title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Summary%20of%20the%20Standing%20Committee%20recommendations.pdf" title="Summary of the Standing Committee recommendations">Standing Committee Report Summary</a>, PRS Legislative Research<br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small">* Large Dam Projects and Displacement in India,</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small"><a href="http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf" title="http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf">http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf</a> </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small">**&nbsp; Planning Commission titled Dams, Displacement, Policy and Law in India,</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small"><a href="http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/art_dam.pdf" title="http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/art_dam.pdf">http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/a<br />rt_dam.pdf</a> </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small">*** Environment of Land Diversion, Displacement and Rehabilitation: A Study of Indian SEZs,</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small"><a href="http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf" title="http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf">http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf</a> </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small">@ The destruction of &#39;development&#39; by Jaideep Hardikar, Infochange</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small"><a href="http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;do_pdf=1&amp;id=6161" title="http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;do_pdf=1&amp;id=6161">http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&a<br />mp;do_pdf=1&amp;id=6161</a> </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small"><a href="http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf" title="http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf">http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf</a> </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">               </font>
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    <link rel="canonical" href="https://im4change.in/<pre class="cake-error"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67eb7b2b9e74a-trace').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67eb7b2b9e74a-trace').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none');"><b>Notice</b> (8)</a>: Undefined variable: urlPrefix [<b>APP/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp</b>, line <b>8</b>]<div id="cakeErr67eb7b2b9e74a-trace" class="cake-stack-trace" style="display: none;"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67eb7b2b9e74a-code').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67eb7b2b9e74a-code').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Code</a> <a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67eb7b2b9e74a-context').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67eb7b2b9e74a-context').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Context</a><pre id="cakeErr67eb7b2b9e74a-code" class="cake-code-dump" style="display: none;"><code><span style="color: #000000"><span style="color: #0000BB"></span><span style="color: #007700">&lt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">head</span><span style="color: #007700">&gt;
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		&#039;id&#039; =&gt; (int) 3192,
		&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;Displacement&#039;,
		&#039;subheading&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;KEY TRENDS&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;bull; Section 105 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, which provides for excluding 13 Central legislation, including Land Acquisition (Mines) Act 1885, Atomic Energy Act, 1962, Railway Act 1989, National Highways Act 1956 and Metro Railways (Construction of Works) Act, 1978, from its purview, has been amended for payment of compensation with rigours $&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; The amendments have now relaxed the requirements of consent and Social Impact Assessment survey for projects in following areas: 1. Defence and defence production; 2. Rural infrastructure (including rural electrification); 3. Affordable housing; 4. Industrial corridors; 5. Social infrastructure projects including PPPs in which ownership rests with the government $&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;bull; The Standing Committee report on Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011 (submitted on 17 May, 2012) recommended that land may not be acquired for use by private companies and PPPs. The Committee recommended including &amp;ldquo;infrastructure projects&amp;rdquo; within the definition of public purpose. Since sale and purchase of land is a state subject, the threshold for R&amp;amp;R provisions shall be fixed by the states and not the central government. Restriction on land acquisition should also apply to any land under agricultural cultivation. No central act should be exempted from the provisions of the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011 and necessary amendments should be brought in those Acts to bring them at par with this Bill. The Committee recommended that if acquired land is left unutilized for 5 years, the land should be returned to the land owners &amp;alpha;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; India is the third largest dam builder country in the world. It now has over 3600 large dams and over 700 more under construction*&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; Displacement due to dams in India has been variously estimated. Fernandes, Das &amp;amp; Rao (1989) claimed that Indians displaced by dam projects numbered 21 million*&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; Available estimates of people displaced by large and medium dams in India show that the 140 dams for which such figures are available, have displaced over 4.4 million people*&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; Many researchers estimated that the number of people displaced due to big projects comes between 10 and 25 million. In an influential 1989 study, Fernandes, Das and Rao provide an estimate of some 21 million displaced persons. Scholar-administrator Dr. N. C. Saxena, places his estimate of persons displaced by big projects since 1947 at nearly double this figure &amp;mdash; 50 million**&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; India has adopted the policy of promoting the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) for faster industrial development. It needs about 50,000 hectares of agricultural land for SEZs and 1.49 lakh hectares for all projects which include also industrial, mining, irrigation and infrastructural projects***&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; The Land Acquisition Act, 1894 of India is the primary legislation that provides for acquisition of land***&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; Since independence at least 50 million people in India have been displaced by dams, mines, thermal power plants, corridor projects, field firing ranges, express highways, airports, national parks, sanctuaries, industrial townships, even poultry farms@&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Sources:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;$&amp;nbsp;Amendments to the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, Press Information Bureau, dated: 29 December 2014 (Please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Land_act_amendments.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Land Act amendments&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access)&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;alpha; &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Summary%20of%20the%20Standing%20Committee%20recommendations.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Summary of the Standing Committee recommendations&quot;&gt;Standing Committee Report Summary&lt;/a&gt;, PRS Legislative Research&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;* Large Dam Projects and Displacement in India,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;**&amp;nbsp; Planning Commission titled Dams, Displacement, Policy and Law in India,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/art_dam.pdf&quot;&gt;http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/art_dam.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;*** Environment of Land Diversion, Displacement and Rehabilitation: A Study of Indian SEZs,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;@ The destruction of &amp;#39;development&amp;#39; by Jaideep Hardikar, Infochange&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;amp;do_pdf=1&amp;amp;id=6161&quot;&gt;http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;amp;do_pdf=1&amp;amp;id=6161&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;**page**&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Second Ordinance 2015.pdf&quot; title=&quot;The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Second Ordinance 2015&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access [inside]The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Second Ordinance 2015[/inside], dated 30 May, 2015&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Second Amendment) Bill 2015.pdf&quot; title=&quot;The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Second Amendment) Bill 2015&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access [inside]The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Second Amendment) Bill 2015[/inside]&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/RFCTLARR%20Act%20(Amendment)%20Ordinance,%202014.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Amended Land Acquisition Act&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access [inside]The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Ordinance 2014[/inside], promulgated by the President on 31 December 2014&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Land_act_amendments.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Land Act amendments&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access the [inside]Amendments made in the&amp;nbsp; Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013[/inside]. Source: Press Information Bureau, dated: 29 December 2014&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;The salient features of [inside]The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013[/inside], which repeals the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 are as follows (Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/files/file/Act_Land_Acqusiition_2013.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp; to access):&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; Payment of compensation upto four times the market value in rural areas and two times the market value in urban areas.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; Rehabilitation and Resettlement is an integral part of the land acquisition. No family will be displaced before rehabilitation.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; A social impact assessment study to be done compulsorily in all cases of land acquisition irrespective of extent of area.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; The definition of &amp;lsquo;affected families&amp;rsquo; has been extended to include not only the land owners but also others dependent on land for their livelihoods like agricultural labourers, tenants.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; To ensure transparency and participation, the Act provides for consent of at least eighty and seventy percent of the land owners in the cases of land acquisition for Private and Public Private Partnership Projects respectively.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; In Scheduled Areas consent of the Gram Sabhas/ Panchayats / Autonomous District Councils is mandatory in all cases of land acquisition.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; To safeguard food security and to prevent arbitrary acquisition, the Act directs the States to impose limits on the multi cropped irrigated land that can be acquired.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; In case, land remains unutilized after acquisition, the new Act empowers States to return the land either to the owner or to the State Land Bank.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/LAAR%20Bill%20as%20passed%20by%20LS.pdf&quot; title=&quot;LARR Bill as passed by LS&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access [inside]The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2013[/inside] that was passed by the Lok Sabha on 29 August, 2013.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;In order to access the [inside]Draft National Land Reforms Policy (dated 18 July, 2013)[/inside], prepared by Ministry of Rural Development, please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Draft_National_Land_Reforms_Policy_July_2013.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Draft Land Reforms Policy 2013&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
The &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Standing%20Committee%20Report%20on%20LARR%20Bill%202011.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Standing Committee report on LARR 2011&quot;&gt;report by the Standing Committee&lt;/a&gt; on Rural Development pertaining to Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (LARR) Bill 2011 was tabled in the Lok Sabha on 17 May, 2012. As per the [inside]Standing Committee Report 2012[/inside], the salient features of the LARR Bill 2011 (now renamed as Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill) are as follows:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(1) New integrated legislation dealing with land acquisition and rehabilitation &amp;amp; resettlement while repealing the Land Acquisition Act, 1894.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(2) Exemption to 16 Central Acts specified in Fourth Schedule from the ambit of the Bill.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(3) Defining the term affected family, which includes both the land losers and livelihood losers.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(4) Provision of R &amp;amp; R benefits in case of specified private purchase of land equal to or more than 100 acres in rural areas and equal to or more than 50 acre in urban areas&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(5) Provides Social Impact Assessment (SIA) study in all cases where the Government intends to acquire land for a public purpose.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(6) Provides for formation of a Committee under the Chief Secretary for examining proposals of land acquisition where land sought to be acquired is equal to or more than 100 acres.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(7) Putting limitations on acquisition of multi-crop land for safeguarding the food security.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(8) Institutional mechanism for R&amp;amp;R in the form of institutions of Administrator for Rehabilitation and Resettlement, Commissioner for Rehabilitation and Resettlement, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Committee at project level, the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation &amp;amp; Resettlement Authority at State level and National Monitoring Committee at Central level.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(9) Provisions of consent of the 80 per-cent affected families for land acquisition for certain projects.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(10) Provision for enhanced compensation to the land owners and rehabilitation and resettlement entitlements.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(11) Provision of 25 per-cent on shares as part of compensation in cases where the Requiring Body offers its shares to the owners of land whose land has been acquired.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(12) Restricting the &amp;lsquo;urgency clause&amp;rsquo; for land acquisition for Defence of India or National Security or for any other emergency out of natural calamities.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(13) Specified timelines for payment of compensation and provision of rehabilitation and resettlement entitlements.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[inside]Recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on LARR 2011 Bill[/inside]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
It has been noted by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on LARR 2011 Bill that despite the Government having more than two years time for wider consultations with all stakeholders i.e. between the constitution of Fifteenth Lok Sabha 01.06.2009 and introduction of the LARR Bill, 2011 in September, 2011, it initiated the process of consultation only on 29 July, 2011 when the Draft Bill was put on Department of Land Resources (DOLR, http://dolr.nic.in/) &amp;quot;website&amp;quot; for consultations and the comments thereon were sought by 31 August 2011. The Cabinet approved the Draft Bill on 5 September, 2011 and the Bill was introduced in Lok Sabha on 7 September 2011, leaving little time at the disposal of the Government to seriously consider the suggestions received from various stakeholders.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Although the Government was late by over two years in bringing the LARR Bill again they gave little time to the stakeholders, including Central Ministries and State Governments concerned to submit their views and also to consider the same. Consultation by the Standing Committee with the State Governments, some of the Central Ministries concerned like Ministries of Urban Development, Panchayati Raj, Tribal Affairs etc. revealed that that their views are at variance with the DoLR in respect of contents of the Bill. This compelled the Standing Committee to invite suggestions from the general public, industry, farmers, NGO&amp;#39;s, experts, Central Ministries, State Governments etc.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The following key issues having relevance to the provisions of the LARR Bill 2011 came up during discussions held with various stakeholders:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
A. Doctrine of Eminent Domain and Acquisition as &amp;#39;Public Purpose&amp;#39; for private corporations, Public Private Partnerships (PPPs).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
B. Powers of the Central Government vis-&amp;agrave;-vis State Governments in legislation for sale/purchase of land and R &amp;amp; R provisions&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
C. Role of Institutions of self government-established by Parts IX &amp;amp; IX A of the Constitution in land acquisition and R&amp;amp;R&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
D. Applicability of LARR Bill, 2011 in Scheduled Areas (Schedules V and VI of the Constitution)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
E. Special provisions to safeguard Food Security (Clause 10)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
F. Exemption of 16 Central Acts from purview of the Bill (Clause 98 &amp;amp; Fourth Schedule)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Standing Committee report on LARR 2011 has provided the detailed discussion on these above-mentioned issues. The suggestions given by the Committee regarding these issues are being provided here.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;A. Doctrine of Eminent Domain and Acquisition as &amp;ldquo;Public Purpose&amp;rdquo; for Private Corporations, Public-Private Partnerships&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Amendment done to section 4 of the original Land Acquisition Act 1894 in 1984 by inserting the words &amp;ldquo;or for a Company&amp;rdquo; after &amp;ldquo;any public purpose&amp;rdquo; extinguished any differentiation between acquisition for a State purpose and &amp;ldquo;acquisition for a private enterprise&amp;rdquo; or &amp;ldquo;State enterprise&amp;rdquo;. What the Courts could interpret from this amendment is that any notification of acquisition issued under section 4 need not specify whether the acquisition is for a &amp;ldquo;public purpose&amp;rdquo; or for &amp;ldquo;a Company&amp;rdquo;. This move led to massive acquisition of land by the State for Companies.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Standing Committee report has alleged that the LARR Bill, 2011 &amp;ldquo;seeks to permit, and even facilitate, the acquisition of land by the Government for private companies&amp;rdquo;. By agreeing with the Government of India appointed Expert Group Report (under the Chairmanship of D. Bandyopadhyay) on Development Challenges in Extremist Affected Areas, the Committee report has mentioned that displacement of people happened due to large scale acquisitions. The Standing Committee has suggested that &amp;ldquo;instead of reverting to the classical concept of Eminent Domain or diluting it, the present 2011 Bill extinguishes the distinction in the original 1894 Act between acquisition by the State for a State purpose from purchase of land by a Company for a private purpose by including &amp;ldquo;Public Private Partnership projects&amp;rdquo; and &amp;ldquo;private companies&amp;rdquo; in the definition given in clause 2(1)(b) and (c), as well as 3(za)(vi)(B) and 3(za)(vii) respectively, subject only to their producing &amp;ldquo;public goods or the provision of public services&amp;rdquo; and &amp;ldquo;the provision of land in the public interest&amp;rdquo;, it being entirely left to the executive to determine what is the &amp;ldquo;public interest&amp;rdquo; or &amp;ldquo;public goods&amp;rdquo; or &amp;ldquo;public services&amp;rdquo;.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Standing Committee has recommended that land acquisition should not be for use by PPPs and private companies. Public purpose should be limited to state sponsored projects as defined in Clause 3(za)(i) to (vi)(A). The Committee has asked for deleting the provisions relating to acquisition of land for private companies and PPPs [(Clause 3(za)(vi)(B) and (vii)]. The Committee has recommended that Clause 3 (o) (v) which gives wide discretion to the government to define infrastructure projects should be deleted. The Committee has suggested that infrastructure projects should be included in the definition of public purpose.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Committee has rejected those sub-clauses of Clauses 2 and 3 that place wide discretion in the hands of the executive to define &amp;ldquo;public purpose&amp;rdquo; and &amp;ldquo;infrastructure projects&amp;rdquo; for for-profit enterprises. It, therefore, has asked for deletion of Clauses 2(1)(b) &amp;amp; (c), 2(2)(b), 3(o)(v), 3(za)vi)(B) and (vii). It has recommended that all cases of land acquisition must entail obligations for adequate compensation, rehabilitation and resettlement to all land losers and other affected persons.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
While questioning the role of Indian State in carrying out land acquisition for Companies in the name of &amp;ldquo;public purpose&amp;rdquo;, the Standing Committee has given the example of countries like USA, Japan, Canada, EU, Australia etc. where private purchase of land and not State acquisition, is the standard. In most developed countries, there is no provision in the laws for State acquisition of privately held land for profit-making private enterprises or for public-private enterprises, the Committee report argued.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;B. Powers of the Central Government vis-vis State Governments in legislation for sale/purchase of land and R&amp;amp;R provisions&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Clause 2 (2) (a) of the LARR Bill 2011 provides that R&amp;amp;R provisions are mandatory for all private purchases if the land purchased is over 100 acres in rural areas and 50 acres in urban areas. However, the Standing Committee has recommended that since sale and purchase of land is a State subject, State legislatures have the discretion and flexibility on whether there should be R&amp;amp;R and if so prescribe a threshold for R&amp;amp;R provisions. The Committee report said: &amp;quot;State legislatures, bearing in mind the provisions of this Act, may by law provide for R&amp;amp;R provisions on sale/purchase of land. Limits/ceiling for the purpose shall be fixed by respective States keeping in view the availability of the land and density of the population.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;C. Role of Institutions of self government established by Parts IX &amp;amp; IX A of the Constitution in land acquisition and R &amp;amp; R&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Criticizing the provision in the LARR Bill 2011, where the role of Gram Sabha is limited to consultation during the time of land acquisition, the Committee has suggested that the role of local institutions of self-government should be broadened so as to ensure centrality of these institutions in the planning and implementation of the Bill, with a view to making the entire process of land acquisition and R&amp;amp;R participative, transparent and pro-people in accordance with the letter and spirit of Articles 243G and 243W of Parts IX and IXA of the Constitution. Under Articles 243G and 243W of Parts IX and IXA of the Constitution, State legislation is required to specifically empower local institutions of self-government so as to undertake both planning and implementation of &amp;quot;economic development and social justice&amp;quot;. &amp;ldquo;Beyond merely &amp;quot;consulting&amp;quot; Gram Sabhas, consensus or, at least, consent by the majority of Gram Sabha members (or equivalent body in urban areas where these have been constituted) should be obtained in all matters pertaining to LARR&amp;rdquo;, emphasized the Committee report. The decision making process regarding issues such as land acquisition, review of R&amp;amp;R schemes, determination of compensation, and any dispute regarding the compensation awarded should be entrusted on local elected authories. The Committee has recommended that the Expert Group evaluating the Social Impact Assessment (SIA) report should also have one or more members nominated from the affected Gram Sabha.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;D. Applicability of LARR Bill, 2011 in Scheduled Areas&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Standing Committee report has found that the &amp;ldquo;provisions of the LARR Bill 2011 in respect of areas covered under Schedules V and VI of the Constitution have not been dealt with separately but through provisos to some of the clauses besides being mentioned in the Schedules of the Bill, particularly the Second Schedule&amp;rdquo;.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Committee has recommended that alienation of land or land acquisition in Scheduled Areas should be avoided as far as possible. In case of unavoidable land acquisition for public purpose projects, &amp;ldquo;special provision should be made for increased compensation and resettlement and rehabilitation provisions that enforce stricter conditions such as relocation in a similar ecological location, with communities being mandatorily relocated together so as to preserve the economic opportunities, language, culture and community life of the tribal communities&amp;rdquo;. Consent or approval by majority of Gram Sabhas and Autonomous District Councils (ADCs) should be made mandatory in case of land acquisition. Independent and neutral persons should be present in order to watch the proceedings of discussions within the Gram Sabhas/ ADCs so as to ensure that the process of &amp;lsquo;consent seeking&amp;rsquo; is transparent. It has been recommended that PESA provisions must be strictly observed and indicated in all related provisions in the LARR Bill, &amp;ldquo;particular care being taken to ensure that Panchayats at the appropriate level and the Gram Sabhas are specifically endowed with powers to prevent alienation of land and to take appropriate action to restore any unlawfully alienated land, as provided for in Section 4m (iii) of PESA&amp;rdquo;.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;E. Special Provisions to safeguard Food Security (Clause 10)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Provisions under the Clause 10 of the LARR Bill want to protect irrigated and multi-cropped land from land acquisition so as to ensure food security. Only under exceptional circumstances a maximum of five per cent of irrigated multi-cropped land may be acquired in a district with certain conditions such as: &amp;ldquo;whenever multi-crop irrigated land is acquired under sub-section (2), an equivalent area of culturable wasteland shall be developed for agricultural purposes&amp;rdquo;. However, the Standing Committee on LARR Bill 2011 is of the opinion that food security is not confined to producing rice and wheat in irrigated land. Cultivation of nutritional coarse grains, pulses and oilseeds in dryland or rain-fed areas cannot be neglected. Hence the Committee has recommended that &amp;ldquo;in Chapter III, all provisions regarding &amp;ldquo;irrigated multi-cropped land&amp;rdquo; be replaced by &amp;ldquo;any land under agriculture cultivation&amp;rdquo; so as to ensure safeguard for food security in a full measure&amp;rdquo;.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;F. Exemption of Central Acts from Provisions of the Bill [Clause 98 and Fourth Schedule]&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Clause 98 of the LARR Bill 2011 made sure that the proposed Act shall not apply to the land acquisition processed under various Acts in the Fourth Schedule, which are listed below:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
1. The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958.&lt;br /&gt;
2. The Atomic Energy Act, 1962.&lt;br /&gt;
3. The Cantonments Act, 2006.&lt;br /&gt;
4. The Damodar Valley Corporation Act, 1948.&lt;br /&gt;
5. The Indian Tramways Act, 1886.&lt;br /&gt;
6. The Land Acquisition (Mines) Act, 1885.&lt;br /&gt;
7. The Metro Railways (Construction of Works) Act, 1978.&lt;br /&gt;
8. The National Highways Act, 1956.&lt;br /&gt;
9. The Petroleum and Minerals Pipelines (Acquisition of Right of User in Land) Act, 1962.&lt;br /&gt;
10. The Requisitioning and Acquisition of Immovable Property Act, 1952.&lt;br /&gt;
11. The Resettlement of Displaced Persons (Land Acquisition) Act, 1948.&lt;br /&gt;
12. The Special Economic Zones Act, 2005.&lt;br /&gt;
13. The Coal Bearing Areas Acquisition and Development Act, 1957.&lt;br /&gt;
14. The Electricity Act, 2003.&lt;br /&gt;
15. The Railways Act, 1989.&lt;br /&gt;
16. The Works of Defence Act, 1903&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
It has been suggested by various organizations and State Governments during the consultation with the Standing Committee that &amp;ldquo;by keeping out the 16 Central Acts outside the purview of the Bill, under which Central Government acquires land for Central Projects, almost 95 percent of land acquisition would be outside the purview of the Bill&amp;rdquo;. Some of the State Governments complained that while Central Government sought to exempt all Central Acts from the purview of the Bill, they wanted to impose the same on the State Governments. Therefore the Standing Committee has recommended not exempting any of these Central Acts from the purview of LARR Bill. The Committee has suggested that necessary amendments should be brought in these Central Acts so as to bring them at par with the LARR Bill 2011.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Definition of &amp;quot;affected family&amp;quot;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Clause 3 (b) &amp;amp; (c) of the LARR Bill 2011 defined &amp;quot;affected family&amp;quot; to include (i) landowners; (ii) agricultural labourers, tenants who have been working in the affected area for three years prior to the acquisition; (iii) tribals and forest dwellers; (iv) families whose livelihood for the previous three years is dependent on the forests or water bodies; and (v) families who have been given land by the state or central government. The Standing Committee has recommended that within the definition of affected family:&lt;br /&gt;
* &amp;ldquo;Tribals&amp;rdquo; should be substituted by &amp;ldquo;Scheduled tribes&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
* &amp;ldquo;Traditional rights&amp;rdquo; should be substituted by &amp;ldquo;forest rights&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
* &amp;ldquo;Affected people&amp;rdquo; should be substituted with &amp;ldquo;affected family&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
* &amp;ldquo;Three years&amp;rdquo; in the definition should become &amp;ldquo;three years or more&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Clause 3 (m) of the LARR Bill 2011 defined family includes a person, his or her spouse, minor children, minor brothers and sisters dependent on him. The Standing Committee has recommended that widows and divorcees and abandoned women should be considered a separate family.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;R&amp;amp;R entitlements&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
R&amp;amp;R entitlements provided to displaced families under the LARR Bill 2011 include among other things: (i) land for a house as per the Indira Awas Yojana in rural areas or a constructed house of at least 50 square metres plinth area in urban areas; (ii) a one-time allowance of Rs 50,000 for affected families; and (iii) the option of choosing either mandatory employment in projects where jobs are being created or a one-time payment of Rs 5 lakh or an inflation adjusted annuity of Rs 2,000 per month per family for 20 years. The Standing Committee has recommended that the monetary components in the R&amp;amp;R entitlements given in Schedule II in the Bill should be indexed to inflation.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Under the LARR Bill 2011, every resettled area is to be provided with certain infrastructural facilities which include roads, drainage, provision for drinking water, grazing land, banks, post offices, public distribution outlets, etc. However, the Standing Committee has recommended that the infrastructure facilities should be decided on a case by case basis.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Unutilized land &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Clause 95 on unutlized land of the LARR Bill said that if an acquired land is left unutilised for a period of 10 years from the date it was acquired, it shall be returned to the Land Bank or the appropriate government. The Standing Committee has recommended that this period should be reduced to five years and if left unutilised, the land should be returned to the land owners. The Committee has also asked for clearly defining the term Land Bank in the LARR Bill 2011.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Urgency provisions&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The LARR Bill 2011 said that if land is acquired in urgency, an additional 75 percent compensation shall be provided. The Committee asked that in cases of urgency it should be clarified that the extra compensation would be 75 per cent of the total compensation package/ solatium calculated. Under the LARR Bill 2011, if a land is proposed to be acquired under the urgency provisions, a Social Impact Assessment (SIA) may not be conducted. The Committee has recommended that a notice should be issued if SIA is not conducted in an acquisition under the urgency provisions.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Compensation package&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Under the LARR Bill 2011, compensation for the land acquired shall be based on the higher of (a) the minimum land value, specified in the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 for the registration of sale deeds; and (b) the average sale price of the higher priced 50% of all sale deeds registered in the previous 3 years for similar type of land situated in the vicinity. In rural areas, this amount would be doubled. The value of the assets (trees, plants, buildings etc) attached to the land being acquired will be added to this amount. This total amount will then be multiplied by two to get the final compensation amount. In cases of the urgency Clause, additional 75 per cent compensation would be offered.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Standing Committee has recommended that the term &amp;ldquo;market value&amp;rdquo; should replace &amp;ldquo;minimum value&amp;rdquo;. In addition, a multi-member land pricing commission or authority should be constituted by appropriate government to finalize the cost of land acquisition state wise/area wise. Award given for the land acquired should be treated only as compensation and not as a base for circle rate for subsequent acquisitions so as to allay the fears of corporate sector regarding a speculative price spiral. Also, 12 per cent interest per annum should be paid in addition to the compensation from the date of the notification till the date of the award.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;**page**&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;
&lt;div&gt;According to the National Advisory Council 2, &lt;a href=&quot;http://nac.nic.in/press_releases/25_may_2011.pdf&quot;&gt;http://nac.nic.in/press_releases/25_may_2011.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[inside]Suggestions for Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill 2009 &amp;amp; Resettlement and Rehabilitation Bill, 2009[/inside], &lt;a href=&quot;http://nac.nic.in/pdf/working_group_proposal_for_larr.pdf&quot;&gt;http://nac.nic.in/pdf/working_group_proposal_for_larr.pdf&lt;/a&gt;: &amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The NAC has recommended that it is upto the states to decide the extent of percentage of the total land to be acquired by them. In principle, the NAC disagrees with the 70:30 formula.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Acquired land non-performing for five years should be returned to original owners is another recommendation of NAC, which has been also well received.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Giving freedom to the industry to acquire land directly could result in large scale cheating and deception in tribal and poor areas of India.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The NAC has recently asked for consolidating the Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill 2009 and Resettlement and Rehabilitation Bill, 2009 under the title Land Acquisition, Resettlement and Rehabilitation Act, 2011. The NAC wants a combined Bill instead of two separate bills since both the Bills are intrinsically inter-related, and having two separate Bills may lead to possibility of amending one without amending the other, and selective application of provisions of each Act, thereby defeating the purpose of providing justice and relief to those displaced.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Passing of separate bills will set in motion fragmented processes, causing confusion, delays, and therefore avoidable distress and suffering for the people. According to the NAC, a separate R&amp;amp;R Bill won&amp;#39;t be required to address displacement due to natural disasters and communal and caste violence since there are separate laws being enacted for Natural Disasters and Communal Violence.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The NAC thinks that the proposed Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill, 2009 does not explicitly mention the poor, and incorporates infrastructure and strategic interests. It has a provision for state acquisition of land for private for-profit companies. Section 5 of the Land Acquisition (Amendment Act) Bill, 2009 is silent on the nature of public interest proposed and the financial, social and environmental costs and benefits associated with a project.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Compensation&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;div&gt;&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Project Affected Families (PAFs) can make a choice in the way compensation is offered- i.) as a lump-sum amount; ii.) 30% as a lumpsum amount, and the rest as an annuity at the rate of 12% interest escalating every year for 33 years; or iii.) The total value as an annuity at the rate of 12% interest escalating every year, for 33 years. The latter two would be adjusted for inflation by escalating every year by 10%.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Share-croppers, landless labourers, artisans et al should receive ten days&amp;rsquo; minimum wage per month for thirty three years when land is acquired by the State for &amp;lsquo;public purposes&amp;rsquo;.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; For such persons, there would be additional provisions for homestead land, training and employment rehabilitation in the rehabilitation and resettlement package.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The NAC has emphasized that lawfully recorded tenants and sharecroppers should be compensated (and paid solatium) for the parcels of land that they are losing, on an 80%:20% basis with the landowner being given 20%, which should not be less than four times their current income.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; A minimum of 5% shares should be distributed (equitably) free of cost to PAFs (increased by 5% for every additional 100 acres acquired). If the Government is allowed to acquire land, then land owners and non-land owners who depended on that land should enjoy four times their present monthly income after acquisition.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The NAC has proposed that compensation for those who lose land will be six times the registered sale deed value including solatium.&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Rehabilitation and Resettlement&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;div&gt;&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The NAC has demanded transparency, public consulting, and prior informed consent during the process of land acquisition. The legal rights of Project Affected Families (PAFs) to challenge the entitlement cannot be withdrawn as it has been done under R&amp;amp;R Bill, 2009. Section 11 of the R&amp;amp;R Bill, 2009 needs to be amended so that all compensation must be paid and R&amp;amp;R for all affected persons must be completed in all aspects at least 6 months before taking possession.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Section 3(b) (ii) of the R&amp;amp;R Bill, 2009 does not mention the extent to which affected families have been deprived of their primary source of livelihood.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; All individual entitlements, such as land for land (where applicable), housing, employment and training opportunities, should be compulsorily offered to all PAFs irrespective of size of acquisition as per the NAC. Compulsory provisions for land for land are non-negotiable in case of all tribal and dalit families (to discourage acquisition of tribal and dalit land) and all irrigation projects. There should be an authority like the Auditor General of Displacement and Rehabilitation (AG-DR) to find out after 5 or 10 years of displacement as to what is the present condition of those displaced.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Instead of the Government notifying what amenities are to be provided in resettlement sites as per the Section 30 of the R&amp;amp;R 2009 Bill, basic amenities like roads, safe drinking water, hygiene, educational facilities, community hall, and basic irrigation facilities should be present at resettlement sites. Every PAF family (and not just the BPL homeless families) should be given a built house and homestead land title.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Consent of 70 percent of the affected families in a gram sabha before acquisition is compulsory. A National Commission for Land Acquisition, Resettlement and Rehabilitation (NCLRR) should be established to assess extent of displacement based on the Social Impact Assessment (SIA) and and urgency clause for land acquisition should be used for purposes such as defence, national security and safety of lives as per recommendations of the NAC. The SIA would assess the social and environmental impacts from the project, and the R&amp;amp;R plan drawn up.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;According to the [inside]Standing Committee Report on the Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill 2007[/inside]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;http://prsindia.org/uploads/media/Land%20Acquisition/scr1226484896_SC_Report_Land_Acquisition_Bill__2008.pdf&quot;&gt;http://prsindia.org/uploads/media/Land%20Acquisition/scr1226484896_SC_Report_Land_Acquisition_Bill__2008.pdf&lt;/a&gt;: &amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Optimum size of land required for a project needs to be determined so that excessive acquisition of land doesn&amp;#39;t take place.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; There should be some legislation like Forest Conservation Act 1980 so that agricultural land can be protected like forest land.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; There is an urgent need to develop wasteland where agricultural land is acquired.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Since displacement leads to traumatic psychological and socio-cultural consequences, multiple displacements of affected families need to be avoided.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; States should declare the area where the tribals are rehabilitated as Scheduled Area. Land rights of tribals and forest dwellers should be recognized as per the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 so that they are compensated and rehabilitated during the process of land acquisition.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The details of the property to be acquired viz. khasra numbers in rural areas and quarter number in urban areas should be identified and widely publicized through prominent local English, Hindi and regional language newspapers. There is a need to avoid complications arising due to inadequacy of communicating the intent of acquisition through notification especially in hilly, tribal and remote areas. In order to circulate notification on rehabilitation and resettlement, the Government should rely on newspapers in local vernacular.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Affected persons should be provided 60 days from the date of publication of the notification to object to the acquisition of land.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Social Impact Assessment study should be done for all projects that displace physically more than 400 families in plain and 200 families in hilly, tribal and scheduled areas (same as NAC recommendation).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Highest price of sale deed as indicated in the sale deeds of the last three years plus 50 per cent of the said highest price should be the criteria for assessing and determining the market value of the land. For tribal areas, the highest price of a sale deed of the adjoining non-tribal blocks/ village for the last three years plus 50 per cent should be the criteria for assessing and determining the market value of land.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Non agricultural land having valuable mineral resources underneath should be properly evaluated for granting compensation.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; A share of the economic benefits earned due to setting up a project in a land, which is acquired should go to the affected families.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Issue of shares and debentures as part of the compensation is impractical and as such issue of shares and debentures should be over and above the admissible compensation. The rate of solatium should be increased from thirty per centum on market value to sixty per centum on market value.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Land Acquisition Compensation Disputes Settlement Authorities (a kind of Ombudsman) at the Centre and State level should be created for the disposal of disputes, which remain pending in the courts of law.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Record of large tracts of unutilized land available with various Ministries needs to be kept before further land acquisition.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
**page**&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;According to [inside]A CITIZENS REPORT CARD ON SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONES[/inside] prepared by civil society organization, South Asia Citizens&amp;#39; web:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sacw.net/IMG/pdf/CITIZENSREPORTONSEZs.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.sacw.net/IMG/pdf/CITIZENSREPORTONSEZs.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;THE NUMBERS&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Total amount of land to be acquired across India: 150,000 hectares (the area of National Capital Region). This land - predominantly agricultural and typically multicropped - is capable of producing close to 1 million tons of foodgrains. If SEZs are seen to be successful in the future and more cultivated land is acquired, they will endanger the food security of the country.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The latest available statistics on Special Economic Zones show that the Board of Approvals at the Ministry of Commerce, the central body authorised to clear SEZ proposals, has approved 578 SEZs of which 315 have been notified.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * An analysis of figures up to 8th December 2008 displays a continuation of the pattern which has been evident since SEZ Act in 2005.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * As of December 2008 the Central government gave formal approvals to a staggering 552 SEZs in 19 states; 272 of these have been notified. (As of April 2009 the total number of Formal approvals was 578 and notified SEZs were 330)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * With the significant economic slow-down towards the end of 2008 for the first time we started to see companies applying to de-register/denotify SEZs and it remains to be seen what the net effect will be.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The overwhelming part of SEZs continues to be in information technology and related industries. 181 notified SEZs exist for IT companies representing 66% of the total number of SEZs. Additionally there are 341 formally approved and 11 in-principle approvals.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * With all the different SEZs taken together at various stages of approval the IT sector still accounts for more than half at 55% of the total. The second largest sector will be multi-product with 9% of the all zones.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Andhra Pradesh tops the list of notified SEZs with 57, followed by Tamil Nadu on 44 and Maharashtra on 43.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Maharashtra has the most SEZs waiting to be notified however with 104 formally approved and 34 in principle, compared to AP&amp;#39;s 99 and 2 respectively and Tamil Nadu&amp;#39;s 66 and 18.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * These three states thus account for almost half of all the SEZs in the country. The share is especially significant among the already notified SEZs with 144 out of the total 274.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Even more imbalanced is the spread of SEZs when one considers the locations within each state. 48 out of the 99 formally approved SEZs in Andhra Pradesh are in or close to Hyderabad, while 34 of 66 formally approved are similarly in or close to Chennai.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The main number of SEZs can thus easily be characterised as being in the IT-sector and in one of primarily Western or Southern cities.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * This said, almost every state has tried to get a couple of SEZs to be established within their territories includingtiny Dadra &amp;amp; Haveli&amp;#39;s 4, and Pondicherry&amp;#39;s 1 formally approved zones.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * 53 multiproduct SEZs are at the in principle approval stage meaning they might soon become formally notified. These are the zones which require really large areas of land and have been contentious on the issue of displacement.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Recently the rule preventing larger SEZs than 5,000 hectares was lifted which lead the Adani group to apply for and get granted a merger between the 3 zones of (4498 + 2658 + 2648 hectares) it had created next to each other at Mundra in Gujarat to avoid the land ceiling&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Among the actually operating SEZs the biggest ones apart from the Mundra zone(s) in Gujarat is APIIC 2,206 ha SEZ in Visakhapatnam and the Kakinada SEZ 1,035 ha both in Andhra Pradesh and the Navi Mumbai SEZ 1,223 ha in Maharashtra&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * With the many really large multi-product SEZs in the In Principle category these cover an area of 1.22 lakh hectares, or 869 hectares per SEZ on average.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;ISSUES OF CONCERN&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 1. Large scale requirement of land and Forced Acquisition of Land - India is almost unique in its concept of creating SEZs on demand: i.e. the location, size and nature of the zone is explicitly determined not by state economic policy but by the demands of private capital.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 2. Despite issuing of guidelines by the Ministry of Commerce and the EGoM, that no forced acquisition of land will take place for private SEZs on 15th June 2007, nearly all states are using the Land Acquisition Act 1894 to acquire the land for developers of SEZs and that too in the absence of any provision for rehabilitation&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 3. In some states like Tamil Nadu and AP the governments are even using the urgency clause - 17/4 of the LAA to acquire land compulsorily.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 4. It is argued that much of the land being diverted for SEZs is already available with the State Industrial development Corporations (IDCs). While this is a fact, it needs to be specified that in many cases lands which had previously been acquired by IDCs and are now being transferred to SEZ developers also used the Land Acquisition Act.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 5. These sales are obviously at much higher rates than their original acquisition price from the farmers.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 6. The issue of compensation at market value, even to land owners is meaningless as the scales are heavily weighed in favor of private buyers and Government owned Industrial corporations, who are the informed negotiators in deciding the package&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Landless and Agricultural labourers displaced without compensation-&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 1. Almost 80% of the agricultural population in India owns only about 17% of the total agriculture land, making them near-landless workers. Far more families and communities depend on a piece of land (for work, grazing) than those who own it outright. However, compensation is being discussed only for those who hold titles to land. No compensation has been planned for those who do not.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 2. In states like Gujarat a large part of the land being diverted to SEZs is in the category of common or gowcher land (referred to wrongly as&amp;#39;wasteland&amp;#39;).Since these lands are &amp;#39;common lands&amp;#39; with no individual titles, they are transferred without even consulting the local communities and panchayats.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 3. Temple or Panchami land in Tamil Nadu and Waqf board lands in Andhra Pradesh are other examples of Public lands that have been expropriated and privatised for SEZs.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 4. The most outrageous acquisitions are taking place in Andhra Pradesh which has the highest number of SEZ approvals, in the form of acquiring assigned lands (allotted to Dalits and Scheduled Tribes) for SEZs. . This has been seen clearly in places like Polepally, Kakinada, Chittoor and Anantapur where SEZs are proposed.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Destruction of Agro-based and rural economies-&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 1. The bulk of land being acquired for SEZs is fertile, agricultural land, especially in case of the multi-product zones. Agriculture Scientists have estimated that close to 1.14 lakh farming households (each household on an average comprising five members) and an additional 82,000 farm worker families who are dependent upon these farms for their livelihoods, will be displaced.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 2. The total loss of income to the farming and the farm worker families, then, is an astounding Rs.212-crore a year. These were the estimates in 2006 after the initial SEZ approvals which are now multiplied three-fold.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Creation of exploitative employment opportunities and working conditions resulting from nullification of labour protection laws -&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The SEZ policy of the government transfers all the powers of the state Labor Commissioner to the Development Commissioners of the SEZs.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The power in the hands of the development Commissioner to declare SEZs as &amp;quot;public utility services&amp;quot; under the Industrial Disputes Act would mean that in SEZ areas workers will have no rights to strike or even to form unions and organize collectively to bargain for better wages or working conditions.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;ECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The Ministry of Finance conducted a study, and came up with the figures that the cumulative revenue loss from tax holidays to SEZs over the period 2004-05 to 2009-10 is estimated to be 1,75,487 Cr.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The Ministry of Finance conducted a study, and came up with the figures that the cumulative revenue loss from tax holidays to SEZs over the period 2004-05 to 2009-10 is estimated to be 1,75,487 Cr.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * In its performance audit-report on indirect taxes for Union Government tabled in parliament on 11 March 2008, the CAG brought 370 SEZ units under scanner with a limited objective to verify if they had complied with existing Customs Act, Rules, notifications etc. The review brought out systemic as well as compliance weaknesses that caused lost revenues to the tune of Rs.246.72 crores.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Stated objectives remain unfulfilled?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce has admitted that 40% of the SEZs approved may never really &amp;quot;take off the ground&amp;quot; (Panos-Kalpavriksh media dialogue on SEZs -December 2008). Additionally the figures of 3.5 lakhs employment and 90,000 crores investment generated by SEZs are being questioned on their authenticity and efficacy since these have to be established through a detailed and independent evaluation.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Further the conditions of contract labour in SEZs are the most pathetic. Wages in existing SEZs are often below minimum. Sen and Dasgupta in a May 2007 survey found that in the NOIDA SEZ workers were getting Rs.80 a day for 9 hours of work. Likewise in Falta in West Bengal.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Indian policy has very little regulation on the activity within a zone. Notwithstanding claims of export-orientation, the only requirement imposed on SEZ units is a vague need for them to have a &amp;lsquo;positive net foreign exchange balance.&amp;#39; Even that only applies to industrial units in the zone. If the goal of SEZs is indeed exports surely a more stringent clause than merely &amp;quot;positive net foreign exchange&amp;quot; for the SEZ as a whole ought to be applied.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * It needs to be mentioned further that a great recession in the world economy is not a good omen for promoting SEZs, which will produce for an increasingly shrinking and protected export market. Also, it&amp;#39;s not specified what happens to a developer whose SEZ does not meet the export requirement.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Just like it&amp;#39;s not specified what the procedure for denotification is. The recession - and the accompanying demand for denotification by developers like DLF (SEZs) is exposing this loophole. In such cases what happens to the land? Will it be returned to farmers? If so, how?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The SEZ Act (Section 9, 11, 12 and 31) takes power back to the center and bureaucracy (by creating &amp;#39;Board of Approvals&amp;#39; and &amp;#39;Development Commissioner&amp;#39; and &amp;lsquo;SEZ Authority&amp;#39;, whose accountability is not certain.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The fact that the SEZs would have their own regulations, the rights for environmental and labour related clearances, security arrangements, means that they would be &amp;#39;self contained privatized autonomous entities&amp;#39;, where existing constitutional rights would be difficult to exercise.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The creation of separate courts for SEZs ridicules the existing judicial system. There is no clarity about how elections will be conducted, and what happens to the governing authority of the Gram Sabha/ Municipality, under the 73rd/74th amendments.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * There is no transparency in the guidelines formulated for selection, modification and rejection of SEZ proposals by the BoA.The Chairman of the Administrative reforms committee, M Veerappa Moily&amp;#39;s report on SEZs states that &amp;#39;We need to restructure the Board of Approval by putting in people who are objective and can take a balanced view.&amp;#39;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The Commerce Ministry had made public announcements of various studies/ comparison of SEZ with other countries. Mr. Kirit Somaya filed an RTI regarding this, and in the answer that was given stated - &amp;quot;study of export of nearby countries of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka was done. No other studies or scientific analysis available.&amp;quot;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The SEZ Act was passed in haste without much public debate.In both houses of Indian Democracy has passed this bill was passed within a day (10th and 11th May 2005) with virtually no discussion, undermining many of the objections that were raised.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Further, information that has been demanded from the Ministry of Commerce on the approved projects under the RTI Act, 2005 has been denied on the clause of maintaining &amp;quot;trade secrets&amp;quot;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * There is great deal of ambiguity and contradictions when one compares how environment clearances are dealt with in the EIA notification and the SEZ legislations.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * While it is units with the SEZs which are exempt from Environment Clearance public hearings, the SEZs itself are required to under go public hearing. However, there are cases like the Mundra SEZ where the Ministry of Environment has recommended that Public Hearing be exempted for the creation of the Multi Product SEZ.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;The CAG report on the Goa Industrial Development Corporation, referred to the Government of India in June 2008, concluded (direct quotes):&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Corporation deviated from its established role, of acquiring and allotting land directly to the entrepreneur, by allotting land to developers for further allotments by them&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Allotments were made without any transparent selection procedures&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Allotments to SEZs were made without publicising, that too before the State Government formulated its SEZ policy&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Land acquired for small and medium scale industries under IGC (Industrial Growth Centre) Scheme was allotted to SEZ violating GOI guidelines&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Revision of premium rate of Verna Phase IV (industrial estate proposed to house SEZs) only after major chunk was allotted at lower rate, tentatively fixed, resulted in loss of Rs. 36.89 crore&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Allotment of land contiguous to the land allotted to four SEZs at lesser rate resulted in loss of Rs. 39.47 crore&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Allotment of 14.36 lakh square metre land to two SEZ developers without adopting approved formula resulted in loss of Rs 17.76 crore&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;(Source: The Comptroller and Auditor General of India, Goa State Report, Chapter VII Government Commercial and Trading Activities)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;POINTS RAISED BY PARLIAMENTARY STANDING COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 1. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce of the previous government under the Chairman ship of Murli Manohar Joshi submitted its 83rd report on the &amp;#39;Functioning of SEZs&amp;#39; to the parliament on 20th June 2007.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 2. The most critical recommendation made by the committee included the need to &amp;#39;pause and ponder&amp;#39;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 3. The report clearly expressed concern about the fast pace at which approvals have been granted by the BoA despite apprehensions raised from all quarters.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 4. Parliamentary Standing committee slammed the Ministry of Commerce on the ground that at the time of the release of the 83rd report there were 152 formal approvals and 82 notifications by the Board of Approvals and there was no effort to put a halt on the approvals despite the committee&amp;#39;s recommendation to hold approvals till amendments were put in place.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 5. By the time the ATR was presented in the Rajya Sabha the total number of approved SEZs had crossed 500. The MoC has merely stated that it was in the process of getting a &amp;#39;scientific evaluation&amp;#39; done on the performance and impacts of SEZs.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 6. Most importantly the report criticised the escalation of displacement as a result of the large SEZs leading to displacement and speculation in many situations.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 7. Some of the other recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee which were brushed aside by the Ministry of Commerce in the ATR include:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 8. Region wise cap on the SEZ approvals to allow for balanced regional development of SEZs.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 9. Imposition of restrictions on unnecessary social infrastructure Linking of fiscal incentives to exports&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp; 10. Tax concessions in SEZs are similar to STPs and EoUs - then why is there are a need for SEZs?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp; 11. Re-look at delegation of Labour Commissioner&amp;#39;s powers to the Development Commissioner&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp; 12. 83rd report of the parliamentary standing committee on commerce &amp;#39;on the functioning of Special Economic Zones&amp;#39;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;**page**&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;FOR MORE PLEASE CLICK THE LINKS LISTED BELOW&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Paper presented at the National Seminar on &amp;#39;Special Economic Zones: Engines of Growth and Social Development for India: Present Problems and Future Prospects&amp;#39; (16 - 17 October &amp;#39;08 at Hyderabad) organised by the Department of Sociology, Osmania University.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sacw.net/article574.html&quot;&gt;http://www.sacw.net/article574.html&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;SEZ Act-2005&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cnisbss.org/Newsline/PDF/SEZ/SEZ%20Act,%202005.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.cnisbss.org/Newsline/PDF/SEZ/SEZ%20Act,%202005.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Fact Sheet on Special Economic Zones by GOI- MINISTRY OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://sezindia.nic.in/writereaddata/updates/FACT%20sheet.pdf&quot;&gt;http://sezindia.nic.in/writereaddata/updates/FACT%20sheet.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;List of operational SEZs&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://sezindia.nic.in/writereaddata/pdf/ListofoperationalSEZs.pdf&quot;&gt;http://sezindia.nic.in/writereaddata/pdf/ListofoperationalSEZs.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;List of Formal Approvals granted under the SEZ Act,2005 &lt;a href=&quot;http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp&quot;&gt;http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;In principle approvals granted under the SEZ Act, 2005- &lt;a href=&quot;http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp&quot;&gt;http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Statewise distribution of SEZs approved under the SEZ, Act, 2005- &lt;a href=&quot;http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp&quot;&gt;http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Sectorwise distribution of SEZs approved under the SEZ Act, 2005- &lt;a href=&quot;http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp&quot;&gt;http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;[inside]A critique of the National Policy for Rehabilitation and Resettlement (2007)[/inside] by Priyanca Mathur Velath,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;amp;do_pdf=1&amp;amp;id=7235&quot;&gt;http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;amp;do_pdf=1&amp;amp;id=7235&lt;/a&gt; show&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; *&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt; On October 11, 2007, the Union Government announced the National Policy for Rehabilitation and Resettlement 2007 (NPRR 2007), replacing the National Policy on Resettlement and Rehabilitation for Project-Affected Families, 2003.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The new policy fails to examine the process of displacement, which is taken for granted. The draft makes no attempt to question the need for displacement in the first place, or to seek out and actively promote non-displacing or least-displacing alternatives.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The timing and true intention of the new policy along with govt.&amp;#39;s declaration to amend the outdated Land Acquisition Act of 1894 are suspect.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Attempt to redefine the &amp;lsquo;public purpose&amp;#39; under the amendment to the land acquisition act actually favours private interest and big companies over the poor and marginalised.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Under the 2007 policy it has become simpler to required land for big companies as well as strategic and public infrastructure projects.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * &amp;#39;Public purpose&amp;#39; has been redefined to allow the state government to acquire land for a private company, association or body of individuals, provided it is &amp;#39;useful for general public&amp;#39;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * &amp;#39;Land for land&amp;#39; principle in the 2007 policy suffers from ambiguity, as land is being offered as compensation but &amp;#39;to the extent that government land is available in resettlement areas&amp;#39;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The policy outlines a number of benefits such as scholarships for the education of eligible people from affected families; preference for groups of cooperatives of affected persons in the allotment of contracts and other economic opportunities in and around the project site; housing benefits to landless affected families in both rural and urban areas; and wage employment to willing affected persons in construction work on the project. But the &amp;lsquo;employment guarantee&amp;#39; to one person from each nuclear family is &amp;lsquo;subject to the availability&amp;#39; of vacancies and &amp;lsquo;suitability of the affected person&amp;#39;. Such qualifying clauses as &amp;quot;if available&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;as far as possible&amp;quot; are widely used by project authorities and policymakers to shirk responsibility.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Conducting a Social Impact Assessment (SIA) has been made mandatory in the policy, but only if more than 400 families have been displaced in the plains areas and 200 in tribal, hilly and other scheduled areas. Why is the SIA mandatory only in projects above a certain size?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * There are provisions in the 2007 policy to introduce a Land Acquisition Compensation Settlement Authority (at the local level, removed from normal civil courts, to assist quick disposal of cases involving compensation disputes), a standing relief and rehabilitation authority at the district level, an ombudsman at the state level (to monitor rehabilitation under any project), a national monitoring committee and national monitoring cell (for effective monitoring of implementation of resettlement plans, with which state governments will have to share information) and a national rehabilitation commission (which will be empowered to exercise independent oversight over the rehabilitation and resettlement of affected families). Aggrieved persons can appeal to the high court and above against settlements decided by the Land Acquisition Compensation Settlement Authority. But the policy does not answer the crucial question as to whether these committees and commissions are empowered to stop a project from proceeding if there are indeed any discrepancies or issues of inadequate resettlement.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Resettlement rights must be guaranteed before any project begins and, in the event of faulty or inadequate resettlement, the project should be stopped from proceeding any further and the project developers held accountable. NPRR 2007 does not address any of these issues; nor does it give displaced persons &amp;lsquo;first rights&amp;#39; over the benefits of the project in question.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Positive points about the National Policy for Rehabilitation and Resettlement:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * This policy makes an important announcement that land acquired by the government will revert to the government in case the proposed project does not take off within five years of the acquisition. Since land is often acquired in excess of what is needed and later handed over to the developers for extraneous purposes like building hotels, parks and golf courses, this new clause is a positive one.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Another creditable clause in the new policy is that if the land is sold after the project has taken off, 80% of the net profit earned from the sale goes to the original landowner. Also, that land acquired for &amp;lsquo;public purpose&amp;#39; cannot be changed to any other purpose.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;The study by Planning Commission titled [inside]Dams, Displacement, Policy and Law in India[/inside],&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/art_dam.pdf&quot;&gt;http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/art_dam.pdf&lt;/a&gt; show:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * With the adoption of policies for planned development after freedom in India, a major priority for policymakers was the harnessing of the country&amp;#39;s water resources for irrigation and power. Large storage works such as the Bhakra, the Hirakud, the Tungabhadra and the Damodar Valley Dams were amongst the earliest projects undertaken in the post-Independence period in the country.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * A formidable body of independent empirical research into many of these large dams has established how their social, human and environmental costs have been ignored or grossly understated in the planning of these projects. Of the very many neglected costs of the big dams, some of the most grave are the social and human consequences of displacement.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * There are no reliable official statistics of the numbers of people displaced by large projects since Independence. Many researchers place their estimates between 10 and 25 million. In an influential 1989 study, Fernandes, Das and Rao provide an estimate of some 21 million displaced persons. Scholar-administrator Dr. N. C. Saxena, places his estimate of persons displaced by big projects since 1947 at nearly double this figure - 50 million.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * From the inception of planning of most projects, through various stages of displacement and resettlement, it is to be expected that those likely to be negatively affected by the projects would be consulted and kept informed in such a way as to enable them to best rebuild their ravaged lives. This, however, is very far from being the case. The studies have revealed that the level of information that the oustees had regarding the dam, submergence and subsequent displacement due to them, is lamentably low.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * It is only in recent years that, chiefly under the impact of people&amp;#39;s movements, project authorities, state governments and international funding agencies have accepted responsibility for rehabilitation-one that extends beyond the payment of monetary compensation for expropriated individual assets and the provision of house sites. This neglect of rehabilitation assumes the gravest aspect when seen in relation to older projects, particularly those that commenced or were concluded in the first three decades after Independence.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * It has been observed that the driving objective of project authorities has not been to prepare and assist the families to relocate and to make a gradual and less painful transition to their new habitats. Instead frequently the only objective is to vacate the submergence zone of what are perceived to be its human encumbrances, with the brute force of the state if necessary. The evacuation of the villages was carried out with brutal insensitivity towards the feelings of the villagers who, not unnaturally, were bewildered and distressed at being forced out of their homes.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Resettlement sites are often inhospitable in a number of ways and their locations are selected without reference to availability of livelihood opportunities, or the preferences of displaced persons themselves.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * With the destruction of community and social bonds, the displaced are mired in anomie and a profound sense of loneliness and helplessness. The inflow of money creates greater pressure on family bonds. The outcomes are psychological pathologies and alcoholism, common among displaced populations.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Arguably the most culpable aspect of state-induced impoverishment of displaced populations is the phenomenon of multiple displacements. It has been documented, for instance, that as a direct result of the lack of co-ordination between the multiplicity of irrigation, thermal power and coal-mining agencies in Singrauli, most oustees have been displaced at least twice, and some three or four times in a matter of two or three decades.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * A frequently neglected, but extremely serious problem, is the unwillingness of host populations to accept resettled oustees in their midst.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The vast majority of tribal people displaced by big projects face danger of extinction as traditionally they depend more on natural resources. They are pushed inexorably into a vortex of increasing assetlessness, unemployment, debt-bondage and hunger.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Any loss of access to traditional sources of livelihood - land, forest, sea, river, pasture, cattle or saltpan land - marginalizes women on the labour market. Women not only suffered in terms of health and nutrition, they also lost the capacity to provide a secure future for their children.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Another extremely vulnerable group of oustees is oustees without land, including landless agricultural workers. The only legal reparation to displaced persons recognised by the statutes in India is compensation for loss of assets that are compulsorily acquired by the state for what the state designates as a `public purpose&amp;#39;. However a landless family dependent on the acquired land for their livelihood may be most severely pauperised by the displacement because it loses its only source of economic survival. However, the law and most ehabilitation policies still do not recognise this profound vulnerability.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;**page**&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;[inside]Opposition to Big Dams: Lessons for Policy[/inside]&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Even before Independence, there were instances of anti-dam struggles such as the one led by Senapati Bapat in opposition to the Mulshi hydroelectric project in the Western Ghats.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The first large river valley project in India, Hirakud, resulted in widespread protests in 1946 after the initial notifications. People also launched a struggle against the Rihand project in 1963-64. However, such early protests could not be sustained, partly because of their failure to attract larger alliances, under the overwhelming influence of the nationalist rhetoric of nation-building that accompanied the construction of large dams in India.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The success of the mobilisation against the Silent Valley project, resulting in the decision to shelve the project in 1983, led to a new phase in the history of resistance to big dams in India.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Other notable early struggles against big dams were local movements opposed to the Suvarnarekha, Koel Karo and Srisailam projects.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The most celebrated protest movement against big dams so far has centred around the mega Sardar Sarovar Project on the river Narmada. A number of protest groups gathered under the leadership of activist Medha Patkar and in 1988, local resistance organisations federated into a common platform known as the Narmada Bachao Andolan (Save the Narmada Movement).&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * A significant development has been the revival of struggles by people displaced by dams completed years ago, such as on the Bargi (completed 1990), Koyna (1964), Tawa (1975) and Mahi-Kadana (1978). We have already noted the success at Bargi and Tawa to secure fishing rights for cooperative societies of oustees in the dam reservoirs.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * By ensuring that these voices are heard, these movements have succeeded in compelling governments, both central and state, and powerful funding agencies like the World Bank, to rethink their policies on displacement and rehabilitation.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Opponents of big dams have argued that big dams are part of a development strategy that intrinsically impoverishes and disempowers the poor. The opponents to big dams in India have also challenged the dominant orthodoxy that development,especially state-induced development, by necessity entails the human costs of displacement or involuntary resettlement.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Another important issue in the debate around big dams in India is the question of whether the state should retain the power to compulsorily acquire private land for development projects without the consent of the owner or owners of such land.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The next issue in the debate is the nature and extent of state responsibility for the rehabilitation of the displaced. It is chiefly under the impact of people&amp;#39;s movements, supported by painstaking empirical social science research, that the state has in recent times acknowledged that its responsibility for rehabilitation to extend beyond the payment of market value for compulsorily acquired assets. However, the state in India has continued to resist the laying down of the nature of its precise responsibilities for rehabilitation in the form of even a comprehensive policy statement, let alone legislating the right to rehabilitation as a legally enforceable right.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Displacement and Rehabilitation: Suggested Directions for Policy&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Objectives of any just and equitable law and policy dealing with the colossal social and human impacts of big dams cannot be limited only to minimising the trauma of displacement, and ensuring the just resettlement of the victims of displacement. It must incorporate the objective to end, or severely curtail, displacement itself, to no longer accept state-induced involuntary resettlement as an inevitable cost of all development projects. It must enable people to effectively challenge as equal partners, a form of development which takes for granted the inevitability of displacement.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * It is incumbent upon the government before the launching of the project to justify that in the light of various technical and locational options, this is the least displacing alternative available. This claim should also be justiciable.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * It is imperative that the population likely to be affected by the acquisition be involved in the process from the time that decisions are sought to be made about where a project is to be located. They should be given full information to help them participate in decisions about whether the stated purpose is a public purpose; to explore options which may be less displacing; to work out the costs it involves for them; ando find out how they may gain from the process of change that the acquisition will bring.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Another institutional mechanism to limit displacement is to ensure that in the planning of any project the social and human costs are more accurately assessed and internalised in the cost-benefit analysis of the project.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Compensation, Resettlement and Rehabilitation&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The policy of rehabilitation must contain safeguards for detailed advance planning for rehabilitation.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * All persons whose source of livelihood, place of residence or other property is affected notwithstanding the legal status enjoyed by them in relation to the concerned location of the resource base for their livelihood and subsistence, shall be deemed to be project affected persons (PAPs).&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * If the guiding principle of rehabilitation is that displaced persons should become better off than they were in the past, one proviso that needs to be firmly embedded in the law is that compensation must be paid not at market but at replacement value.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The second guiding principle for assessment and payment of compensation should be that it is not only the loss of assets but also, far more significantly, the loss of livelihoods that must be compensated.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * A third guiding principle is that any displaced person must be fully compensated before displacement from land, house or livelihood is executed.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * If the objectives of rehabilitation of persons displaced as a result of large dams is to ensure that they are not only better off, but are direct project beneficiaries, then at the heart of such a strategy must be a policy of replacing agricultural land and agriculture-based livelihoods with alternate agricultural land of viable size and productivity and with appropriate complements of credit and input assistance.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Simultaneously, the scope for complementary non land-based livelihoods should also be explored along with land-based strategies. One such livelihood opportunity that is always created as a by-product of any large dam project is fresh-water fishing in the large reservoir.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The resettlement sites for displaced tribal families should be selected with great care and in consultation with the traditional/elected leaders or representatives of the displaced families as well as host populations, and established local NGOs. Efforts should be made to ensure that all tribal families of ousted villages are resettled together in a particular area.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Women headed households or single women should not be discriminated against in eligibility for benefits.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Still we are left with the most difficult issue of displaced persons from older dams. It has been estimated that as many as 3 out of every 4 persons displaced by big dams in India have been rendered worse off than they were before. Some reparation must be made, some attempt to rebuild so many millions of broken lives.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;The study titled [inside]Environment of Land Diversion, Displacement and Rehabilitation: A Study of Indian SEZs[/inside], &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf&lt;/a&gt; show:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * India has adopted the policy of promoting the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) for faster industrial development. It needs about 50,000 hectares of agricultural land for SEZs and 1.49 lakh hectares for all projects which include also industrial, mining, irrigation and infrastructural projects.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Farmers in many parts of the country are resisting for land diversion and acquisition for these purposes.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Land especially agricultural land in India, is a very delicate subject and has been an emotional issue ever since the Zamindari days. Land is livelihood of millions of people. Not only the immediate owners of the land are affected because of land shifting, but also share-croppers or daily wage labourers who forgo their living through a scant, but reasonably reliable source of income.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * While acquiring the land the government agency normally fixes the market value of land much below the prevailing rate in the open market.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * India ratified the ILO Indigenous and Tribal Populations Convention, 1957 in 1958. This Convention deals primarily with the protection and integration of indigenous, tribal and semi-tribal groups. The Convention provides that where as an exceptional measure tribal groups are removed from their land they should be provided with lands of quality at least equal to that of the lands previously occupied by them. It goes on to provide that they should be compensated for any &amp;quot;resulting injury or loss&amp;quot;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The UN Guiding Principles on Internally Displaced Persons, 1998 is meant to serve as an international standard to guide governments as well as international humanitarian and development agencies in providing assistance and protection to IDPs. They provide protection against arbitrary displacement, offer a basis for protection and assistance during displacement, and set forth guarantees for safe return, resettlement and reintegration.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The Land Acquisition Act, 1894 of India is the primary legislation that provides for acquisition of land. But this Act has been criticized &amp;quot;for considering land only as a commodity generating income&amp;quot;. However, when a family is settled on a piece of land not only does it earn its livelihood from it but it also has a whole social network.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2007 puts provisions for &amp;quot;rehabilitation and resettlement of persons affected by acquisition of land under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894&amp;quot; or due to any other legislation by the Central or State governments or involuntary displacement due to any other reason. The Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 6 December 2007 and has since been referred to the Standing Committee on Rural Development.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * National Rehabilitation and Resettlement Policy, 2007 came in order to solve issues arising out of policies of economic liberalization/de-regularization. The NRRP, 2007 has come into force from Oct. 2007. The new policy is applicable to all affected persons and families whose land, property or livelihood are adversely affected by land acquisition or by involuntary displacement of a permanent nature due to any other reason.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Now, by and large there is unanimity that no development can be accepted at the cost of social equity. Land acquisition needs total reform and rehabilitation package. Land owners, should get adequate compensation of their land.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;According to the study titled: [inside]Large Dam Projects and Displacement in India[/inside], &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The government of India does not have figures of people displaced by large dams. This fact is the biggest sign of the fact that displacement and resettlement of people is the least concern of large dam builders.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * India is the third largest dam builder country in the world. It now has over 3600 large dams and over 700 more under construction.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The large dams are the single largest cause of displacement in India.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * A World Bank review of the status of displacement and rehabilitation has shown that the displacement of as many as 0.6 million people across 192 projects had not been accounted for in project planning. In at least one instance, the number of people actually displaced was seven times the number stated in the project documents.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Often only reservoir displacement is taken into account. Whereas Large dam projects can displace people in a number of ways including due to colonies, due to canals, downstream impacts, catchment area treatment, compensatory afforestation, secondary displacement (at resettlement colonies, for example) and due to related conservation schemes like sanctuaries and national parks.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Displacement due to dams in India has been variously estimated. Fernandes, Das &amp;amp; Rao (1989) claimed that Indians displaced by dam projects numbered 21 million.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Available estimates of people displaced by large and medium dams in India show that the 140 dams for which such figures are available, have displaced over 4.4 million people.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;The study titled [inside]Right to displace, but no duty to rehabilitate (A critique of the Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2007)[/inside].&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.indiatogether.org/2008/jan/law-resettle.htm&quot;&gt;http://www.indiatogether.org/2008/jan/law-resettle.htm&lt;/a&gt; shows:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The bill seems to be based on the premise that the acquiring land for a &amp;#39;public purpose&amp;#39; is a right by the state under its powers of eminent domain, but it accepts no duty to resettle and rehabilitate all the affected citizens. Instead, rehabilitation is presented as an act of benevolence.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2007 seeks to &amp;quot;provide for the rehabilitation and resettlement of persons affected by the acquisition of land for projects of public purpose or involuntary displacement due to any other reason&amp;quot;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The bill came at a time when concerted efforts were about to begin made by both the central and state governments to increase economic activity through the deployment of domestic and foreign private capital on a gigantic scale in new infrastructure and industry.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The history of large scale land acquisition and consequent displacement goes back to the 1950s, when the newly independent republic embarked on large state owned projects for irrigation, power, steel and heavy engineering that were meant to occupy the &amp;#39;towering heights of the economy&amp;#39;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Land for even such gigantic projects was (and continues to be) acquired using the coercive powers provided by the colonial Land Acquisition Act. It narrowly defined persons affected by an acquisition to be either land owners or occupiers (tenants), and limited compensation to purely monetary terms.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Even those who were compensated monetarily were hard put to replace their lost land assets and regain their means of livelihood. In the absence of any rehabilitation plan, people displaced by Hirakud dam project occupied whatever open lands they could locate. These lands were not legally theirs, making them vulnerable to constant harassment by officials.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The Narmada Sardar Sarovar project is illustrative of how things have changed over the last six decades. Struggle against displacement by the PAPs led by Narmada Bachao Andolan contributed immensely to change the discourse of the development and displacement.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * But the experience of the Sardar Sarovar and many other projects over the last 60 years reveals the inadequacy of R&amp;amp;R policy - at the project, company, state or even national level- to address the legal neglect of displacement and the rights of the affected people, particularly those without land or tenancy.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * These are some of the issues that came under debate as the Rehabilitation and Resettlement bill 2007 was introduced.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The bill prescribes conditions for project affected families to qualify as beneficiaries and makes the benefits themselves conditional on external circumstances.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Under the provisions of the bill, an area will be notified as an &amp;#39;affected area&amp;#39; &amp;quot;where the appropriate Government is of the opinion that there is likely to be involuntary displacement of four hundred or more families en masse in plain areas&amp;quot; (the number is less for hilly and tribal areas).&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Thus the opinion of the Government on the scale of the displacement will decide if there will be planned R&amp;amp;R of the displaced.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * There are many other conditions attached to the benefits.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * While acquiring land for a &amp;#39;public purpose&amp;#39;, with its attendant displacement and denial of livelihood, is claimed as a right of the state under its powers of eminent domain, the R&amp;amp;R bill does not accept that it is the unconditional duty of the state to resettle and rehabilitate all the affected citizens so that they are able to maintain, if not improve, their current standard of living.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;**page**&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;The paper by Jaideep Hardikar, published in &amp;lsquo;Infochange&amp;#39; titled [inside]The destruction of &amp;#39;development&amp;#39;[/inside],&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;amp;do_pdf=1&amp;amp;id=6161&quot;&gt;http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;amp;do_pdf=1&amp;amp;id=6161&lt;/a&gt;, does not go into depths and details, but it gives a bird&amp;#39;s views of the problem.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Main Points:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Since independence at least 50 million people in India have been displaced by dams, mines, thermal power plants, corridor projects, field firing ranges, express highways, airports, national parks, sanctuaries, industrial townships, even poultry farms. They continue to pay the price for India&amp;#39;s &amp;#39;development&amp;#39;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * These may be conservative figures. Because displacement is usually only understood as direct displacement from land, such figures exclude many groups who are affected but who do not own land.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * A vast majority are landless and marginal farmers, mostly tribal, dalit or other economically backward communities. One study suggests that roughly one in every ten Indian tribals is a displaced person. Tribals constitute 8% of the country&amp;#39;s population, and more than 40% of the displaced persons.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Displacement by mines or thermal power plants is perhaps less visible than the forced movements of people triggered by dams. The acquisition takes place in phases. The would-be oustees are the last ones to know about their eviction by mines. This gives them little or no chance of resistance or coming together to bargain for a better rehabilitation package.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * As things stand today, there&amp;#39;s no region in the country where people haven&amp;#39;t been displaced by development projects. And there&amp;#39;s no region in the country where you would find people rehabilitated according to their aspirations and priorities.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;[inside]World Bank: Resettlement and Rehabilitation (R&amp;amp;R) Policy[/inside]&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;The World Bank has a policy for Resettlement and Rehabilitation (R&amp;amp;R),&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.his.com/~mesas/policy.htm&quot;&gt;http://www.his.com/~mesas/policy.htm&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;The Bank&amp;#39;s present policy is contained in the document &amp;quot;Involuntary Resettlement,&amp;quot; Operational Directive (OD) 4.30, adopted June 1990. According to the WB, the objective of its resettlement policy is to ensure that the population displaced by a project receives benefits from it.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;The WB says, &amp;quot;Development projects that displace people involuntarily generally give rise to severe economic, social, and environmental problems.&amp;quot;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Its R&amp;amp;R policy emphasizes the need for:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Minimizing involuntary resettlement;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Providing people displaced by a project with the means to improve, or at least restore, their former living standards, earning capacity, and production levels;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Involving both re-settlers and hosts in resettlement activities;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * A time-bound resettlement plan; and&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Valuation and compensation principles for land and other assets affected by the project.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;For environmental point of view, the World Bank has categorised the projects into three groups. According to this, Group &amp;quot;A&amp;quot; projects need a full environmental assessment (EA). Category B projects do not require a full EA but do require some environmental analysis. Category C projects do not require environmental analysis.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Category A projects are:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Dams and reservoirs;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Forestry production projects;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Industrial plants (large-scale) and industrial estates;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Irrigation, drainage, and flood control (large-scale);&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Land clearance and levelling;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Mineral development (including oil and gas);&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Port and harbour development;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Reclamation and new land development;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Resettlement and all projects with potentially major impacts on people;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * River basin development;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Thermal and hydropower development; and&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Manufacture, transportation, and use of pesticides or other hazardous and/or toxic materials.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Category B projects are:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Agro-industries (small-scale);&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Electrical transmission;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Aquaculture and mariculture;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Irrigation and drainage (small-scale);&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Renewable energy;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Rural electrification;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Tourism;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Rural water supply and sanitation;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Watershed projects (management or rehabilitation); and&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Rehabilitation, maintenance, and upgrading projects (small-scale).&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Category C projects might be:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Education,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Family planning,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Health,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Nutrition,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Institutional development,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Technical assistance, and&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Most human resource projects.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;**page**&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;[inside]Imagining a Post-Development Era? Critical thought, Development and Social Movements by Arturo Escobar[/inside] is a paper, which gives a fair idea of debates on developments till 1960s and afterwards. This is an important reading for a deeper understanding of evolution of concepts of developments in last few decades. As there is a cause and effect relationship between development projects and displacement, therefore while looking into the issue of displacement it is desirable to have an understanding of this whole debate on development.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Main Points:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Nowadays it has become difficult to talk about development with the same confidence and encompassing scope with which intellectuals and activists spoke about these vital matters in the past decades. Now there are differing views. When one speaks about development, other voices emphasize on the &amp;quot;crisis of development&amp;quot;. The &amp;quot;new social actors&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;new social movements&amp;quot; are raising fundamental questions on the conventional sense of development.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * To examine development as discourse requires understanding why so many countries started to see themselves as underdeveloped, and, how &amp;quot;to develop&amp;quot; became for them a fundamental problem.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * In the previous period, from the early post-War years to the end of the 1970s, development was chiefly a matter of capital, technology, and education and the appropriate policy and planning mechanisms to successfully combine these elements.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Resistance, on the other hand, was primarily a class issue and a question of imperialism. Nowadays, even imperialism and class are thought to be the object of innumerable mediations. Now we come across new ways of thinking on these issues, especially in relation to social movements.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * With the emergence of the new critique it is being argued that development has been an invention and strategy produced by the &amp;quot;First World&amp;quot; about the &amp;quot;underdevelopment&amp;quot; of the &amp;quot;Third World.&amp;quot; Largely, it has been an instrument of economic control over the physical and social reality of much of Asia, Africa and Latin America.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * These schools of thought now are now advocating for &amp;quot;alternatives to development&amp;quot; that needs transformation of the notions of development, modernity and the economy.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The number of scholars in the Third World says that rather than searching for development alternatives, there is a need to go for the &amp;quot;alternatives to development,&amp;quot; that is, a rejection of the entire earlier paradigm.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * In the Third World the process of needs interpretation and satisfaction is inextricably linked to the development apparatus. The &amp;quot;basic human needs&amp;quot; strategy, pushed by the World Bank and adopted by most international agencies, has played a crucial role in this regard. However, the critics say that this strategy is based on a liberal human rights discourse and on the rational, scientific assessment and measurement of &amp;quot;needs&amp;quot;; lacking a significant link to people&amp;#39;s everyday experience, and &amp;quot;basic human needs&amp;quot; discourse does not foster greater political participation.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * This paper argues that the possibility for redefining development rests largely with the action of social movements. Though the paper in most of its parts has discussed the Latin American experiences, it has significance for whole Third World.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;The [inside]main provisions under Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act (MMDR Act)[/inside] are as follows:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://mines.gov.in/policy/noticeapril.pdf&quot;&gt;http://mines.gov.in/policy/noticeapril.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.prsindia.org/uploads/media/draft/Draft%20Mines%20and%20Minerals%20Bill_31%20March%202010.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.prsindia.org/uploads/media/draft/Draft%20Mines%20and%20Minerals%20Bill_31%20March%202010.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;A background and critique:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl2714/stories/20100716271402500.htm&quot;&gt;http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl2714/stories/20100716271402500.htm&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The 1957 Act has outlived its utility despite the several amendments made to it up to 1999. The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation Act, 1957, came into force at a time when governments required much discretionary power to regulate a nascent mining sector. The rise of the market economy in the early 1990s brought about a fundamental change in the government&amp;#39;s attitude to mining.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The National Mineral Policy, 1993, recognised the need to encourage private investment, including foreign direct investment (FDI), and to attract state-of-the-art technology in the mineral sector.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Mining is a three-stage operation, involving regional exploration, detailed exploration, and actual mining.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Procedural delay was identified as one of the impediments in encouraging the flow of private investment and in the introduction of high-end technology for exploration and mining. The Anwarul Hoda Committee, constituted by the Planning Commission in 2005, in its report submitted in 2006 made specific recommendations on the legal framework to avoid procedural delay.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The New Mining Policy (NMP) 2008, while reflecting these recommendations, also sought to develop a sustainable framework for optimum utilisation of mineral resources for industrial growth and for improving the life of people living in the mining areas.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The proposed Act makes significant departures from the existing Act in areas that were seen as instances of micromanagement.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * As per the proposed Act, the union Ministry for mines and minerals give up its &amp;quot;prior approval&amp;quot; power in grant of concessions for minerals in Part C of the First Schedule. In the proposed Act, Part C includes 74 major minerals, while Part A includes coal and lignite and Part B atomic minerals. Part C of the First Schedule of the existing Act includes only 10 metallic and non-metallic minerals.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The proposed Act envisages the setting up of a national mining tribunal, which can check independently decisions as also indecision and delays. It gives more teeth to the Indian Bureau of Mines to regulate the mining plan and mine closure and empowers the Central government to enforce disclosure through databases and websites.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The draft Bill allows the setting up of a national mineral royalty commission with State governments as members, for progressive solutions for revenue-sharing through royalty.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The proposed Act provides for stringent measures to prevent illegal mining. It empowers State governments to detect, prevent and prosecute cases of illegal mining, set up special courts to try such cases and declare those convicted as ineligible for grant of mining concessions.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * One of the consistent demands of the steel industry has been the reservation of mineral-bearing areas for public sector undertakings. The proposed Act rejects this demand, consistent with the Hoda Committee&amp;#39;s recommendation that reservation goes against the principles of providing a level playing field.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The draft Bill guarantees assured annuity to the local population as a percentage of profits (26 per cent) earned by the miner, resettlement and rehabilitation of the local population through employment and skill enhancement.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * It also provides for compulsory consultation with gram sabha/district panchayats in tribal areas before notification of the area for grant of concessions, and preference to tribal cooperatives in the grant of concessions over small deposits.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;According to a report named [inside]SEZs and land acquisition FACTSHEET FOR AN UNCONSTITUTIONAL ECONOMIC POLICY[/inside] Prepared by Citizens&amp;#39; Research Collective&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;SEZ - DISPLACEMENT AND LOSS OF LIVELIHOODS&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Estimates show that close to 114,000 farming households (each household on an average comprising five members) and an additional 82,000 farm worker families who are dependent upon these farms for their livelihoods, will be displaced.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * In other words, at least 10 lakh (1,000,000) people who primarily depend upon agriculture for their survival will face eviction. Experts calculate that the total loss of income to the farming and the farm worker families is at least Rs. 212 crores a year.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * This does not include other income lost (for instance of artisans) due to the demise of local rural economies. The government promises &amp;lsquo;humane&amp;#39; displacement followed by relief and rehabilitation.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * However, the historical record does not offer any room for hope on this count: an estimated 40 million people (of which nearly 40% are Adivasis and 25% Dalits) have lost their land since 1950 on account of displacement due to large development projects. At least 75% of them still await rehabilitation.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Almost 80% of the agricultural population owns only about 17% of the total agriculture land, making them near landless farmers. Far more families and communities depend on a piece of land (for work, grazing) than those who simply own it. However, compensation is being discussed only for those who hold titles to land. No compensation has been planned for those who don&amp;#39;t.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;LOSS OF PUBLIC REVENUE&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Exemptions from customs duties, income tax, sales tax, excise duties and service tax (even on luxury hotel facilities, shopping malls, health clubs and recreation centres) given to SEZs, the Finance ministry estimates a loss of Rs.1,60,000 crore till 2010 in revenue. (The Ministry has also asked for capping the number of SEZs at 100.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Finance Minister P. Chidambaram wrote to Cabinet colleagues saying: &amp;quot;SEZs per se will distort land, capital, and labour cost, which will encourage relocation or shifting of industries in clever ways that can&amp;#39;t be stopped. This will be further aggravated by the proliferation of a large number of SEZs in and around metros.&amp;quot;)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The foregone tax revenue every year is five times the annual allocation for the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and is enough to feed each year 55 million people who go to bed hungry every day.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Furthermore, given the concessions on import duties (not merely for the investors who will produce exportable items but also for the developer, who will not), there are likely to be foreign exchange losses (rather than gains).&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * For the five year period ending 1996-97 the foreign exchange outgo on imports made by units in SEZs and the customs duty forgone amounted to Rs.16461.58 crore against which exports of only Rs.13563.87 crore were reported.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Moreover, these zones are exempt from sales tax, octroi, mandi tax etc on the supply of the goods from the Domestic Tariff Area (rest of India).&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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	&#039;metaTitle&#039; =&gt; &#039;Empowerment | Displacement&#039;,
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	&#039;metaDesc&#039; =&gt; &#039;KEY TRENDS

&amp;nbsp;

&amp;bull; Section 105 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, which provides for excluding 13 Central legislation, including Land Acquisition (Mines) Act 1885, Atomic Energy Act, 1962, Railway Act...&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;KEY TRENDS&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div&gt;&amp;bull; Section 105 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, which provides for excluding 13 Central legislation, including Land Acquisition (Mines) Act 1885, Atomic Energy Act, 1962, Railway Act 1989, National Highways Act 1956 and Metro Railways (Construction of Works) Act, 1978, from its purview, has been amended for payment of compensation with rigours $&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;bull; The amendments have now relaxed the requirements of consent and Social Impact Assessment survey for projects in following areas: 1. Defence and defence production; 2. Rural infrastructure (including rural electrification); 3. Affordable housing; 4. Industrial corridors; 5. Social infrastructure projects including PPPs in which ownership rests with the government $&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&amp;bull; The Standing Committee report on Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011 (submitted on 17 May, 2012) recommended that land may not be acquired for use by private companies and PPPs. The Committee recommended including &amp;ldquo;infrastructure projects&amp;rdquo; within the definition of public purpose. Since sale and purchase of land is a state subject, the threshold for R&amp;amp;R provisions shall be fixed by the states and not the central government. Restriction on land acquisition should also apply to any land under agricultural cultivation. No central act should be exempted from the provisions of the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011 and necessary amendments should be brought in those Acts to bring them at par with this Bill. The Committee recommended that if acquired land is left unutilized for 5 years, the land should be returned to the land owners &amp;alpha;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;bull; India is the third largest dam builder country in the world. It now has over 3600 large dams and over 700 more under construction*&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;bull; Displacement due to dams in India has been variously estimated. Fernandes, Das &amp;amp; Rao (1989) claimed that Indians displaced by dam projects numbered 21 million*&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;bull; Available estimates of people displaced by large and medium dams in India show that the 140 dams for which such figures are available, have displaced over 4.4 million people*&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;bull; Many researchers estimated that the number of people displaced due to big projects comes between 10 and 25 million. In an influential 1989 study, Fernandes, Das and Rao provide an estimate of some 21 million displaced persons. Scholar-administrator Dr. N. C. Saxena, places his estimate of persons displaced by big projects since 1947 at nearly double this figure &amp;mdash; 50 million**&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;bull; India has adopted the policy of promoting the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) for faster industrial development. It needs about 50,000 hectares of agricultural land for SEZs and 1.49 lakh hectares for all projects which include also industrial, mining, irrigation and infrastructural projects***&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;bull; The Land Acquisition Act, 1894 of India is the primary legislation that provides for acquisition of land***&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;bull; Since independence at least 50 million people in India have been displaced by dams, mines, thermal power plants, corridor projects, field firing ranges, express highways, airports, national parks, sanctuaries, industrial townships, even poultry farms@&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Sources:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;$&amp;nbsp;Amendments to the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, Press Information Bureau, dated: 29 December 2014 (Please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Land_act_amendments.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Land Act amendments&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Land_act_amendments.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Land Act amendments&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access)&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;alpha; &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Summary%20of%20the%20Standing%20Committee%20recommendations.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Summary of the Standing Committee recommendations&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Summary%20of%20the%20Standing%20Committee%20recommendations.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Summary of the Standing Committee recommendations&quot;&gt;Standing Committee Report Summary&lt;/a&gt;, PRS Legislative Research&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;* Large Dam Projects and Displacement in India,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;**&amp;nbsp; Planning Commission titled Dams, Displacement, Policy and Law in India,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/art_dam.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/art_dam.pdf&quot;&gt;http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/a&lt;br /&gt;rt_dam.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;*** Environment of Land Diversion, Displacement and Rehabilitation: A Study of Indian SEZs,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;@ The destruction of &amp;#39;development&amp;#39; by Jaideep Hardikar, Infochange&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;amp;do_pdf=1&amp;amp;id=6161&quot; title=&quot;http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;amp;do_pdf=1&amp;amp;id=6161&quot;&gt;http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;a&lt;br /&gt;mp;do_pdf=1&amp;amp;id=6161&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&#039;,
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	&#039;id&#039; =&gt; (int) 3192,
	&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;Displacement&#039;,
	&#039;subheading&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;KEY TRENDS&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;bull; Section 105 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, which provides for excluding 13 Central legislation, including Land Acquisition (Mines) Act 1885, Atomic Energy Act, 1962, Railway Act 1989, National Highways Act 1956 and Metro Railways (Construction of Works) Act, 1978, from its purview, has been amended for payment of compensation with rigours $&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; The amendments have now relaxed the requirements of consent and Social Impact Assessment survey for projects in following areas: 1. Defence and defence production; 2. Rural infrastructure (including rural electrification); 3. Affordable housing; 4. Industrial corridors; 5. Social infrastructure projects including PPPs in which ownership rests with the government $&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;bull; The Standing Committee report on Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011 (submitted on 17 May, 2012) recommended that land may not be acquired for use by private companies and PPPs. The Committee recommended including &amp;ldquo;infrastructure projects&amp;rdquo; within the definition of public purpose. Since sale and purchase of land is a state subject, the threshold for R&amp;amp;R provisions shall be fixed by the states and not the central government. Restriction on land acquisition should also apply to any land under agricultural cultivation. No central act should be exempted from the provisions of the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011 and necessary amendments should be brought in those Acts to bring them at par with this Bill. The Committee recommended that if acquired land is left unutilized for 5 years, the land should be returned to the land owners &amp;alpha;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; India is the third largest dam builder country in the world. It now has over 3600 large dams and over 700 more under construction*&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; Displacement due to dams in India has been variously estimated. Fernandes, Das &amp;amp; Rao (1989) claimed that Indians displaced by dam projects numbered 21 million*&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; Available estimates of people displaced by large and medium dams in India show that the 140 dams for which such figures are available, have displaced over 4.4 million people*&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; Many researchers estimated that the number of people displaced due to big projects comes between 10 and 25 million. In an influential 1989 study, Fernandes, Das and Rao provide an estimate of some 21 million displaced persons. Scholar-administrator Dr. N. C. Saxena, places his estimate of persons displaced by big projects since 1947 at nearly double this figure &amp;mdash; 50 million**&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; India has adopted the policy of promoting the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) for faster industrial development. It needs about 50,000 hectares of agricultural land for SEZs and 1.49 lakh hectares for all projects which include also industrial, mining, irrigation and infrastructural projects***&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; The Land Acquisition Act, 1894 of India is the primary legislation that provides for acquisition of land***&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; Since independence at least 50 million people in India have been displaced by dams, mines, thermal power plants, corridor projects, field firing ranges, express highways, airports, national parks, sanctuaries, industrial townships, even poultry farms@&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Sources:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;$&amp;nbsp;Amendments to the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, Press Information Bureau, dated: 29 December 2014 (Please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Land_act_amendments.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Land Act amendments&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access)&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;alpha; &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Summary%20of%20the%20Standing%20Committee%20recommendations.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Summary of the Standing Committee recommendations&quot;&gt;Standing Committee Report Summary&lt;/a&gt;, PRS Legislative Research&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;* Large Dam Projects and Displacement in India,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;**&amp;nbsp; Planning Commission titled Dams, Displacement, Policy and Law in India,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/art_dam.pdf&quot;&gt;http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/art_dam.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;*** Environment of Land Diversion, Displacement and Rehabilitation: A Study of Indian SEZs,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;@ The destruction of &amp;#39;development&amp;#39; by Jaideep Hardikar, Infochange&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;amp;do_pdf=1&amp;amp;id=6161&quot;&gt;http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;amp;do_pdf=1&amp;amp;id=6161&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;**page**&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Second Ordinance 2015.pdf&quot; title=&quot;The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Second Ordinance 2015&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access [inside]The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Second Ordinance 2015[/inside], dated 30 May, 2015&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Second Amendment) Bill 2015.pdf&quot; title=&quot;The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Second Amendment) Bill 2015&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access [inside]The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Second Amendment) Bill 2015[/inside]&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/RFCTLARR%20Act%20(Amendment)%20Ordinance,%202014.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Amended Land Acquisition Act&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access [inside]The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Ordinance 2014[/inside], promulgated by the President on 31 December 2014&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Land_act_amendments.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Land Act amendments&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access the [inside]Amendments made in the&amp;nbsp; Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013[/inside]. Source: Press Information Bureau, dated: 29 December 2014&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;The salient features of [inside]The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013[/inside], which repeals the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 are as follows (Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/files/file/Act_Land_Acqusiition_2013.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp; to access):&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; Payment of compensation upto four times the market value in rural areas and two times the market value in urban areas.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; Rehabilitation and Resettlement is an integral part of the land acquisition. No family will be displaced before rehabilitation.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; A social impact assessment study to be done compulsorily in all cases of land acquisition irrespective of extent of area.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; The definition of &amp;lsquo;affected families&amp;rsquo; has been extended to include not only the land owners but also others dependent on land for their livelihoods like agricultural labourers, tenants.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; To ensure transparency and participation, the Act provides for consent of at least eighty and seventy percent of the land owners in the cases of land acquisition for Private and Public Private Partnership Projects respectively.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; In Scheduled Areas consent of the Gram Sabhas/ Panchayats / Autonomous District Councils is mandatory in all cases of land acquisition.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; To safeguard food security and to prevent arbitrary acquisition, the Act directs the States to impose limits on the multi cropped irrigated land that can be acquired.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; In case, land remains unutilized after acquisition, the new Act empowers States to return the land either to the owner or to the State Land Bank.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/LAAR%20Bill%20as%20passed%20by%20LS.pdf&quot; title=&quot;LARR Bill as passed by LS&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access [inside]The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2013[/inside] that was passed by the Lok Sabha on 29 August, 2013.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;In order to access the [inside]Draft National Land Reforms Policy (dated 18 July, 2013)[/inside], prepared by Ministry of Rural Development, please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Draft_National_Land_Reforms_Policy_July_2013.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Draft Land Reforms Policy 2013&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
The &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Standing%20Committee%20Report%20on%20LARR%20Bill%202011.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Standing Committee report on LARR 2011&quot;&gt;report by the Standing Committee&lt;/a&gt; on Rural Development pertaining to Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (LARR) Bill 2011 was tabled in the Lok Sabha on 17 May, 2012. As per the [inside]Standing Committee Report 2012[/inside], the salient features of the LARR Bill 2011 (now renamed as Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill) are as follows:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(1) New integrated legislation dealing with land acquisition and rehabilitation &amp;amp; resettlement while repealing the Land Acquisition Act, 1894.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(2) Exemption to 16 Central Acts specified in Fourth Schedule from the ambit of the Bill.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(3) Defining the term affected family, which includes both the land losers and livelihood losers.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(4) Provision of R &amp;amp; R benefits in case of specified private purchase of land equal to or more than 100 acres in rural areas and equal to or more than 50 acre in urban areas&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(5) Provides Social Impact Assessment (SIA) study in all cases where the Government intends to acquire land for a public purpose.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(6) Provides for formation of a Committee under the Chief Secretary for examining proposals of land acquisition where land sought to be acquired is equal to or more than 100 acres.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(7) Putting limitations on acquisition of multi-crop land for safeguarding the food security.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(8) Institutional mechanism for R&amp;amp;R in the form of institutions of Administrator for Rehabilitation and Resettlement, Commissioner for Rehabilitation and Resettlement, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Committee at project level, the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation &amp;amp; Resettlement Authority at State level and National Monitoring Committee at Central level.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(9) Provisions of consent of the 80 per-cent affected families for land acquisition for certain projects.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(10) Provision for enhanced compensation to the land owners and rehabilitation and resettlement entitlements.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(11) Provision of 25 per-cent on shares as part of compensation in cases where the Requiring Body offers its shares to the owners of land whose land has been acquired.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(12) Restricting the &amp;lsquo;urgency clause&amp;rsquo; for land acquisition for Defence of India or National Security or for any other emergency out of natural calamities.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(13) Specified timelines for payment of compensation and provision of rehabilitation and resettlement entitlements.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[inside]Recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on LARR 2011 Bill[/inside]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
It has been noted by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on LARR 2011 Bill that despite the Government having more than two years time for wider consultations with all stakeholders i.e. between the constitution of Fifteenth Lok Sabha 01.06.2009 and introduction of the LARR Bill, 2011 in September, 2011, it initiated the process of consultation only on 29 July, 2011 when the Draft Bill was put on Department of Land Resources (DOLR, http://dolr.nic.in/) &amp;quot;website&amp;quot; for consultations and the comments thereon were sought by 31 August 2011. The Cabinet approved the Draft Bill on 5 September, 2011 and the Bill was introduced in Lok Sabha on 7 September 2011, leaving little time at the disposal of the Government to seriously consider the suggestions received from various stakeholders.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Although the Government was late by over two years in bringing the LARR Bill again they gave little time to the stakeholders, including Central Ministries and State Governments concerned to submit their views and also to consider the same. Consultation by the Standing Committee with the State Governments, some of the Central Ministries concerned like Ministries of Urban Development, Panchayati Raj, Tribal Affairs etc. revealed that that their views are at variance with the DoLR in respect of contents of the Bill. This compelled the Standing Committee to invite suggestions from the general public, industry, farmers, NGO&amp;#39;s, experts, Central Ministries, State Governments etc.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The following key issues having relevance to the provisions of the LARR Bill 2011 came up during discussions held with various stakeholders:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
A. Doctrine of Eminent Domain and Acquisition as &amp;#39;Public Purpose&amp;#39; for private corporations, Public Private Partnerships (PPPs).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
B. Powers of the Central Government vis-&amp;agrave;-vis State Governments in legislation for sale/purchase of land and R &amp;amp; R provisions&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
C. Role of Institutions of self government-established by Parts IX &amp;amp; IX A of the Constitution in land acquisition and R&amp;amp;R&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
D. Applicability of LARR Bill, 2011 in Scheduled Areas (Schedules V and VI of the Constitution)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
E. Special provisions to safeguard Food Security (Clause 10)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
F. Exemption of 16 Central Acts from purview of the Bill (Clause 98 &amp;amp; Fourth Schedule)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Standing Committee report on LARR 2011 has provided the detailed discussion on these above-mentioned issues. The suggestions given by the Committee regarding these issues are being provided here.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;A. Doctrine of Eminent Domain and Acquisition as &amp;ldquo;Public Purpose&amp;rdquo; for Private Corporations, Public-Private Partnerships&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Amendment done to section 4 of the original Land Acquisition Act 1894 in 1984 by inserting the words &amp;ldquo;or for a Company&amp;rdquo; after &amp;ldquo;any public purpose&amp;rdquo; extinguished any differentiation between acquisition for a State purpose and &amp;ldquo;acquisition for a private enterprise&amp;rdquo; or &amp;ldquo;State enterprise&amp;rdquo;. What the Courts could interpret from this amendment is that any notification of acquisition issued under section 4 need not specify whether the acquisition is for a &amp;ldquo;public purpose&amp;rdquo; or for &amp;ldquo;a Company&amp;rdquo;. This move led to massive acquisition of land by the State for Companies.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Standing Committee report has alleged that the LARR Bill, 2011 &amp;ldquo;seeks to permit, and even facilitate, the acquisition of land by the Government for private companies&amp;rdquo;. By agreeing with the Government of India appointed Expert Group Report (under the Chairmanship of D. Bandyopadhyay) on Development Challenges in Extremist Affected Areas, the Committee report has mentioned that displacement of people happened due to large scale acquisitions. The Standing Committee has suggested that &amp;ldquo;instead of reverting to the classical concept of Eminent Domain or diluting it, the present 2011 Bill extinguishes the distinction in the original 1894 Act between acquisition by the State for a State purpose from purchase of land by a Company for a private purpose by including &amp;ldquo;Public Private Partnership projects&amp;rdquo; and &amp;ldquo;private companies&amp;rdquo; in the definition given in clause 2(1)(b) and (c), as well as 3(za)(vi)(B) and 3(za)(vii) respectively, subject only to their producing &amp;ldquo;public goods or the provision of public services&amp;rdquo; and &amp;ldquo;the provision of land in the public interest&amp;rdquo;, it being entirely left to the executive to determine what is the &amp;ldquo;public interest&amp;rdquo; or &amp;ldquo;public goods&amp;rdquo; or &amp;ldquo;public services&amp;rdquo;.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Standing Committee has recommended that land acquisition should not be for use by PPPs and private companies. Public purpose should be limited to state sponsored projects as defined in Clause 3(za)(i) to (vi)(A). The Committee has asked for deleting the provisions relating to acquisition of land for private companies and PPPs [(Clause 3(za)(vi)(B) and (vii)]. The Committee has recommended that Clause 3 (o) (v) which gives wide discretion to the government to define infrastructure projects should be deleted. The Committee has suggested that infrastructure projects should be included in the definition of public purpose.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Committee has rejected those sub-clauses of Clauses 2 and 3 that place wide discretion in the hands of the executive to define &amp;ldquo;public purpose&amp;rdquo; and &amp;ldquo;infrastructure projects&amp;rdquo; for for-profit enterprises. It, therefore, has asked for deletion of Clauses 2(1)(b) &amp;amp; (c), 2(2)(b), 3(o)(v), 3(za)vi)(B) and (vii). It has recommended that all cases of land acquisition must entail obligations for adequate compensation, rehabilitation and resettlement to all land losers and other affected persons.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
While questioning the role of Indian State in carrying out land acquisition for Companies in the name of &amp;ldquo;public purpose&amp;rdquo;, the Standing Committee has given the example of countries like USA, Japan, Canada, EU, Australia etc. where private purchase of land and not State acquisition, is the standard. In most developed countries, there is no provision in the laws for State acquisition of privately held land for profit-making private enterprises or for public-private enterprises, the Committee report argued.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;B. Powers of the Central Government vis-vis State Governments in legislation for sale/purchase of land and R&amp;amp;R provisions&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Clause 2 (2) (a) of the LARR Bill 2011 provides that R&amp;amp;R provisions are mandatory for all private purchases if the land purchased is over 100 acres in rural areas and 50 acres in urban areas. However, the Standing Committee has recommended that since sale and purchase of land is a State subject, State legislatures have the discretion and flexibility on whether there should be R&amp;amp;R and if so prescribe a threshold for R&amp;amp;R provisions. The Committee report said: &amp;quot;State legislatures, bearing in mind the provisions of this Act, may by law provide for R&amp;amp;R provisions on sale/purchase of land. Limits/ceiling for the purpose shall be fixed by respective States keeping in view the availability of the land and density of the population.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;C. Role of Institutions of self government established by Parts IX &amp;amp; IX A of the Constitution in land acquisition and R &amp;amp; R&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Criticizing the provision in the LARR Bill 2011, where the role of Gram Sabha is limited to consultation during the time of land acquisition, the Committee has suggested that the role of local institutions of self-government should be broadened so as to ensure centrality of these institutions in the planning and implementation of the Bill, with a view to making the entire process of land acquisition and R&amp;amp;R participative, transparent and pro-people in accordance with the letter and spirit of Articles 243G and 243W of Parts IX and IXA of the Constitution. Under Articles 243G and 243W of Parts IX and IXA of the Constitution, State legislation is required to specifically empower local institutions of self-government so as to undertake both planning and implementation of &amp;quot;economic development and social justice&amp;quot;. &amp;ldquo;Beyond merely &amp;quot;consulting&amp;quot; Gram Sabhas, consensus or, at least, consent by the majority of Gram Sabha members (or equivalent body in urban areas where these have been constituted) should be obtained in all matters pertaining to LARR&amp;rdquo;, emphasized the Committee report. The decision making process regarding issues such as land acquisition, review of R&amp;amp;R schemes, determination of compensation, and any dispute regarding the compensation awarded should be entrusted on local elected authories. The Committee has recommended that the Expert Group evaluating the Social Impact Assessment (SIA) report should also have one or more members nominated from the affected Gram Sabha.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;D. Applicability of LARR Bill, 2011 in Scheduled Areas&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Standing Committee report has found that the &amp;ldquo;provisions of the LARR Bill 2011 in respect of areas covered under Schedules V and VI of the Constitution have not been dealt with separately but through provisos to some of the clauses besides being mentioned in the Schedules of the Bill, particularly the Second Schedule&amp;rdquo;.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Committee has recommended that alienation of land or land acquisition in Scheduled Areas should be avoided as far as possible. In case of unavoidable land acquisition for public purpose projects, &amp;ldquo;special provision should be made for increased compensation and resettlement and rehabilitation provisions that enforce stricter conditions such as relocation in a similar ecological location, with communities being mandatorily relocated together so as to preserve the economic opportunities, language, culture and community life of the tribal communities&amp;rdquo;. Consent or approval by majority of Gram Sabhas and Autonomous District Councils (ADCs) should be made mandatory in case of land acquisition. Independent and neutral persons should be present in order to watch the proceedings of discussions within the Gram Sabhas/ ADCs so as to ensure that the process of &amp;lsquo;consent seeking&amp;rsquo; is transparent. It has been recommended that PESA provisions must be strictly observed and indicated in all related provisions in the LARR Bill, &amp;ldquo;particular care being taken to ensure that Panchayats at the appropriate level and the Gram Sabhas are specifically endowed with powers to prevent alienation of land and to take appropriate action to restore any unlawfully alienated land, as provided for in Section 4m (iii) of PESA&amp;rdquo;.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;E. Special Provisions to safeguard Food Security (Clause 10)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Provisions under the Clause 10 of the LARR Bill want to protect irrigated and multi-cropped land from land acquisition so as to ensure food security. Only under exceptional circumstances a maximum of five per cent of irrigated multi-cropped land may be acquired in a district with certain conditions such as: &amp;ldquo;whenever multi-crop irrigated land is acquired under sub-section (2), an equivalent area of culturable wasteland shall be developed for agricultural purposes&amp;rdquo;. However, the Standing Committee on LARR Bill 2011 is of the opinion that food security is not confined to producing rice and wheat in irrigated land. Cultivation of nutritional coarse grains, pulses and oilseeds in dryland or rain-fed areas cannot be neglected. Hence the Committee has recommended that &amp;ldquo;in Chapter III, all provisions regarding &amp;ldquo;irrigated multi-cropped land&amp;rdquo; be replaced by &amp;ldquo;any land under agriculture cultivation&amp;rdquo; so as to ensure safeguard for food security in a full measure&amp;rdquo;.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;F. Exemption of Central Acts from Provisions of the Bill [Clause 98 and Fourth Schedule]&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Clause 98 of the LARR Bill 2011 made sure that the proposed Act shall not apply to the land acquisition processed under various Acts in the Fourth Schedule, which are listed below:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
1. The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958.&lt;br /&gt;
2. The Atomic Energy Act, 1962.&lt;br /&gt;
3. The Cantonments Act, 2006.&lt;br /&gt;
4. The Damodar Valley Corporation Act, 1948.&lt;br /&gt;
5. The Indian Tramways Act, 1886.&lt;br /&gt;
6. The Land Acquisition (Mines) Act, 1885.&lt;br /&gt;
7. The Metro Railways (Construction of Works) Act, 1978.&lt;br /&gt;
8. The National Highways Act, 1956.&lt;br /&gt;
9. The Petroleum and Minerals Pipelines (Acquisition of Right of User in Land) Act, 1962.&lt;br /&gt;
10. The Requisitioning and Acquisition of Immovable Property Act, 1952.&lt;br /&gt;
11. The Resettlement of Displaced Persons (Land Acquisition) Act, 1948.&lt;br /&gt;
12. The Special Economic Zones Act, 2005.&lt;br /&gt;
13. The Coal Bearing Areas Acquisition and Development Act, 1957.&lt;br /&gt;
14. The Electricity Act, 2003.&lt;br /&gt;
15. The Railways Act, 1989.&lt;br /&gt;
16. The Works of Defence Act, 1903&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
It has been suggested by various organizations and State Governments during the consultation with the Standing Committee that &amp;ldquo;by keeping out the 16 Central Acts outside the purview of the Bill, under which Central Government acquires land for Central Projects, almost 95 percent of land acquisition would be outside the purview of the Bill&amp;rdquo;. Some of the State Governments complained that while Central Government sought to exempt all Central Acts from the purview of the Bill, they wanted to impose the same on the State Governments. Therefore the Standing Committee has recommended not exempting any of these Central Acts from the purview of LARR Bill. The Committee has suggested that necessary amendments should be brought in these Central Acts so as to bring them at par with the LARR Bill 2011.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Definition of &amp;quot;affected family&amp;quot;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Clause 3 (b) &amp;amp; (c) of the LARR Bill 2011 defined &amp;quot;affected family&amp;quot; to include (i) landowners; (ii) agricultural labourers, tenants who have been working in the affected area for three years prior to the acquisition; (iii) tribals and forest dwellers; (iv) families whose livelihood for the previous three years is dependent on the forests or water bodies; and (v) families who have been given land by the state or central government. The Standing Committee has recommended that within the definition of affected family:&lt;br /&gt;
* &amp;ldquo;Tribals&amp;rdquo; should be substituted by &amp;ldquo;Scheduled tribes&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
* &amp;ldquo;Traditional rights&amp;rdquo; should be substituted by &amp;ldquo;forest rights&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
* &amp;ldquo;Affected people&amp;rdquo; should be substituted with &amp;ldquo;affected family&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
* &amp;ldquo;Three years&amp;rdquo; in the definition should become &amp;ldquo;three years or more&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Clause 3 (m) of the LARR Bill 2011 defined family includes a person, his or her spouse, minor children, minor brothers and sisters dependent on him. The Standing Committee has recommended that widows and divorcees and abandoned women should be considered a separate family.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;R&amp;amp;R entitlements&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
R&amp;amp;R entitlements provided to displaced families under the LARR Bill 2011 include among other things: (i) land for a house as per the Indira Awas Yojana in rural areas or a constructed house of at least 50 square metres plinth area in urban areas; (ii) a one-time allowance of Rs 50,000 for affected families; and (iii) the option of choosing either mandatory employment in projects where jobs are being created or a one-time payment of Rs 5 lakh or an inflation adjusted annuity of Rs 2,000 per month per family for 20 years. The Standing Committee has recommended that the monetary components in the R&amp;amp;R entitlements given in Schedule II in the Bill should be indexed to inflation.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Under the LARR Bill 2011, every resettled area is to be provided with certain infrastructural facilities which include roads, drainage, provision for drinking water, grazing land, banks, post offices, public distribution outlets, etc. However, the Standing Committee has recommended that the infrastructure facilities should be decided on a case by case basis.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Unutilized land &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Clause 95 on unutlized land of the LARR Bill said that if an acquired land is left unutilised for a period of 10 years from the date it was acquired, it shall be returned to the Land Bank or the appropriate government. The Standing Committee has recommended that this period should be reduced to five years and if left unutilised, the land should be returned to the land owners. The Committee has also asked for clearly defining the term Land Bank in the LARR Bill 2011.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Urgency provisions&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The LARR Bill 2011 said that if land is acquired in urgency, an additional 75 percent compensation shall be provided. The Committee asked that in cases of urgency it should be clarified that the extra compensation would be 75 per cent of the total compensation package/ solatium calculated. Under the LARR Bill 2011, if a land is proposed to be acquired under the urgency provisions, a Social Impact Assessment (SIA) may not be conducted. The Committee has recommended that a notice should be issued if SIA is not conducted in an acquisition under the urgency provisions.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Compensation package&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Under the LARR Bill 2011, compensation for the land acquired shall be based on the higher of (a) the minimum land value, specified in the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 for the registration of sale deeds; and (b) the average sale price of the higher priced 50% of all sale deeds registered in the previous 3 years for similar type of land situated in the vicinity. In rural areas, this amount would be doubled. The value of the assets (trees, plants, buildings etc) attached to the land being acquired will be added to this amount. This total amount will then be multiplied by two to get the final compensation amount. In cases of the urgency Clause, additional 75 per cent compensation would be offered.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Standing Committee has recommended that the term &amp;ldquo;market value&amp;rdquo; should replace &amp;ldquo;minimum value&amp;rdquo;. In addition, a multi-member land pricing commission or authority should be constituted by appropriate government to finalize the cost of land acquisition state wise/area wise. Award given for the land acquired should be treated only as compensation and not as a base for circle rate for subsequent acquisitions so as to allay the fears of corporate sector regarding a speculative price spiral. Also, 12 per cent interest per annum should be paid in addition to the compensation from the date of the notification till the date of the award.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;**page**&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;
&lt;div&gt;According to the National Advisory Council 2, &lt;a href=&quot;http://nac.nic.in/press_releases/25_may_2011.pdf&quot;&gt;http://nac.nic.in/press_releases/25_may_2011.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[inside]Suggestions for Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill 2009 &amp;amp; Resettlement and Rehabilitation Bill, 2009[/inside], &lt;a href=&quot;http://nac.nic.in/pdf/working_group_proposal_for_larr.pdf&quot;&gt;http://nac.nic.in/pdf/working_group_proposal_for_larr.pdf&lt;/a&gt;: &amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The NAC has recommended that it is upto the states to decide the extent of percentage of the total land to be acquired by them. In principle, the NAC disagrees with the 70:30 formula.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Acquired land non-performing for five years should be returned to original owners is another recommendation of NAC, which has been also well received.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Giving freedom to the industry to acquire land directly could result in large scale cheating and deception in tribal and poor areas of India.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The NAC has recently asked for consolidating the Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill 2009 and Resettlement and Rehabilitation Bill, 2009 under the title Land Acquisition, Resettlement and Rehabilitation Act, 2011. The NAC wants a combined Bill instead of two separate bills since both the Bills are intrinsically inter-related, and having two separate Bills may lead to possibility of amending one without amending the other, and selective application of provisions of each Act, thereby defeating the purpose of providing justice and relief to those displaced.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Passing of separate bills will set in motion fragmented processes, causing confusion, delays, and therefore avoidable distress and suffering for the people. According to the NAC, a separate R&amp;amp;R Bill won&amp;#39;t be required to address displacement due to natural disasters and communal and caste violence since there are separate laws being enacted for Natural Disasters and Communal Violence.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The NAC thinks that the proposed Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill, 2009 does not explicitly mention the poor, and incorporates infrastructure and strategic interests. It has a provision for state acquisition of land for private for-profit companies. Section 5 of the Land Acquisition (Amendment Act) Bill, 2009 is silent on the nature of public interest proposed and the financial, social and environmental costs and benefits associated with a project.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Compensation&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;div&gt;&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Project Affected Families (PAFs) can make a choice in the way compensation is offered- i.) as a lump-sum amount; ii.) 30% as a lumpsum amount, and the rest as an annuity at the rate of 12% interest escalating every year for 33 years; or iii.) The total value as an annuity at the rate of 12% interest escalating every year, for 33 years. The latter two would be adjusted for inflation by escalating every year by 10%.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Share-croppers, landless labourers, artisans et al should receive ten days&amp;rsquo; minimum wage per month for thirty three years when land is acquired by the State for &amp;lsquo;public purposes&amp;rsquo;.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; For such persons, there would be additional provisions for homestead land, training and employment rehabilitation in the rehabilitation and resettlement package.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The NAC has emphasized that lawfully recorded tenants and sharecroppers should be compensated (and paid solatium) for the parcels of land that they are losing, on an 80%:20% basis with the landowner being given 20%, which should not be less than four times their current income.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; A minimum of 5% shares should be distributed (equitably) free of cost to PAFs (increased by 5% for every additional 100 acres acquired). If the Government is allowed to acquire land, then land owners and non-land owners who depended on that land should enjoy four times their present monthly income after acquisition.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The NAC has proposed that compensation for those who lose land will be six times the registered sale deed value including solatium.&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Rehabilitation and Resettlement&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;div&gt;&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The NAC has demanded transparency, public consulting, and prior informed consent during the process of land acquisition. The legal rights of Project Affected Families (PAFs) to challenge the entitlement cannot be withdrawn as it has been done under R&amp;amp;R Bill, 2009. Section 11 of the R&amp;amp;R Bill, 2009 needs to be amended so that all compensation must be paid and R&amp;amp;R for all affected persons must be completed in all aspects at least 6 months before taking possession.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Section 3(b) (ii) of the R&amp;amp;R Bill, 2009 does not mention the extent to which affected families have been deprived of their primary source of livelihood.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; All individual entitlements, such as land for land (where applicable), housing, employment and training opportunities, should be compulsorily offered to all PAFs irrespective of size of acquisition as per the NAC. Compulsory provisions for land for land are non-negotiable in case of all tribal and dalit families (to discourage acquisition of tribal and dalit land) and all irrigation projects. There should be an authority like the Auditor General of Displacement and Rehabilitation (AG-DR) to find out after 5 or 10 years of displacement as to what is the present condition of those displaced.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Instead of the Government notifying what amenities are to be provided in resettlement sites as per the Section 30 of the R&amp;amp;R 2009 Bill, basic amenities like roads, safe drinking water, hygiene, educational facilities, community hall, and basic irrigation facilities should be present at resettlement sites. Every PAF family (and not just the BPL homeless families) should be given a built house and homestead land title.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Consent of 70 percent of the affected families in a gram sabha before acquisition is compulsory. A National Commission for Land Acquisition, Resettlement and Rehabilitation (NCLRR) should be established to assess extent of displacement based on the Social Impact Assessment (SIA) and and urgency clause for land acquisition should be used for purposes such as defence, national security and safety of lives as per recommendations of the NAC. The SIA would assess the social and environmental impacts from the project, and the R&amp;amp;R plan drawn up.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;According to the [inside]Standing Committee Report on the Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill 2007[/inside]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;http://prsindia.org/uploads/media/Land%20Acquisition/scr1226484896_SC_Report_Land_Acquisition_Bill__2008.pdf&quot;&gt;http://prsindia.org/uploads/media/Land%20Acquisition/scr1226484896_SC_Report_Land_Acquisition_Bill__2008.pdf&lt;/a&gt;: &amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Optimum size of land required for a project needs to be determined so that excessive acquisition of land doesn&amp;#39;t take place.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; There should be some legislation like Forest Conservation Act 1980 so that agricultural land can be protected like forest land.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; There is an urgent need to develop wasteland where agricultural land is acquired.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Since displacement leads to traumatic psychological and socio-cultural consequences, multiple displacements of affected families need to be avoided.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; States should declare the area where the tribals are rehabilitated as Scheduled Area. Land rights of tribals and forest dwellers should be recognized as per the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 so that they are compensated and rehabilitated during the process of land acquisition.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The details of the property to be acquired viz. khasra numbers in rural areas and quarter number in urban areas should be identified and widely publicized through prominent local English, Hindi and regional language newspapers. There is a need to avoid complications arising due to inadequacy of communicating the intent of acquisition through notification especially in hilly, tribal and remote areas. In order to circulate notification on rehabilitation and resettlement, the Government should rely on newspapers in local vernacular.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Affected persons should be provided 60 days from the date of publication of the notification to object to the acquisition of land.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Social Impact Assessment study should be done for all projects that displace physically more than 400 families in plain and 200 families in hilly, tribal and scheduled areas (same as NAC recommendation).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Highest price of sale deed as indicated in the sale deeds of the last three years plus 50 per cent of the said highest price should be the criteria for assessing and determining the market value of the land. For tribal areas, the highest price of a sale deed of the adjoining non-tribal blocks/ village for the last three years plus 50 per cent should be the criteria for assessing and determining the market value of land.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Non agricultural land having valuable mineral resources underneath should be properly evaluated for granting compensation.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; A share of the economic benefits earned due to setting up a project in a land, which is acquired should go to the affected families.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Issue of shares and debentures as part of the compensation is impractical and as such issue of shares and debentures should be over and above the admissible compensation. The rate of solatium should be increased from thirty per centum on market value to sixty per centum on market value.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Land Acquisition Compensation Disputes Settlement Authorities (a kind of Ombudsman) at the Centre and State level should be created for the disposal of disputes, which remain pending in the courts of law.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Record of large tracts of unutilized land available with various Ministries needs to be kept before further land acquisition.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
**page**&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;According to [inside]A CITIZENS REPORT CARD ON SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONES[/inside] prepared by civil society organization, South Asia Citizens&amp;#39; web:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sacw.net/IMG/pdf/CITIZENSREPORTONSEZs.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.sacw.net/IMG/pdf/CITIZENSREPORTONSEZs.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;THE NUMBERS&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Total amount of land to be acquired across India: 150,000 hectares (the area of National Capital Region). This land - predominantly agricultural and typically multicropped - is capable of producing close to 1 million tons of foodgrains. If SEZs are seen to be successful in the future and more cultivated land is acquired, they will endanger the food security of the country.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The latest available statistics on Special Economic Zones show that the Board of Approvals at the Ministry of Commerce, the central body authorised to clear SEZ proposals, has approved 578 SEZs of which 315 have been notified.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * An analysis of figures up to 8th December 2008 displays a continuation of the pattern which has been evident since SEZ Act in 2005.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * As of December 2008 the Central government gave formal approvals to a staggering 552 SEZs in 19 states; 272 of these have been notified. (As of April 2009 the total number of Formal approvals was 578 and notified SEZs were 330)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * With the significant economic slow-down towards the end of 2008 for the first time we started to see companies applying to de-register/denotify SEZs and it remains to be seen what the net effect will be.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The overwhelming part of SEZs continues to be in information technology and related industries. 181 notified SEZs exist for IT companies representing 66% of the total number of SEZs. Additionally there are 341 formally approved and 11 in-principle approvals.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * With all the different SEZs taken together at various stages of approval the IT sector still accounts for more than half at 55% of the total. The second largest sector will be multi-product with 9% of the all zones.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Andhra Pradesh tops the list of notified SEZs with 57, followed by Tamil Nadu on 44 and Maharashtra on 43.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Maharashtra has the most SEZs waiting to be notified however with 104 formally approved and 34 in principle, compared to AP&amp;#39;s 99 and 2 respectively and Tamil Nadu&amp;#39;s 66 and 18.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * These three states thus account for almost half of all the SEZs in the country. The share is especially significant among the already notified SEZs with 144 out of the total 274.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Even more imbalanced is the spread of SEZs when one considers the locations within each state. 48 out of the 99 formally approved SEZs in Andhra Pradesh are in or close to Hyderabad, while 34 of 66 formally approved are similarly in or close to Chennai.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The main number of SEZs can thus easily be characterised as being in the IT-sector and in one of primarily Western or Southern cities.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * This said, almost every state has tried to get a couple of SEZs to be established within their territories includingtiny Dadra &amp;amp; Haveli&amp;#39;s 4, and Pondicherry&amp;#39;s 1 formally approved zones.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * 53 multiproduct SEZs are at the in principle approval stage meaning they might soon become formally notified. These are the zones which require really large areas of land and have been contentious on the issue of displacement.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Recently the rule preventing larger SEZs than 5,000 hectares was lifted which lead the Adani group to apply for and get granted a merger between the 3 zones of (4498 + 2658 + 2648 hectares) it had created next to each other at Mundra in Gujarat to avoid the land ceiling&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Among the actually operating SEZs the biggest ones apart from the Mundra zone(s) in Gujarat is APIIC 2,206 ha SEZ in Visakhapatnam and the Kakinada SEZ 1,035 ha both in Andhra Pradesh and the Navi Mumbai SEZ 1,223 ha in Maharashtra&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * With the many really large multi-product SEZs in the In Principle category these cover an area of 1.22 lakh hectares, or 869 hectares per SEZ on average.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;ISSUES OF CONCERN&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 1. Large scale requirement of land and Forced Acquisition of Land - India is almost unique in its concept of creating SEZs on demand: i.e. the location, size and nature of the zone is explicitly determined not by state economic policy but by the demands of private capital.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 2. Despite issuing of guidelines by the Ministry of Commerce and the EGoM, that no forced acquisition of land will take place for private SEZs on 15th June 2007, nearly all states are using the Land Acquisition Act 1894 to acquire the land for developers of SEZs and that too in the absence of any provision for rehabilitation&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 3. In some states like Tamil Nadu and AP the governments are even using the urgency clause - 17/4 of the LAA to acquire land compulsorily.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 4. It is argued that much of the land being diverted for SEZs is already available with the State Industrial development Corporations (IDCs). While this is a fact, it needs to be specified that in many cases lands which had previously been acquired by IDCs and are now being transferred to SEZ developers also used the Land Acquisition Act.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 5. These sales are obviously at much higher rates than their original acquisition price from the farmers.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 6. The issue of compensation at market value, even to land owners is meaningless as the scales are heavily weighed in favor of private buyers and Government owned Industrial corporations, who are the informed negotiators in deciding the package&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Landless and Agricultural labourers displaced without compensation-&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 1. Almost 80% of the agricultural population in India owns only about 17% of the total agriculture land, making them near-landless workers. Far more families and communities depend on a piece of land (for work, grazing) than those who own it outright. However, compensation is being discussed only for those who hold titles to land. No compensation has been planned for those who do not.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 2. In states like Gujarat a large part of the land being diverted to SEZs is in the category of common or gowcher land (referred to wrongly as&amp;#39;wasteland&amp;#39;).Since these lands are &amp;#39;common lands&amp;#39; with no individual titles, they are transferred without even consulting the local communities and panchayats.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 3. Temple or Panchami land in Tamil Nadu and Waqf board lands in Andhra Pradesh are other examples of Public lands that have been expropriated and privatised for SEZs.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 4. The most outrageous acquisitions are taking place in Andhra Pradesh which has the highest number of SEZ approvals, in the form of acquiring assigned lands (allotted to Dalits and Scheduled Tribes) for SEZs. . This has been seen clearly in places like Polepally, Kakinada, Chittoor and Anantapur where SEZs are proposed.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Destruction of Agro-based and rural economies-&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 1. The bulk of land being acquired for SEZs is fertile, agricultural land, especially in case of the multi-product zones. Agriculture Scientists have estimated that close to 1.14 lakh farming households (each household on an average comprising five members) and an additional 82,000 farm worker families who are dependent upon these farms for their livelihoods, will be displaced.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 2. The total loss of income to the farming and the farm worker families, then, is an astounding Rs.212-crore a year. These were the estimates in 2006 after the initial SEZ approvals which are now multiplied three-fold.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Creation of exploitative employment opportunities and working conditions resulting from nullification of labour protection laws -&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The SEZ policy of the government transfers all the powers of the state Labor Commissioner to the Development Commissioners of the SEZs.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The power in the hands of the development Commissioner to declare SEZs as &amp;quot;public utility services&amp;quot; under the Industrial Disputes Act would mean that in SEZ areas workers will have no rights to strike or even to form unions and organize collectively to bargain for better wages or working conditions.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;ECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The Ministry of Finance conducted a study, and came up with the figures that the cumulative revenue loss from tax holidays to SEZs over the period 2004-05 to 2009-10 is estimated to be 1,75,487 Cr.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The Ministry of Finance conducted a study, and came up with the figures that the cumulative revenue loss from tax holidays to SEZs over the period 2004-05 to 2009-10 is estimated to be 1,75,487 Cr.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * In its performance audit-report on indirect taxes for Union Government tabled in parliament on 11 March 2008, the CAG brought 370 SEZ units under scanner with a limited objective to verify if they had complied with existing Customs Act, Rules, notifications etc. The review brought out systemic as well as compliance weaknesses that caused lost revenues to the tune of Rs.246.72 crores.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Stated objectives remain unfulfilled?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce has admitted that 40% of the SEZs approved may never really &amp;quot;take off the ground&amp;quot; (Panos-Kalpavriksh media dialogue on SEZs -December 2008). Additionally the figures of 3.5 lakhs employment and 90,000 crores investment generated by SEZs are being questioned on their authenticity and efficacy since these have to be established through a detailed and independent evaluation.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Further the conditions of contract labour in SEZs are the most pathetic. Wages in existing SEZs are often below minimum. Sen and Dasgupta in a May 2007 survey found that in the NOIDA SEZ workers were getting Rs.80 a day for 9 hours of work. Likewise in Falta in West Bengal.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Indian policy has very little regulation on the activity within a zone. Notwithstanding claims of export-orientation, the only requirement imposed on SEZ units is a vague need for them to have a &amp;lsquo;positive net foreign exchange balance.&amp;#39; Even that only applies to industrial units in the zone. If the goal of SEZs is indeed exports surely a more stringent clause than merely &amp;quot;positive net foreign exchange&amp;quot; for the SEZ as a whole ought to be applied.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * It needs to be mentioned further that a great recession in the world economy is not a good omen for promoting SEZs, which will produce for an increasingly shrinking and protected export market. Also, it&amp;#39;s not specified what happens to a developer whose SEZ does not meet the export requirement.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Just like it&amp;#39;s not specified what the procedure for denotification is. The recession - and the accompanying demand for denotification by developers like DLF (SEZs) is exposing this loophole. In such cases what happens to the land? Will it be returned to farmers? If so, how?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The SEZ Act (Section 9, 11, 12 and 31) takes power back to the center and bureaucracy (by creating &amp;#39;Board of Approvals&amp;#39; and &amp;#39;Development Commissioner&amp;#39; and &amp;lsquo;SEZ Authority&amp;#39;, whose accountability is not certain.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The fact that the SEZs would have their own regulations, the rights for environmental and labour related clearances, security arrangements, means that they would be &amp;#39;self contained privatized autonomous entities&amp;#39;, where existing constitutional rights would be difficult to exercise.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The creation of separate courts for SEZs ridicules the existing judicial system. There is no clarity about how elections will be conducted, and what happens to the governing authority of the Gram Sabha/ Municipality, under the 73rd/74th amendments.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * There is no transparency in the guidelines formulated for selection, modification and rejection of SEZ proposals by the BoA.The Chairman of the Administrative reforms committee, M Veerappa Moily&amp;#39;s report on SEZs states that &amp;#39;We need to restructure the Board of Approval by putting in people who are objective and can take a balanced view.&amp;#39;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The Commerce Ministry had made public announcements of various studies/ comparison of SEZ with other countries. Mr. Kirit Somaya filed an RTI regarding this, and in the answer that was given stated - &amp;quot;study of export of nearby countries of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka was done. No other studies or scientific analysis available.&amp;quot;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The SEZ Act was passed in haste without much public debate.In both houses of Indian Democracy has passed this bill was passed within a day (10th and 11th May 2005) with virtually no discussion, undermining many of the objections that were raised.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Further, information that has been demanded from the Ministry of Commerce on the approved projects under the RTI Act, 2005 has been denied on the clause of maintaining &amp;quot;trade secrets&amp;quot;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * There is great deal of ambiguity and contradictions when one compares how environment clearances are dealt with in the EIA notification and the SEZ legislations.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * While it is units with the SEZs which are exempt from Environment Clearance public hearings, the SEZs itself are required to under go public hearing. However, there are cases like the Mundra SEZ where the Ministry of Environment has recommended that Public Hearing be exempted for the creation of the Multi Product SEZ.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;The CAG report on the Goa Industrial Development Corporation, referred to the Government of India in June 2008, concluded (direct quotes):&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Corporation deviated from its established role, of acquiring and allotting land directly to the entrepreneur, by allotting land to developers for further allotments by them&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Allotments were made without any transparent selection procedures&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Allotments to SEZs were made without publicising, that too before the State Government formulated its SEZ policy&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Land acquired for small and medium scale industries under IGC (Industrial Growth Centre) Scheme was allotted to SEZ violating GOI guidelines&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Revision of premium rate of Verna Phase IV (industrial estate proposed to house SEZs) only after major chunk was allotted at lower rate, tentatively fixed, resulted in loss of Rs. 36.89 crore&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Allotment of land contiguous to the land allotted to four SEZs at lesser rate resulted in loss of Rs. 39.47 crore&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Allotment of 14.36 lakh square metre land to two SEZ developers without adopting approved formula resulted in loss of Rs 17.76 crore&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;(Source: The Comptroller and Auditor General of India, Goa State Report, Chapter VII Government Commercial and Trading Activities)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;POINTS RAISED BY PARLIAMENTARY STANDING COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 1. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce of the previous government under the Chairman ship of Murli Manohar Joshi submitted its 83rd report on the &amp;#39;Functioning of SEZs&amp;#39; to the parliament on 20th June 2007.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 2. The most critical recommendation made by the committee included the need to &amp;#39;pause and ponder&amp;#39;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 3. The report clearly expressed concern about the fast pace at which approvals have been granted by the BoA despite apprehensions raised from all quarters.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 4. Parliamentary Standing committee slammed the Ministry of Commerce on the ground that at the time of the release of the 83rd report there were 152 formal approvals and 82 notifications by the Board of Approvals and there was no effort to put a halt on the approvals despite the committee&amp;#39;s recommendation to hold approvals till amendments were put in place.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 5. By the time the ATR was presented in the Rajya Sabha the total number of approved SEZs had crossed 500. The MoC has merely stated that it was in the process of getting a &amp;#39;scientific evaluation&amp;#39; done on the performance and impacts of SEZs.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 6. Most importantly the report criticised the escalation of displacement as a result of the large SEZs leading to displacement and speculation in many situations.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 7. Some of the other recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee which were brushed aside by the Ministry of Commerce in the ATR include:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 8. Region wise cap on the SEZ approvals to allow for balanced regional development of SEZs.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 9. Imposition of restrictions on unnecessary social infrastructure Linking of fiscal incentives to exports&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp; 10. Tax concessions in SEZs are similar to STPs and EoUs - then why is there are a need for SEZs?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp; 11. Re-look at delegation of Labour Commissioner&amp;#39;s powers to the Development Commissioner&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp; 12. 83rd report of the parliamentary standing committee on commerce &amp;#39;on the functioning of Special Economic Zones&amp;#39;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;**page**&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;FOR MORE PLEASE CLICK THE LINKS LISTED BELOW&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Paper presented at the National Seminar on &amp;#39;Special Economic Zones: Engines of Growth and Social Development for India: Present Problems and Future Prospects&amp;#39; (16 - 17 October &amp;#39;08 at Hyderabad) organised by the Department of Sociology, Osmania University.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sacw.net/article574.html&quot;&gt;http://www.sacw.net/article574.html&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;SEZ Act-2005&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cnisbss.org/Newsline/PDF/SEZ/SEZ%20Act,%202005.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.cnisbss.org/Newsline/PDF/SEZ/SEZ%20Act,%202005.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Fact Sheet on Special Economic Zones by GOI- MINISTRY OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://sezindia.nic.in/writereaddata/updates/FACT%20sheet.pdf&quot;&gt;http://sezindia.nic.in/writereaddata/updates/FACT%20sheet.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;List of operational SEZs&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://sezindia.nic.in/writereaddata/pdf/ListofoperationalSEZs.pdf&quot;&gt;http://sezindia.nic.in/writereaddata/pdf/ListofoperationalSEZs.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;List of Formal Approvals granted under the SEZ Act,2005 &lt;a href=&quot;http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp&quot;&gt;http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;In principle approvals granted under the SEZ Act, 2005- &lt;a href=&quot;http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp&quot;&gt;http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Statewise distribution of SEZs approved under the SEZ, Act, 2005- &lt;a href=&quot;http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp&quot;&gt;http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Sectorwise distribution of SEZs approved under the SEZ Act, 2005- &lt;a href=&quot;http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp&quot;&gt;http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;[inside]A critique of the National Policy for Rehabilitation and Resettlement (2007)[/inside] by Priyanca Mathur Velath,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;amp;do_pdf=1&amp;amp;id=7235&quot;&gt;http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;amp;do_pdf=1&amp;amp;id=7235&lt;/a&gt; show&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; *&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt; On October 11, 2007, the Union Government announced the National Policy for Rehabilitation and Resettlement 2007 (NPRR 2007), replacing the National Policy on Resettlement and Rehabilitation for Project-Affected Families, 2003.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The new policy fails to examine the process of displacement, which is taken for granted. The draft makes no attempt to question the need for displacement in the first place, or to seek out and actively promote non-displacing or least-displacing alternatives.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The timing and true intention of the new policy along with govt.&amp;#39;s declaration to amend the outdated Land Acquisition Act of 1894 are suspect.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Attempt to redefine the &amp;lsquo;public purpose&amp;#39; under the amendment to the land acquisition act actually favours private interest and big companies over the poor and marginalised.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Under the 2007 policy it has become simpler to required land for big companies as well as strategic and public infrastructure projects.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * &amp;#39;Public purpose&amp;#39; has been redefined to allow the state government to acquire land for a private company, association or body of individuals, provided it is &amp;#39;useful for general public&amp;#39;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * &amp;#39;Land for land&amp;#39; principle in the 2007 policy suffers from ambiguity, as land is being offered as compensation but &amp;#39;to the extent that government land is available in resettlement areas&amp;#39;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The policy outlines a number of benefits such as scholarships for the education of eligible people from affected families; preference for groups of cooperatives of affected persons in the allotment of contracts and other economic opportunities in and around the project site; housing benefits to landless affected families in both rural and urban areas; and wage employment to willing affected persons in construction work on the project. But the &amp;lsquo;employment guarantee&amp;#39; to one person from each nuclear family is &amp;lsquo;subject to the availability&amp;#39; of vacancies and &amp;lsquo;suitability of the affected person&amp;#39;. Such qualifying clauses as &amp;quot;if available&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;as far as possible&amp;quot; are widely used by project authorities and policymakers to shirk responsibility.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Conducting a Social Impact Assessment (SIA) has been made mandatory in the policy, but only if more than 400 families have been displaced in the plains areas and 200 in tribal, hilly and other scheduled areas. Why is the SIA mandatory only in projects above a certain size?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * There are provisions in the 2007 policy to introduce a Land Acquisition Compensation Settlement Authority (at the local level, removed from normal civil courts, to assist quick disposal of cases involving compensation disputes), a standing relief and rehabilitation authority at the district level, an ombudsman at the state level (to monitor rehabilitation under any project), a national monitoring committee and national monitoring cell (for effective monitoring of implementation of resettlement plans, with which state governments will have to share information) and a national rehabilitation commission (which will be empowered to exercise independent oversight over the rehabilitation and resettlement of affected families). Aggrieved persons can appeal to the high court and above against settlements decided by the Land Acquisition Compensation Settlement Authority. But the policy does not answer the crucial question as to whether these committees and commissions are empowered to stop a project from proceeding if there are indeed any discrepancies or issues of inadequate resettlement.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Resettlement rights must be guaranteed before any project begins and, in the event of faulty or inadequate resettlement, the project should be stopped from proceeding any further and the project developers held accountable. NPRR 2007 does not address any of these issues; nor does it give displaced persons &amp;lsquo;first rights&amp;#39; over the benefits of the project in question.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Positive points about the National Policy for Rehabilitation and Resettlement:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * This policy makes an important announcement that land acquired by the government will revert to the government in case the proposed project does not take off within five years of the acquisition. Since land is often acquired in excess of what is needed and later handed over to the developers for extraneous purposes like building hotels, parks and golf courses, this new clause is a positive one.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Another creditable clause in the new policy is that if the land is sold after the project has taken off, 80% of the net profit earned from the sale goes to the original landowner. Also, that land acquired for &amp;lsquo;public purpose&amp;#39; cannot be changed to any other purpose.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;The study by Planning Commission titled [inside]Dams, Displacement, Policy and Law in India[/inside],&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/art_dam.pdf&quot;&gt;http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/art_dam.pdf&lt;/a&gt; show:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * With the adoption of policies for planned development after freedom in India, a major priority for policymakers was the harnessing of the country&amp;#39;s water resources for irrigation and power. Large storage works such as the Bhakra, the Hirakud, the Tungabhadra and the Damodar Valley Dams were amongst the earliest projects undertaken in the post-Independence period in the country.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * A formidable body of independent empirical research into many of these large dams has established how their social, human and environmental costs have been ignored or grossly understated in the planning of these projects. Of the very many neglected costs of the big dams, some of the most grave are the social and human consequences of displacement.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * There are no reliable official statistics of the numbers of people displaced by large projects since Independence. Many researchers place their estimates between 10 and 25 million. In an influential 1989 study, Fernandes, Das and Rao provide an estimate of some 21 million displaced persons. Scholar-administrator Dr. N. C. Saxena, places his estimate of persons displaced by big projects since 1947 at nearly double this figure - 50 million.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * From the inception of planning of most projects, through various stages of displacement and resettlement, it is to be expected that those likely to be negatively affected by the projects would be consulted and kept informed in such a way as to enable them to best rebuild their ravaged lives. This, however, is very far from being the case. The studies have revealed that the level of information that the oustees had regarding the dam, submergence and subsequent displacement due to them, is lamentably low.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * It is only in recent years that, chiefly under the impact of people&amp;#39;s movements, project authorities, state governments and international funding agencies have accepted responsibility for rehabilitation-one that extends beyond the payment of monetary compensation for expropriated individual assets and the provision of house sites. This neglect of rehabilitation assumes the gravest aspect when seen in relation to older projects, particularly those that commenced or were concluded in the first three decades after Independence.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * It has been observed that the driving objective of project authorities has not been to prepare and assist the families to relocate and to make a gradual and less painful transition to their new habitats. Instead frequently the only objective is to vacate the submergence zone of what are perceived to be its human encumbrances, with the brute force of the state if necessary. The evacuation of the villages was carried out with brutal insensitivity towards the feelings of the villagers who, not unnaturally, were bewildered and distressed at being forced out of their homes.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Resettlement sites are often inhospitable in a number of ways and their locations are selected without reference to availability of livelihood opportunities, or the preferences of displaced persons themselves.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * With the destruction of community and social bonds, the displaced are mired in anomie and a profound sense of loneliness and helplessness. The inflow of money creates greater pressure on family bonds. The outcomes are psychological pathologies and alcoholism, common among displaced populations.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Arguably the most culpable aspect of state-induced impoverishment of displaced populations is the phenomenon of multiple displacements. It has been documented, for instance, that as a direct result of the lack of co-ordination between the multiplicity of irrigation, thermal power and coal-mining agencies in Singrauli, most oustees have been displaced at least twice, and some three or four times in a matter of two or three decades.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * A frequently neglected, but extremely serious problem, is the unwillingness of host populations to accept resettled oustees in their midst.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The vast majority of tribal people displaced by big projects face danger of extinction as traditionally they depend more on natural resources. They are pushed inexorably into a vortex of increasing assetlessness, unemployment, debt-bondage and hunger.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Any loss of access to traditional sources of livelihood - land, forest, sea, river, pasture, cattle or saltpan land - marginalizes women on the labour market. Women not only suffered in terms of health and nutrition, they also lost the capacity to provide a secure future for their children.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Another extremely vulnerable group of oustees is oustees without land, including landless agricultural workers. The only legal reparation to displaced persons recognised by the statutes in India is compensation for loss of assets that are compulsorily acquired by the state for what the state designates as a `public purpose&amp;#39;. However a landless family dependent on the acquired land for their livelihood may be most severely pauperised by the displacement because it loses its only source of economic survival. However, the law and most ehabilitation policies still do not recognise this profound vulnerability.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;[inside]Opposition to Big Dams: Lessons for Policy[/inside]&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Even before Independence, there were instances of anti-dam struggles such as the one led by Senapati Bapat in opposition to the Mulshi hydroelectric project in the Western Ghats.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The first large river valley project in India, Hirakud, resulted in widespread protests in 1946 after the initial notifications. People also launched a struggle against the Rihand project in 1963-64. However, such early protests could not be sustained, partly because of their failure to attract larger alliances, under the overwhelming influence of the nationalist rhetoric of nation-building that accompanied the construction of large dams in India.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The success of the mobilisation against the Silent Valley project, resulting in the decision to shelve the project in 1983, led to a new phase in the history of resistance to big dams in India.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Other notable early struggles against big dams were local movements opposed to the Suvarnarekha, Koel Karo and Srisailam projects.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The most celebrated protest movement against big dams so far has centred around the mega Sardar Sarovar Project on the river Narmada. A number of protest groups gathered under the leadership of activist Medha Patkar and in 1988, local resistance organisations federated into a common platform known as the Narmada Bachao Andolan (Save the Narmada Movement).&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * A significant development has been the revival of struggles by people displaced by dams completed years ago, such as on the Bargi (completed 1990), Koyna (1964), Tawa (1975) and Mahi-Kadana (1978). We have already noted the success at Bargi and Tawa to secure fishing rights for cooperative societies of oustees in the dam reservoirs.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * By ensuring that these voices are heard, these movements have succeeded in compelling governments, both central and state, and powerful funding agencies like the World Bank, to rethink their policies on displacement and rehabilitation.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Opponents of big dams have argued that big dams are part of a development strategy that intrinsically impoverishes and disempowers the poor. The opponents to big dams in India have also challenged the dominant orthodoxy that development,especially state-induced development, by necessity entails the human costs of displacement or involuntary resettlement.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Another important issue in the debate around big dams in India is the question of whether the state should retain the power to compulsorily acquire private land for development projects without the consent of the owner or owners of such land.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The next issue in the debate is the nature and extent of state responsibility for the rehabilitation of the displaced. It is chiefly under the impact of people&amp;#39;s movements, supported by painstaking empirical social science research, that the state has in recent times acknowledged that its responsibility for rehabilitation to extend beyond the payment of market value for compulsorily acquired assets. However, the state in India has continued to resist the laying down of the nature of its precise responsibilities for rehabilitation in the form of even a comprehensive policy statement, let alone legislating the right to rehabilitation as a legally enforceable right.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Displacement and Rehabilitation: Suggested Directions for Policy&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Objectives of any just and equitable law and policy dealing with the colossal social and human impacts of big dams cannot be limited only to minimising the trauma of displacement, and ensuring the just resettlement of the victims of displacement. It must incorporate the objective to end, or severely curtail, displacement itself, to no longer accept state-induced involuntary resettlement as an inevitable cost of all development projects. It must enable people to effectively challenge as equal partners, a form of development which takes for granted the inevitability of displacement.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * It is incumbent upon the government before the launching of the project to justify that in the light of various technical and locational options, this is the least displacing alternative available. This claim should also be justiciable.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * It is imperative that the population likely to be affected by the acquisition be involved in the process from the time that decisions are sought to be made about where a project is to be located. They should be given full information to help them participate in decisions about whether the stated purpose is a public purpose; to explore options which may be less displacing; to work out the costs it involves for them; ando find out how they may gain from the process of change that the acquisition will bring.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Another institutional mechanism to limit displacement is to ensure that in the planning of any project the social and human costs are more accurately assessed and internalised in the cost-benefit analysis of the project.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Compensation, Resettlement and Rehabilitation&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The policy of rehabilitation must contain safeguards for detailed advance planning for rehabilitation.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * All persons whose source of livelihood, place of residence or other property is affected notwithstanding the legal status enjoyed by them in relation to the concerned location of the resource base for their livelihood and subsistence, shall be deemed to be project affected persons (PAPs).&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * If the guiding principle of rehabilitation is that displaced persons should become better off than they were in the past, one proviso that needs to be firmly embedded in the law is that compensation must be paid not at market but at replacement value.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The second guiding principle for assessment and payment of compensation should be that it is not only the loss of assets but also, far more significantly, the loss of livelihoods that must be compensated.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * A third guiding principle is that any displaced person must be fully compensated before displacement from land, house or livelihood is executed.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * If the objectives of rehabilitation of persons displaced as a result of large dams is to ensure that they are not only better off, but are direct project beneficiaries, then at the heart of such a strategy must be a policy of replacing agricultural land and agriculture-based livelihoods with alternate agricultural land of viable size and productivity and with appropriate complements of credit and input assistance.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Simultaneously, the scope for complementary non land-based livelihoods should also be explored along with land-based strategies. One such livelihood opportunity that is always created as a by-product of any large dam project is fresh-water fishing in the large reservoir.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The resettlement sites for displaced tribal families should be selected with great care and in consultation with the traditional/elected leaders or representatives of the displaced families as well as host populations, and established local NGOs. Efforts should be made to ensure that all tribal families of ousted villages are resettled together in a particular area.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Women headed households or single women should not be discriminated against in eligibility for benefits.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Still we are left with the most difficult issue of displaced persons from older dams. It has been estimated that as many as 3 out of every 4 persons displaced by big dams in India have been rendered worse off than they were before. Some reparation must be made, some attempt to rebuild so many millions of broken lives.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;The study titled [inside]Environment of Land Diversion, Displacement and Rehabilitation: A Study of Indian SEZs[/inside], &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf&lt;/a&gt; show:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * India has adopted the policy of promoting the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) for faster industrial development. It needs about 50,000 hectares of agricultural land for SEZs and 1.49 lakh hectares for all projects which include also industrial, mining, irrigation and infrastructural projects.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Farmers in many parts of the country are resisting for land diversion and acquisition for these purposes.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Land especially agricultural land in India, is a very delicate subject and has been an emotional issue ever since the Zamindari days. Land is livelihood of millions of people. Not only the immediate owners of the land are affected because of land shifting, but also share-croppers or daily wage labourers who forgo their living through a scant, but reasonably reliable source of income.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * While acquiring the land the government agency normally fixes the market value of land much below the prevailing rate in the open market.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * India ratified the ILO Indigenous and Tribal Populations Convention, 1957 in 1958. This Convention deals primarily with the protection and integration of indigenous, tribal and semi-tribal groups. The Convention provides that where as an exceptional measure tribal groups are removed from their land they should be provided with lands of quality at least equal to that of the lands previously occupied by them. It goes on to provide that they should be compensated for any &amp;quot;resulting injury or loss&amp;quot;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The UN Guiding Principles on Internally Displaced Persons, 1998 is meant to serve as an international standard to guide governments as well as international humanitarian and development agencies in providing assistance and protection to IDPs. They provide protection against arbitrary displacement, offer a basis for protection and assistance during displacement, and set forth guarantees for safe return, resettlement and reintegration.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The Land Acquisition Act, 1894 of India is the primary legislation that provides for acquisition of land. But this Act has been criticized &amp;quot;for considering land only as a commodity generating income&amp;quot;. However, when a family is settled on a piece of land not only does it earn its livelihood from it but it also has a whole social network.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2007 puts provisions for &amp;quot;rehabilitation and resettlement of persons affected by acquisition of land under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894&amp;quot; or due to any other legislation by the Central or State governments or involuntary displacement due to any other reason. The Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 6 December 2007 and has since been referred to the Standing Committee on Rural Development.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * National Rehabilitation and Resettlement Policy, 2007 came in order to solve issues arising out of policies of economic liberalization/de-regularization. The NRRP, 2007 has come into force from Oct. 2007. The new policy is applicable to all affected persons and families whose land, property or livelihood are adversely affected by land acquisition or by involuntary displacement of a permanent nature due to any other reason.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Now, by and large there is unanimity that no development can be accepted at the cost of social equity. Land acquisition needs total reform and rehabilitation package. Land owners, should get adequate compensation of their land.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;According to the study titled: [inside]Large Dam Projects and Displacement in India[/inside], &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The government of India does not have figures of people displaced by large dams. This fact is the biggest sign of the fact that displacement and resettlement of people is the least concern of large dam builders.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * India is the third largest dam builder country in the world. It now has over 3600 large dams and over 700 more under construction.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The large dams are the single largest cause of displacement in India.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * A World Bank review of the status of displacement and rehabilitation has shown that the displacement of as many as 0.6 million people across 192 projects had not been accounted for in project planning. In at least one instance, the number of people actually displaced was seven times the number stated in the project documents.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Often only reservoir displacement is taken into account. Whereas Large dam projects can displace people in a number of ways including due to colonies, due to canals, downstream impacts, catchment area treatment, compensatory afforestation, secondary displacement (at resettlement colonies, for example) and due to related conservation schemes like sanctuaries and national parks.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Displacement due to dams in India has been variously estimated. Fernandes, Das &amp;amp; Rao (1989) claimed that Indians displaced by dam projects numbered 21 million.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Available estimates of people displaced by large and medium dams in India show that the 140 dams for which such figures are available, have displaced over 4.4 million people.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;The study titled [inside]Right to displace, but no duty to rehabilitate (A critique of the Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2007)[/inside].&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.indiatogether.org/2008/jan/law-resettle.htm&quot;&gt;http://www.indiatogether.org/2008/jan/law-resettle.htm&lt;/a&gt; shows:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The bill seems to be based on the premise that the acquiring land for a &amp;#39;public purpose&amp;#39; is a right by the state under its powers of eminent domain, but it accepts no duty to resettle and rehabilitate all the affected citizens. Instead, rehabilitation is presented as an act of benevolence.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2007 seeks to &amp;quot;provide for the rehabilitation and resettlement of persons affected by the acquisition of land for projects of public purpose or involuntary displacement due to any other reason&amp;quot;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The bill came at a time when concerted efforts were about to begin made by both the central and state governments to increase economic activity through the deployment of domestic and foreign private capital on a gigantic scale in new infrastructure and industry.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The history of large scale land acquisition and consequent displacement goes back to the 1950s, when the newly independent republic embarked on large state owned projects for irrigation, power, steel and heavy engineering that were meant to occupy the &amp;#39;towering heights of the economy&amp;#39;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Land for even such gigantic projects was (and continues to be) acquired using the coercive powers provided by the colonial Land Acquisition Act. It narrowly defined persons affected by an acquisition to be either land owners or occupiers (tenants), and limited compensation to purely monetary terms.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Even those who were compensated monetarily were hard put to replace their lost land assets and regain their means of livelihood. In the absence of any rehabilitation plan, people displaced by Hirakud dam project occupied whatever open lands they could locate. These lands were not legally theirs, making them vulnerable to constant harassment by officials.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The Narmada Sardar Sarovar project is illustrative of how things have changed over the last six decades. Struggle against displacement by the PAPs led by Narmada Bachao Andolan contributed immensely to change the discourse of the development and displacement.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * But the experience of the Sardar Sarovar and many other projects over the last 60 years reveals the inadequacy of R&amp;amp;R policy - at the project, company, state or even national level- to address the legal neglect of displacement and the rights of the affected people, particularly those without land or tenancy.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * These are some of the issues that came under debate as the Rehabilitation and Resettlement bill 2007 was introduced.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The bill prescribes conditions for project affected families to qualify as beneficiaries and makes the benefits themselves conditional on external circumstances.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Under the provisions of the bill, an area will be notified as an &amp;#39;affected area&amp;#39; &amp;quot;where the appropriate Government is of the opinion that there is likely to be involuntary displacement of four hundred or more families en masse in plain areas&amp;quot; (the number is less for hilly and tribal areas).&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Thus the opinion of the Government on the scale of the displacement will decide if there will be planned R&amp;amp;R of the displaced.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * There are many other conditions attached to the benefits.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * While acquiring land for a &amp;#39;public purpose&amp;#39;, with its attendant displacement and denial of livelihood, is claimed as a right of the state under its powers of eminent domain, the R&amp;amp;R bill does not accept that it is the unconditional duty of the state to resettle and rehabilitate all the affected citizens so that they are able to maintain, if not improve, their current standard of living.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;**page**&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;The paper by Jaideep Hardikar, published in &amp;lsquo;Infochange&amp;#39; titled [inside]The destruction of &amp;#39;development&amp;#39;[/inside],&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;amp;do_pdf=1&amp;amp;id=6161&quot;&gt;http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;amp;do_pdf=1&amp;amp;id=6161&lt;/a&gt;, does not go into depths and details, but it gives a bird&amp;#39;s views of the problem.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Main Points:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Since independence at least 50 million people in India have been displaced by dams, mines, thermal power plants, corridor projects, field firing ranges, express highways, airports, national parks, sanctuaries, industrial townships, even poultry farms. They continue to pay the price for India&amp;#39;s &amp;#39;development&amp;#39;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * These may be conservative figures. Because displacement is usually only understood as direct displacement from land, such figures exclude many groups who are affected but who do not own land.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * A vast majority are landless and marginal farmers, mostly tribal, dalit or other economically backward communities. One study suggests that roughly one in every ten Indian tribals is a displaced person. Tribals constitute 8% of the country&amp;#39;s population, and more than 40% of the displaced persons.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Displacement by mines or thermal power plants is perhaps less visible than the forced movements of people triggered by dams. The acquisition takes place in phases. The would-be oustees are the last ones to know about their eviction by mines. This gives them little or no chance of resistance or coming together to bargain for a better rehabilitation package.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * As things stand today, there&amp;#39;s no region in the country where people haven&amp;#39;t been displaced by development projects. And there&amp;#39;s no region in the country where you would find people rehabilitated according to their aspirations and priorities.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;[inside]World Bank: Resettlement and Rehabilitation (R&amp;amp;R) Policy[/inside]&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;The World Bank has a policy for Resettlement and Rehabilitation (R&amp;amp;R),&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.his.com/~mesas/policy.htm&quot;&gt;http://www.his.com/~mesas/policy.htm&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;The Bank&amp;#39;s present policy is contained in the document &amp;quot;Involuntary Resettlement,&amp;quot; Operational Directive (OD) 4.30, adopted June 1990. According to the WB, the objective of its resettlement policy is to ensure that the population displaced by a project receives benefits from it.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;The WB says, &amp;quot;Development projects that displace people involuntarily generally give rise to severe economic, social, and environmental problems.&amp;quot;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Its R&amp;amp;R policy emphasizes the need for:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Minimizing involuntary resettlement;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Providing people displaced by a project with the means to improve, or at least restore, their former living standards, earning capacity, and production levels;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Involving both re-settlers and hosts in resettlement activities;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * A time-bound resettlement plan; and&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Valuation and compensation principles for land and other assets affected by the project.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;For environmental point of view, the World Bank has categorised the projects into three groups. According to this, Group &amp;quot;A&amp;quot; projects need a full environmental assessment (EA). Category B projects do not require a full EA but do require some environmental analysis. Category C projects do not require environmental analysis.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Category A projects are:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Dams and reservoirs;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Forestry production projects;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Industrial plants (large-scale) and industrial estates;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Irrigation, drainage, and flood control (large-scale);&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Land clearance and levelling;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Mineral development (including oil and gas);&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Port and harbour development;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Reclamation and new land development;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Resettlement and all projects with potentially major impacts on people;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * River basin development;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Thermal and hydropower development; and&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Manufacture, transportation, and use of pesticides or other hazardous and/or toxic materials.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Category B projects are:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Agro-industries (small-scale);&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Electrical transmission;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Aquaculture and mariculture;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Irrigation and drainage (small-scale);&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Renewable energy;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Rural electrification;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Tourism;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Rural water supply and sanitation;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Watershed projects (management or rehabilitation); and&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Rehabilitation, maintenance, and upgrading projects (small-scale).&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Category C projects might be:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Education,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Family planning,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Health,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Nutrition,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Institutional development,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Technical assistance, and&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Most human resource projects.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;**page**&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;[inside]Imagining a Post-Development Era? Critical thought, Development and Social Movements by Arturo Escobar[/inside] is a paper, which gives a fair idea of debates on developments till 1960s and afterwards. This is an important reading for a deeper understanding of evolution of concepts of developments in last few decades. As there is a cause and effect relationship between development projects and displacement, therefore while looking into the issue of displacement it is desirable to have an understanding of this whole debate on development.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;Main Points:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Nowadays it has become difficult to talk about development with the same confidence and encompassing scope with which intellectuals and activists spoke about these vital matters in the past decades. Now there are differing views. When one speaks about development, other voices emphasize on the &amp;quot;crisis of development&amp;quot;. The &amp;quot;new social actors&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;new social movements&amp;quot; are raising fundamental questions on the conventional sense of development.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * To examine development as discourse requires understanding why so many countries started to see themselves as underdeveloped, and, how &amp;quot;to develop&amp;quot; became for them a fundamental problem.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * In the previous period, from the early post-War years to the end of the 1970s, development was chiefly a matter of capital, technology, and education and the appropriate policy and planning mechanisms to successfully combine these elements.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Resistance, on the other hand, was primarily a class issue and a question of imperialism. Nowadays, even imperialism and class are thought to be the object of innumerable mediations. Now we come across new ways of thinking on these issues, especially in relation to social movements.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * With the emergence of the new critique it is being argued that development has been an invention and strategy produced by the &amp;quot;First World&amp;quot; about the &amp;quot;underdevelopment&amp;quot; of the &amp;quot;Third World.&amp;quot; Largely, it has been an instrument of economic control over the physical and social reality of much of Asia, Africa and Latin America.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * These schools of thought now are now advocating for &amp;quot;alternatives to development&amp;quot; that needs transformation of the notions of development, modernity and the economy.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The number of scholars in the Third World says that rather than searching for development alternatives, there is a need to go for the &amp;quot;alternatives to development,&amp;quot; that is, a rejection of the entire earlier paradigm.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * In the Third World the process of needs interpretation and satisfaction is inextricably linked to the development apparatus. The &amp;quot;basic human needs&amp;quot; strategy, pushed by the World Bank and adopted by most international agencies, has played a crucial role in this regard. However, the critics say that this strategy is based on a liberal human rights discourse and on the rational, scientific assessment and measurement of &amp;quot;needs&amp;quot;; lacking a significant link to people&amp;#39;s everyday experience, and &amp;quot;basic human needs&amp;quot; discourse does not foster greater political participation.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * This paper argues that the possibility for redefining development rests largely with the action of social movements. Though the paper in most of its parts has discussed the Latin American experiences, it has significance for whole Third World.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;The [inside]main provisions under Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act (MMDR Act)[/inside] are as follows:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://mines.gov.in/policy/noticeapril.pdf&quot;&gt;http://mines.gov.in/policy/noticeapril.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.prsindia.org/uploads/media/draft/Draft%20Mines%20and%20Minerals%20Bill_31%20March%202010.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.prsindia.org/uploads/media/draft/Draft%20Mines%20and%20Minerals%20Bill_31%20March%202010.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;A background and critique:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl2714/stories/20100716271402500.htm&quot;&gt;http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl2714/stories/20100716271402500.htm&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The 1957 Act has outlived its utility despite the several amendments made to it up to 1999. The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation Act, 1957, came into force at a time when governments required much discretionary power to regulate a nascent mining sector. The rise of the market economy in the early 1990s brought about a fundamental change in the government&amp;#39;s attitude to mining.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The National Mineral Policy, 1993, recognised the need to encourage private investment, including foreign direct investment (FDI), and to attract state-of-the-art technology in the mineral sector.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Mining is a three-stage operation, involving regional exploration, detailed exploration, and actual mining.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Procedural delay was identified as one of the impediments in encouraging the flow of private investment and in the introduction of high-end technology for exploration and mining. The Anwarul Hoda Committee, constituted by the Planning Commission in 2005, in its report submitted in 2006 made specific recommendations on the legal framework to avoid procedural delay.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The New Mining Policy (NMP) 2008, while reflecting these recommendations, also sought to develop a sustainable framework for optimum utilisation of mineral resources for industrial growth and for improving the life of people living in the mining areas.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The proposed Act makes significant departures from the existing Act in areas that were seen as instances of micromanagement.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * As per the proposed Act, the union Ministry for mines and minerals give up its &amp;quot;prior approval&amp;quot; power in grant of concessions for minerals in Part C of the First Schedule. In the proposed Act, Part C includes 74 major minerals, while Part A includes coal and lignite and Part B atomic minerals. Part C of the First Schedule of the existing Act includes only 10 metallic and non-metallic minerals.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The proposed Act envisages the setting up of a national mining tribunal, which can check independently decisions as also indecision and delays. It gives more teeth to the Indian Bureau of Mines to regulate the mining plan and mine closure and empowers the Central government to enforce disclosure through databases and websites.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The draft Bill allows the setting up of a national mineral royalty commission with State governments as members, for progressive solutions for revenue-sharing through royalty.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The proposed Act provides for stringent measures to prevent illegal mining. It empowers State governments to detect, prevent and prosecute cases of illegal mining, set up special courts to try such cases and declare those convicted as ineligible for grant of mining concessions.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * One of the consistent demands of the steel industry has been the reservation of mineral-bearing areas for public sector undertakings. The proposed Act rejects this demand, consistent with the Hoda Committee&amp;#39;s recommendation that reservation goes against the principles of providing a level playing field.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The draft Bill guarantees assured annuity to the local population as a percentage of profits (26 per cent) earned by the miner, resettlement and rehabilitation of the local population through employment and skill enhancement.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * It also provides for compulsory consultation with gram sabha/district panchayats in tribal areas before notification of the area for grant of concessions, and preference to tribal cooperatives in the grant of concessions over small deposits.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;According to a report named [inside]SEZs and land acquisition FACTSHEET FOR AN UNCONSTITUTIONAL ECONOMIC POLICY[/inside] Prepared by Citizens&amp;#39; Research Collective&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;SEZ - DISPLACEMENT AND LOSS OF LIVELIHOODS&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Estimates show that close to 114,000 farming households (each household on an average comprising five members) and an additional 82,000 farm worker families who are dependent upon these farms for their livelihoods, will be displaced.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * In other words, at least 10 lakh (1,000,000) people who primarily depend upon agriculture for their survival will face eviction. Experts calculate that the total loss of income to the farming and the farm worker families is at least Rs. 212 crores a year.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * This does not include other income lost (for instance of artisans) due to the demise of local rural economies. The government promises &amp;lsquo;humane&amp;#39; displacement followed by relief and rehabilitation.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * However, the historical record does not offer any room for hope on this count: an estimated 40 million people (of which nearly 40% are Adivasis and 25% Dalits) have lost their land since 1950 on account of displacement due to large development projects. At least 75% of them still await rehabilitation.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Almost 80% of the agricultural population owns only about 17% of the total agriculture land, making them near landless farmers. Far more families and communities depend on a piece of land (for work, grazing) than those who simply own it. However, compensation is being discussed only for those who hold titles to land. No compensation has been planned for those who don&amp;#39;t.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;LOSS OF PUBLIC REVENUE&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Exemptions from customs duties, income tax, sales tax, excise duties and service tax (even on luxury hotel facilities, shopping malls, health clubs and recreation centres) given to SEZs, the Finance ministry estimates a loss of Rs.1,60,000 crore till 2010 in revenue. (The Ministry has also asked for capping the number of SEZs at 100.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Finance Minister P. Chidambaram wrote to Cabinet colleagues saying: &amp;quot;SEZs per se will distort land, capital, and labour cost, which will encourage relocation or shifting of industries in clever ways that can&amp;#39;t be stopped. This will be further aggravated by the proliferation of a large number of SEZs in and around metros.&amp;quot;)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * The foregone tax revenue every year is five times the annual allocation for the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and is enough to feed each year 55 million people who go to bed hungry every day.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Furthermore, given the concessions on import duties (not merely for the investors who will produce exportable items but also for the developer, who will not), there are likely to be foreign exchange losses (rather than gains).&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * For the five year period ending 1996-97 the foreign exchange outgo on imports made by units in SEZs and the customs duty forgone amounted to Rs.16461.58 crore against which exports of only Rs.13563.87 crore were reported.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Moreover, these zones are exempt from sales tax, octroi, mandi tax etc on the supply of the goods from the Domestic Tariff Area (rest of India).&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
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&amp;nbsp;

&amp;bull; Section 105 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, which provides for excluding 13 Central legislation, including Land Acquisition (Mines) Act 1885, Atomic Energy Act, 1962, Railway Act...&#039;
$disp = &#039;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;KEY TRENDS&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div&gt;&amp;bull; Section 105 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, which provides for excluding 13 Central legislation, including Land Acquisition (Mines) Act 1885, Atomic Energy Act, 1962, Railway Act 1989, National Highways Act 1956 and Metro Railways (Construction of Works) Act, 1978, from its purview, has been amended for payment of compensation with rigours $&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;bull; The amendments have now relaxed the requirements of consent and Social Impact Assessment survey for projects in following areas: 1. Defence and defence production; 2. Rural infrastructure (including rural electrification); 3. Affordable housing; 4. Industrial corridors; 5. Social infrastructure projects including PPPs in which ownership rests with the government $&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&amp;bull; The Standing Committee report on Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011 (submitted on 17 May, 2012) recommended that land may not be acquired for use by private companies and PPPs. The Committee recommended including &amp;ldquo;infrastructure projects&amp;rdquo; within the definition of public purpose. Since sale and purchase of land is a state subject, the threshold for R&amp;amp;R provisions shall be fixed by the states and not the central government. Restriction on land acquisition should also apply to any land under agricultural cultivation. No central act should be exempted from the provisions of the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011 and necessary amendments should be brought in those Acts to bring them at par with this Bill. The Committee recommended that if acquired land is left unutilized for 5 years, the land should be returned to the land owners &amp;alpha;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;bull; India is the third largest dam builder country in the world. It now has over 3600 large dams and over 700 more under construction*&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;bull; Displacement due to dams in India has been variously estimated. Fernandes, Das &amp;amp; Rao (1989) claimed that Indians displaced by dam projects numbered 21 million*&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;bull; Available estimates of people displaced by large and medium dams in India show that the 140 dams for which such figures are available, have displaced over 4.4 million people*&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;bull; Many researchers estimated that the number of people displaced due to big projects comes between 10 and 25 million. In an influential 1989 study, Fernandes, Das and Rao provide an estimate of some 21 million displaced persons. Scholar-administrator Dr. N. C. Saxena, places his estimate of persons displaced by big projects since 1947 at nearly double this figure &amp;mdash; 50 million**&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;bull; India has adopted the policy of promoting the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) for faster industrial development. It needs about 50,000 hectares of agricultural land for SEZs and 1.49 lakh hectares for all projects which include also industrial, mining, irrigation and infrastructural projects***&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;bull; The Land Acquisition Act, 1894 of India is the primary legislation that provides for acquisition of land***&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;bull; Since independence at least 50 million people in India have been displaced by dams, mines, thermal power plants, corridor projects, field firing ranges, express highways, airports, national parks, sanctuaries, industrial townships, even poultry farms@&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Sources:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;$&amp;nbsp;Amendments to the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, Press Information Bureau, dated: 29 December 2014 (Please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Land_act_amendments.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Land Act amendments&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Land_act_amendments.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Land Act amendments&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access)&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;alpha; &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Summary%20of%20the%20Standing%20Committee%20recommendations.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Summary of the Standing Committee recommendations&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Summary%20of%20the%20Standing%20Committee%20recommendations.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Summary of the Standing Committee recommendations&quot;&gt;Standing Committee Report Summary&lt;/a&gt;, PRS Legislative Research&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;* Large Dam Projects and Displacement in India,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;**&amp;nbsp; Planning Commission titled Dams, Displacement, Policy and Law in India,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/art_dam.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/art_dam.pdf&quot;&gt;http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/a&lt;br /&gt;rt_dam.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;*** Environment of Land Diversion, Displacement and Rehabilitation: A Study of Indian SEZs,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;@ The destruction of &amp;#39;development&amp;#39; by Jaideep Hardikar, Infochange&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;amp;do_pdf=1&amp;amp;id=6161&quot; title=&quot;http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;amp;do_pdf=1&amp;amp;id=6161&quot;&gt;http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;a&lt;br /&gt;mp;do_pdf=1&amp;amp;id=6161&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf&quot;&gt;http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium&quot;&gt;&#039;
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                <strong>Displacement</strong></h1>
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                <p><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">KEY TRENDS</span></p><p>&nbsp;</p><div>&bull; Section 105 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, which provides for excluding 13 Central legislation, including Land Acquisition (Mines) Act 1885, Atomic Energy Act, 1962, Railway Act 1989, National Highways Act 1956 and Metro Railways (Construction of Works) Act, 1978, from its purview, has been amended for payment of compensation with rigours $<br /><br />&bull; The amendments have now relaxed the requirements of consent and Social Impact Assessment survey for projects in following areas: 1. Defence and defence production; 2. Rural infrastructure (including rural electrification); 3. Affordable housing; 4. Industrial corridors; 5. Social infrastructure projects including PPPs in which ownership rests with the government $</div><p>&nbsp;</p><div><p>&nbsp;</p></div><div>&bull; The Standing Committee report on Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011 (submitted on 17 May, 2012) recommended that land may not be acquired for use by private companies and PPPs. The Committee recommended including &ldquo;infrastructure projects&rdquo; within the definition of public purpose. Since sale and purchase of land is a state subject, the threshold for R&amp;R provisions shall be fixed by the states and not the central government. Restriction on land acquisition should also apply to any land under agricultural cultivation. No central act should be exempted from the provisions of the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011 and necessary amendments should be brought in those Acts to bring them at par with this Bill. The Committee recommended that if acquired land is left unutilized for 5 years, the land should be returned to the land owners &alpha;<br /><br />&bull; India is the third largest dam builder country in the world. It now has over 3600 large dams and over 700 more under construction*<br /><br />&bull; Displacement due to dams in India has been variously estimated. Fernandes, Das &amp; Rao (1989) claimed that Indians displaced by dam projects numbered 21 million*<br /><br />&bull; Available estimates of people displaced by large and medium dams in India show that the 140 dams for which such figures are available, have displaced over 4.4 million people*<br /><br />&bull; Many researchers estimated that the number of people displaced due to big projects comes between 10 and 25 million. In an influential 1989 study, Fernandes, Das and Rao provide an estimate of some 21 million displaced persons. Scholar-administrator Dr. N. C. Saxena, places his estimate of persons displaced by big projects since 1947 at nearly double this figure &mdash; 50 million**<br /><br />&bull; India has adopted the policy of promoting the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) for faster industrial development. It needs about 50,000 hectares of agricultural land for SEZs and 1.49 lakh hectares for all projects which include also industrial, mining, irrigation and infrastructural projects***<br /><br />&bull; The Land Acquisition Act, 1894 of India is the primary legislation that provides for acquisition of land***<br /><br />&bull; Since independence at least 50 million people in India have been displaced by dams, mines, thermal power plants, corridor projects, field firing ranges, express highways, airports, national parks, sanctuaries, industrial townships, even poultry farms@<br /><br /><strong><em>Sources:</em></strong></div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>$&nbsp;Amendments to the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, Press Information Bureau, dated: 29 December 2014 (Please <a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Land_act_amendments.pdf" title="Land Act amendments" title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Land_act_amendments.pdf" title="Land Act amendments">click here</a> to access)</div><div>&nbsp;<br />&alpha; <a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Summary%20of%20the%20Standing%20Committee%20recommendations.pdf" title="Summary of the Standing Committee recommendations" title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Summary%20of%20the%20Standing%20Committee%20recommendations.pdf" title="Summary of the Standing Committee recommendations">Standing Committee Report Summary</a>, PRS Legislative Research<br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small">* Large Dam Projects and Displacement in India,</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small"><a href="http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf" title="http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf">http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf</a> </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small">**&nbsp; Planning Commission titled Dams, Displacement, Policy and Law in India,</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small"><a href="http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/art_dam.pdf" title="http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/art_dam.pdf">http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/a<br />rt_dam.pdf</a> </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small">*** Environment of Land Diversion, Displacement and Rehabilitation: A Study of Indian SEZs,</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small"><a href="http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf" title="http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf">http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf</a> </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small">@ The destruction of &#39;development&#39; by Jaideep Hardikar, Infochange</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small"><a href="http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;do_pdf=1&amp;id=6161" title="http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;do_pdf=1&amp;id=6161">http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&a<br />mp;do_pdf=1&amp;id=6161</a> </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small"><a href="http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf" title="http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf">http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf</a> </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">               </font>
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		'description' => '<p><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">KEY TRENDS</span></p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<div>&bull; Section 105 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, which provides for excluding 13 Central legislation, including Land Acquisition (Mines) Act 1885, Atomic Energy Act, 1962, Railway Act 1989, National Highways Act 1956 and Metro Railways (Construction of Works) Act, 1978, from its purview, has been amended for payment of compensation with rigours $<br />
<br />
&bull; The amendments have now relaxed the requirements of consent and Social Impact Assessment survey for projects in following areas: 1. Defence and defence production; 2. Rural infrastructure (including rural electrification); 3. Affordable housing; 4. Industrial corridors; 5. Social infrastructure projects including PPPs in which ownership rests with the government $</div>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
</div>

<div>&bull; The Standing Committee report on Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011 (submitted on 17 May, 2012) recommended that land may not be acquired for use by private companies and PPPs. The Committee recommended including &ldquo;infrastructure projects&rdquo; within the definition of public purpose. Since sale and purchase of land is a state subject, the threshold for R&amp;R provisions shall be fixed by the states and not the central government. Restriction on land acquisition should also apply to any land under agricultural cultivation. No central act should be exempted from the provisions of the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011 and necessary amendments should be brought in those Acts to bring them at par with this Bill. The Committee recommended that if acquired land is left unutilized for 5 years, the land should be returned to the land owners &alpha;<br />
<br />
&bull; India is the third largest dam builder country in the world. It now has over 3600 large dams and over 700 more under construction*<br />
<br />
&bull; Displacement due to dams in India has been variously estimated. Fernandes, Das &amp; Rao (1989) claimed that Indians displaced by dam projects numbered 21 million*<br />
<br />
&bull; Available estimates of people displaced by large and medium dams in India show that the 140 dams for which such figures are available, have displaced over 4.4 million people*<br />
<br />
&bull; Many researchers estimated that the number of people displaced due to big projects comes between 10 and 25 million. In an influential 1989 study, Fernandes, Das and Rao provide an estimate of some 21 million displaced persons. Scholar-administrator Dr. N. C. Saxena, places his estimate of persons displaced by big projects since 1947 at nearly double this figure &mdash; 50 million**<br />
<br />
&bull; India has adopted the policy of promoting the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) for faster industrial development. It needs about 50,000 hectares of agricultural land for SEZs and 1.49 lakh hectares for all projects which include also industrial, mining, irrigation and infrastructural projects***<br />
<br />
&bull; The Land Acquisition Act, 1894 of India is the primary legislation that provides for acquisition of land***<br />
<br />
&bull; Since independence at least 50 million people in India have been displaced by dams, mines, thermal power plants, corridor projects, field firing ranges, express highways, airports, national parks, sanctuaries, industrial townships, even poultry farms@<br />
<br />
<strong><em>Sources:</em></strong></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>$&nbsp;Amendments to the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, Press Information Bureau, dated: 29 December 2014 (Please <a href="tinymce/uploaded/Land_act_amendments.pdf" title="Land Act amendments">click here</a> to access)</div>

<div>&nbsp;<br />
&alpha; <a href="tinymce/uploaded/Summary%20of%20the%20Standing%20Committee%20recommendations.pdf" title="Summary of the Standing Committee recommendations">Standing Committee Report Summary</a>, PRS Legislative Research<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small">* Large Dam Projects and Displacement in India,</span><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small"><a href="http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf">http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf</a> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small">**&nbsp; Planning Commission titled Dams, Displacement, Policy and Law in India,</span><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small"><a href="http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/art_dam.pdf">http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/art_dam.pdf</a> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small">*** Environment of Land Diversion, Displacement and Rehabilitation: A Study of Indian SEZs,</span><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small"><a href="http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf">http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf</a> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small">@ The destruction of &#39;development&#39; by Jaideep Hardikar, Infochange</span><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small"><a href="http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;do_pdf=1&amp;id=6161">http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;do_pdf=1&amp;id=6161</a> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small"><a href="http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf">http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf</a> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">**page**</span></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Please <a href="tinymce/uploaded/The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Second Ordinance 2015.pdf" title="The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Second Ordinance 2015">click here</a> to access [inside]The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Second Ordinance 2015[/inside], dated 30 May, 2015</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Please <a href="tinymce/uploaded/The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Second Amendment) Bill 2015.pdf" title="The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Second Amendment) Bill 2015">click here</a> to access [inside]The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Second Amendment) Bill 2015[/inside]</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Please <a href="tinymce/uploaded/RFCTLARR%20Act%20(Amendment)%20Ordinance,%202014.pdf" title="Amended Land Acquisition Act">click here</a> to access [inside]The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Ordinance 2014[/inside], promulgated by the President on 31 December 2014</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Please <a href="tinymce/uploaded/Land_act_amendments.pdf" title="Land Act amendments">click here</a> to access the [inside]Amendments made in the&nbsp; Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013[/inside]. Source: Press Information Bureau, dated: 29 December 2014</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>
<div>The salient features of [inside]The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013[/inside], which repeals the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 are as follows (Please <a href="http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/files/file/Act_Land_Acqusiition_2013.pdf">click here</a>&nbsp; to access):<br />
<br />
&bull; Payment of compensation upto four times the market value in rural areas and two times the market value in urban areas.<br />
<br />
&bull; Rehabilitation and Resettlement is an integral part of the land acquisition. No family will be displaced before rehabilitation.<br />
<br />
&bull; A social impact assessment study to be done compulsorily in all cases of land acquisition irrespective of extent of area.<br />
<br />
&bull; The definition of &lsquo;affected families&rsquo; has been extended to include not only the land owners but also others dependent on land for their livelihoods like agricultural labourers, tenants.<br />
<br />
&bull; To ensure transparency and participation, the Act provides for consent of at least eighty and seventy percent of the land owners in the cases of land acquisition for Private and Public Private Partnership Projects respectively.<br />
<br />
&bull; In Scheduled Areas consent of the Gram Sabhas/ Panchayats / Autonomous District Councils is mandatory in all cases of land acquisition.<br />
<br />
&bull; To safeguard food security and to prevent arbitrary acquisition, the Act directs the States to impose limits on the multi cropped irrigated land that can be acquired.<br />
<br />
&bull; In case, land remains unutilized after acquisition, the new Act empowers States to return the land either to the owner or to the State Land Bank.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>
&nbsp;</div>

<div>Please <a href="tinymce/uploaded/LAAR%20Bill%20as%20passed%20by%20LS.pdf" title="LARR Bill as passed by LS">click here</a> to access [inside]The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2013[/inside] that was passed by the Lok Sabha on 29 August, 2013.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>In order to access the [inside]Draft National Land Reforms Policy (dated 18 July, 2013)[/inside], prepared by Ministry of Rural Development, please <a href="tinymce/uploaded/Draft_National_Land_Reforms_Policy_July_2013.pdf" title="Draft Land Reforms Policy 2013">click here</a>.</div>

<div><br />
The <a href="tinymce/uploaded/Standing%20Committee%20Report%20on%20LARR%20Bill%202011.pdf" title="Standing Committee report on LARR 2011">report by the Standing Committee</a> on Rural Development pertaining to Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (LARR) Bill 2011 was tabled in the Lok Sabha on 17 May, 2012. As per the [inside]Standing Committee Report 2012[/inside], the salient features of the LARR Bill 2011 (now renamed as Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill) are as follows:<br />
<br />
(1) New integrated legislation dealing with land acquisition and rehabilitation &amp; resettlement while repealing the Land Acquisition Act, 1894.<br />
<br />
(2) Exemption to 16 Central Acts specified in Fourth Schedule from the ambit of the Bill.<br />
<br />
(3) Defining the term affected family, which includes both the land losers and livelihood losers.<br />
<br />
(4) Provision of R &amp; R benefits in case of specified private purchase of land equal to or more than 100 acres in rural areas and equal to or more than 50 acre in urban areas<br />
<br />
(5) Provides Social Impact Assessment (SIA) study in all cases where the Government intends to acquire land for a public purpose.<br />
<br />
(6) Provides for formation of a Committee under the Chief Secretary for examining proposals of land acquisition where land sought to be acquired is equal to or more than 100 acres.<br />
<br />
(7) Putting limitations on acquisition of multi-crop land for safeguarding the food security.<br />
<br />
(8) Institutional mechanism for R&amp;R in the form of institutions of Administrator for Rehabilitation and Resettlement, Commissioner for Rehabilitation and Resettlement, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Committee at project level, the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation &amp; Resettlement Authority at State level and National Monitoring Committee at Central level.<br />
<br />
(9) Provisions of consent of the 80 per-cent affected families for land acquisition for certain projects.<br />
<br />
(10) Provision for enhanced compensation to the land owners and rehabilitation and resettlement entitlements.<br />
<br />
(11) Provision of 25 per-cent on shares as part of compensation in cases where the Requiring Body offers its shares to the owners of land whose land has been acquired.<br />
<br />
(12) Restricting the &lsquo;urgency clause&rsquo; for land acquisition for Defence of India or National Security or for any other emergency out of natural calamities.<br />
<br />
(13) Specified timelines for payment of compensation and provision of rehabilitation and resettlement entitlements.<br />
<br />
[inside]Recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on LARR 2011 Bill[/inside]<br />
<br />
It has been noted by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on LARR 2011 Bill that despite the Government having more than two years time for wider consultations with all stakeholders i.e. between the constitution of Fifteenth Lok Sabha 01.06.2009 and introduction of the LARR Bill, 2011 in September, 2011, it initiated the process of consultation only on 29 July, 2011 when the Draft Bill was put on Department of Land Resources (DOLR, http://dolr.nic.in/) &quot;website&quot; for consultations and the comments thereon were sought by 31 August 2011. The Cabinet approved the Draft Bill on 5 September, 2011 and the Bill was introduced in Lok Sabha on 7 September 2011, leaving little time at the disposal of the Government to seriously consider the suggestions received from various stakeholders.<br />
<br />
Although the Government was late by over two years in bringing the LARR Bill again they gave little time to the stakeholders, including Central Ministries and State Governments concerned to submit their views and also to consider the same. Consultation by the Standing Committee with the State Governments, some of the Central Ministries concerned like Ministries of Urban Development, Panchayati Raj, Tribal Affairs etc. revealed that that their views are at variance with the DoLR in respect of contents of the Bill. This compelled the Standing Committee to invite suggestions from the general public, industry, farmers, NGO&#39;s, experts, Central Ministries, State Governments etc.<br />
<br />
The following key issues having relevance to the provisions of the LARR Bill 2011 came up during discussions held with various stakeholders:<br />
<br />
A. Doctrine of Eminent Domain and Acquisition as &#39;Public Purpose&#39; for private corporations, Public Private Partnerships (PPPs).<br />
<br />
B. Powers of the Central Government vis-&agrave;-vis State Governments in legislation for sale/purchase of land and R &amp; R provisions<br />
<br />
C. Role of Institutions of self government-established by Parts IX &amp; IX A of the Constitution in land acquisition and R&amp;R<br />
<br />
D. Applicability of LARR Bill, 2011 in Scheduled Areas (Schedules V and VI of the Constitution)<br />
<br />
E. Special provisions to safeguard Food Security (Clause 10)<br />
<br />
F. Exemption of 16 Central Acts from purview of the Bill (Clause 98 &amp; Fourth Schedule)<br />
<br />
The Standing Committee report on LARR 2011 has provided the detailed discussion on these above-mentioned issues. The suggestions given by the Committee regarding these issues are being provided here.<br />
<br />
<strong><em>A. Doctrine of Eminent Domain and Acquisition as &ldquo;Public Purpose&rdquo; for Private Corporations, Public-Private Partnerships</em></strong><br />
<br />
Amendment done to section 4 of the original Land Acquisition Act 1894 in 1984 by inserting the words &ldquo;or for a Company&rdquo; after &ldquo;any public purpose&rdquo; extinguished any differentiation between acquisition for a State purpose and &ldquo;acquisition for a private enterprise&rdquo; or &ldquo;State enterprise&rdquo;. What the Courts could interpret from this amendment is that any notification of acquisition issued under section 4 need not specify whether the acquisition is for a &ldquo;public purpose&rdquo; or for &ldquo;a Company&rdquo;. This move led to massive acquisition of land by the State for Companies.<br />
<br />
The Standing Committee report has alleged that the LARR Bill, 2011 &ldquo;seeks to permit, and even facilitate, the acquisition of land by the Government for private companies&rdquo;. By agreeing with the Government of India appointed Expert Group Report (under the Chairmanship of D. Bandyopadhyay) on Development Challenges in Extremist Affected Areas, the Committee report has mentioned that displacement of people happened due to large scale acquisitions. The Standing Committee has suggested that &ldquo;instead of reverting to the classical concept of Eminent Domain or diluting it, the present 2011 Bill extinguishes the distinction in the original 1894 Act between acquisition by the State for a State purpose from purchase of land by a Company for a private purpose by including &ldquo;Public Private Partnership projects&rdquo; and &ldquo;private companies&rdquo; in the definition given in clause 2(1)(b) and (c), as well as 3(za)(vi)(B) and 3(za)(vii) respectively, subject only to their producing &ldquo;public goods or the provision of public services&rdquo; and &ldquo;the provision of land in the public interest&rdquo;, it being entirely left to the executive to determine what is the &ldquo;public interest&rdquo; or &ldquo;public goods&rdquo; or &ldquo;public services&rdquo;.&rdquo;<br />
<br />
The Standing Committee has recommended that land acquisition should not be for use by PPPs and private companies. Public purpose should be limited to state sponsored projects as defined in Clause 3(za)(i) to (vi)(A). The Committee has asked for deleting the provisions relating to acquisition of land for private companies and PPPs [(Clause 3(za)(vi)(B) and (vii)]. The Committee has recommended that Clause 3 (o) (v) which gives wide discretion to the government to define infrastructure projects should be deleted. The Committee has suggested that infrastructure projects should be included in the definition of public purpose.<br />
<br />
The Committee has rejected those sub-clauses of Clauses 2 and 3 that place wide discretion in the hands of the executive to define &ldquo;public purpose&rdquo; and &ldquo;infrastructure projects&rdquo; for for-profit enterprises. It, therefore, has asked for deletion of Clauses 2(1)(b) &amp; (c), 2(2)(b), 3(o)(v), 3(za)vi)(B) and (vii). It has recommended that all cases of land acquisition must entail obligations for adequate compensation, rehabilitation and resettlement to all land losers and other affected persons.<br />
<br />
While questioning the role of Indian State in carrying out land acquisition for Companies in the name of &ldquo;public purpose&rdquo;, the Standing Committee has given the example of countries like USA, Japan, Canada, EU, Australia etc. where private purchase of land and not State acquisition, is the standard. In most developed countries, there is no provision in the laws for State acquisition of privately held land for profit-making private enterprises or for public-private enterprises, the Committee report argued.<br />
<br />
<strong><em>B. Powers of the Central Government vis-vis State Governments in legislation for sale/purchase of land and R&amp;R provisions</em></strong><br />
<br />
Clause 2 (2) (a) of the LARR Bill 2011 provides that R&amp;R provisions are mandatory for all private purchases if the land purchased is over 100 acres in rural areas and 50 acres in urban areas. However, the Standing Committee has recommended that since sale and purchase of land is a State subject, State legislatures have the discretion and flexibility on whether there should be R&amp;R and if so prescribe a threshold for R&amp;R provisions. The Committee report said: &quot;State legislatures, bearing in mind the provisions of this Act, may by law provide for R&amp;R provisions on sale/purchase of land. Limits/ceiling for the purpose shall be fixed by respective States keeping in view the availability of the land and density of the population.&quot;<br />
<br />
<strong><em>C. Role of Institutions of self government established by Parts IX &amp; IX A of the Constitution in land acquisition and R &amp; R</em></strong><br />
<br />
Criticizing the provision in the LARR Bill 2011, where the role of Gram Sabha is limited to consultation during the time of land acquisition, the Committee has suggested that the role of local institutions of self-government should be broadened so as to ensure centrality of these institutions in the planning and implementation of the Bill, with a view to making the entire process of land acquisition and R&amp;R participative, transparent and pro-people in accordance with the letter and spirit of Articles 243G and 243W of Parts IX and IXA of the Constitution. Under Articles 243G and 243W of Parts IX and IXA of the Constitution, State legislation is required to specifically empower local institutions of self-government so as to undertake both planning and implementation of &quot;economic development and social justice&quot;. &ldquo;Beyond merely &quot;consulting&quot; Gram Sabhas, consensus or, at least, consent by the majority of Gram Sabha members (or equivalent body in urban areas where these have been constituted) should be obtained in all matters pertaining to LARR&rdquo;, emphasized the Committee report. The decision making process regarding issues such as land acquisition, review of R&amp;R schemes, determination of compensation, and any dispute regarding the compensation awarded should be entrusted on local elected authories. The Committee has recommended that the Expert Group evaluating the Social Impact Assessment (SIA) report should also have one or more members nominated from the affected Gram Sabha.<br />
<br />
<strong><em>D. Applicability of LARR Bill, 2011 in Scheduled Areas</em></strong><br />
<br />
The Standing Committee report has found that the &ldquo;provisions of the LARR Bill 2011 in respect of areas covered under Schedules V and VI of the Constitution have not been dealt with separately but through provisos to some of the clauses besides being mentioned in the Schedules of the Bill, particularly the Second Schedule&rdquo;.<br />
<br />
The Committee has recommended that alienation of land or land acquisition in Scheduled Areas should be avoided as far as possible. In case of unavoidable land acquisition for public purpose projects, &ldquo;special provision should be made for increased compensation and resettlement and rehabilitation provisions that enforce stricter conditions such as relocation in a similar ecological location, with communities being mandatorily relocated together so as to preserve the economic opportunities, language, culture and community life of the tribal communities&rdquo;. Consent or approval by majority of Gram Sabhas and Autonomous District Councils (ADCs) should be made mandatory in case of land acquisition. Independent and neutral persons should be present in order to watch the proceedings of discussions within the Gram Sabhas/ ADCs so as to ensure that the process of &lsquo;consent seeking&rsquo; is transparent. It has been recommended that PESA provisions must be strictly observed and indicated in all related provisions in the LARR Bill, &ldquo;particular care being taken to ensure that Panchayats at the appropriate level and the Gram Sabhas are specifically endowed with powers to prevent alienation of land and to take appropriate action to restore any unlawfully alienated land, as provided for in Section 4m (iii) of PESA&rdquo;.<br />
<br />
<strong><em>E. Special Provisions to safeguard Food Security (Clause 10)</em></strong><br />
<br />
Provisions under the Clause 10 of the LARR Bill want to protect irrigated and multi-cropped land from land acquisition so as to ensure food security. Only under exceptional circumstances a maximum of five per cent of irrigated multi-cropped land may be acquired in a district with certain conditions such as: &ldquo;whenever multi-crop irrigated land is acquired under sub-section (2), an equivalent area of culturable wasteland shall be developed for agricultural purposes&rdquo;. However, the Standing Committee on LARR Bill 2011 is of the opinion that food security is not confined to producing rice and wheat in irrigated land. Cultivation of nutritional coarse grains, pulses and oilseeds in dryland or rain-fed areas cannot be neglected. Hence the Committee has recommended that &ldquo;in Chapter III, all provisions regarding &ldquo;irrigated multi-cropped land&rdquo; be replaced by &ldquo;any land under agriculture cultivation&rdquo; so as to ensure safeguard for food security in a full measure&rdquo;.<br />
<br />
<strong><em>F. Exemption of Central Acts from Provisions of the Bill [Clause 98 and Fourth Schedule]</em></strong><br />
<br />
Clause 98 of the LARR Bill 2011 made sure that the proposed Act shall not apply to the land acquisition processed under various Acts in the Fourth Schedule, which are listed below:<br />
<br />
1. The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958.<br />
2. The Atomic Energy Act, 1962.<br />
3. The Cantonments Act, 2006.<br />
4. The Damodar Valley Corporation Act, 1948.<br />
5. The Indian Tramways Act, 1886.<br />
6. The Land Acquisition (Mines) Act, 1885.<br />
7. The Metro Railways (Construction of Works) Act, 1978.<br />
8. The National Highways Act, 1956.<br />
9. The Petroleum and Minerals Pipelines (Acquisition of Right of User in Land) Act, 1962.<br />
10. The Requisitioning and Acquisition of Immovable Property Act, 1952.<br />
11. The Resettlement of Displaced Persons (Land Acquisition) Act, 1948.<br />
12. The Special Economic Zones Act, 2005.<br />
13. The Coal Bearing Areas Acquisition and Development Act, 1957.<br />
14. The Electricity Act, 2003.<br />
15. The Railways Act, 1989.<br />
16. The Works of Defence Act, 1903<br />
<br />
It has been suggested by various organizations and State Governments during the consultation with the Standing Committee that &ldquo;by keeping out the 16 Central Acts outside the purview of the Bill, under which Central Government acquires land for Central Projects, almost 95 percent of land acquisition would be outside the purview of the Bill&rdquo;. Some of the State Governments complained that while Central Government sought to exempt all Central Acts from the purview of the Bill, they wanted to impose the same on the State Governments. Therefore the Standing Committee has recommended not exempting any of these Central Acts from the purview of LARR Bill. The Committee has suggested that necessary amendments should be brought in these Central Acts so as to bring them at par with the LARR Bill 2011.<br />
<br />
<strong><em>Definition of &quot;affected family&quot;</em></strong><br />
<br />
Clause 3 (b) &amp; (c) of the LARR Bill 2011 defined &quot;affected family&quot; to include (i) landowners; (ii) agricultural labourers, tenants who have been working in the affected area for three years prior to the acquisition; (iii) tribals and forest dwellers; (iv) families whose livelihood for the previous three years is dependent on the forests or water bodies; and (v) families who have been given land by the state or central government. The Standing Committee has recommended that within the definition of affected family:<br />
* &ldquo;Tribals&rdquo; should be substituted by &ldquo;Scheduled tribes&rdquo;<br />
* &ldquo;Traditional rights&rdquo; should be substituted by &ldquo;forest rights&rdquo;<br />
* &ldquo;Affected people&rdquo; should be substituted with &ldquo;affected family&rdquo;<br />
* &ldquo;Three years&rdquo; in the definition should become &ldquo;three years or more&rdquo;<br />
<br />
Clause 3 (m) of the LARR Bill 2011 defined family includes a person, his or her spouse, minor children, minor brothers and sisters dependent on him. The Standing Committee has recommended that widows and divorcees and abandoned women should be considered a separate family.<br />
<br />
<strong><em>R&amp;R entitlements</em></strong><br />
<br />
R&amp;R entitlements provided to displaced families under the LARR Bill 2011 include among other things: (i) land for a house as per the Indira Awas Yojana in rural areas or a constructed house of at least 50 square metres plinth area in urban areas; (ii) a one-time allowance of Rs 50,000 for affected families; and (iii) the option of choosing either mandatory employment in projects where jobs are being created or a one-time payment of Rs 5 lakh or an inflation adjusted annuity of Rs 2,000 per month per family for 20 years. The Standing Committee has recommended that the monetary components in the R&amp;R entitlements given in Schedule II in the Bill should be indexed to inflation.<br />
<br />
Under the LARR Bill 2011, every resettled area is to be provided with certain infrastructural facilities which include roads, drainage, provision for drinking water, grazing land, banks, post offices, public distribution outlets, etc. However, the Standing Committee has recommended that the infrastructure facilities should be decided on a case by case basis.<br />
<br />
<strong><em>Unutilized land </em></strong><br />
<br />
Clause 95 on unutlized land of the LARR Bill said that if an acquired land is left unutilised for a period of 10 years from the date it was acquired, it shall be returned to the Land Bank or the appropriate government. The Standing Committee has recommended that this period should be reduced to five years and if left unutilised, the land should be returned to the land owners. The Committee has also asked for clearly defining the term Land Bank in the LARR Bill 2011.<br />
<br />
<strong><em>Urgency provisions</em></strong><br />
<br />
The LARR Bill 2011 said that if land is acquired in urgency, an additional 75 percent compensation shall be provided. The Committee asked that in cases of urgency it should be clarified that the extra compensation would be 75 per cent of the total compensation package/ solatium calculated. Under the LARR Bill 2011, if a land is proposed to be acquired under the urgency provisions, a Social Impact Assessment (SIA) may not be conducted. The Committee has recommended that a notice should be issued if SIA is not conducted in an acquisition under the urgency provisions.<br />
<br />
<strong><em>Compensation package</em></strong><br />
<br />
Under the LARR Bill 2011, compensation for the land acquired shall be based on the higher of (a) the minimum land value, specified in the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 for the registration of sale deeds; and (b) the average sale price of the higher priced 50% of all sale deeds registered in the previous 3 years for similar type of land situated in the vicinity. In rural areas, this amount would be doubled. The value of the assets (trees, plants, buildings etc) attached to the land being acquired will be added to this amount. This total amount will then be multiplied by two to get the final compensation amount. In cases of the urgency Clause, additional 75 per cent compensation would be offered.<br />
<br />
The Standing Committee has recommended that the term &ldquo;market value&rdquo; should replace &ldquo;minimum value&rdquo;. In addition, a multi-member land pricing commission or authority should be constituted by appropriate government to finalize the cost of land acquisition state wise/area wise. Award given for the land acquired should be treated only as compensation and not as a base for circle rate for subsequent acquisitions so as to allay the fears of corporate sector regarding a speculative price spiral. Also, 12 per cent interest per annum should be paid in addition to the compensation from the date of the notification till the date of the award.<br />
&nbsp;</div>

<div>**page**</div>

<div>&nbsp;
<div>According to the National Advisory Council 2, <a href="http://nac.nic.in/press_releases/25_may_2011.pdf">http://nac.nic.in/press_releases/25_may_2011.pdf</a> &nbsp;&nbsp;<br />
<br />
[inside]Suggestions for Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill 2009 &amp; Resettlement and Rehabilitation Bill, 2009[/inside], <a href="http://nac.nic.in/pdf/working_group_proposal_for_larr.pdf">http://nac.nic.in/pdf/working_group_proposal_for_larr.pdf</a>: &nbsp;<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The NAC has recommended that it is upto the states to decide the extent of percentage of the total land to be acquired by them. In principle, the NAC disagrees with the 70:30 formula.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Acquired land non-performing for five years should be returned to original owners is another recommendation of NAC, which has been also well received.&nbsp;&nbsp;<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Giving freedom to the industry to acquire land directly could result in large scale cheating and deception in tribal and poor areas of India.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The NAC has recently asked for consolidating the Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill 2009 and Resettlement and Rehabilitation Bill, 2009 under the title Land Acquisition, Resettlement and Rehabilitation Act, 2011. The NAC wants a combined Bill instead of two separate bills since both the Bills are intrinsically inter-related, and having two separate Bills may lead to possibility of amending one without amending the other, and selective application of provisions of each Act, thereby defeating the purpose of providing justice and relief to those displaced.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Passing of separate bills will set in motion fragmented processes, causing confusion, delays, and therefore avoidable distress and suffering for the people. According to the NAC, a separate R&amp;R Bill won&#39;t be required to address displacement due to natural disasters and communal and caste violence since there are separate laws being enacted for Natural Disasters and Communal Violence.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The NAC thinks that the proposed Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill, 2009 does not explicitly mention the poor, and incorporates infrastructure and strategic interests. It has a provision for state acquisition of land for private for-profit companies. Section 5 of the Land Acquisition (Amendment Act) Bill, 2009 is silent on the nature of public interest proposed and the financial, social and environmental costs and benefits associated with a project.<br />
&nbsp;</div>
<strong><em>Compensation</em></strong><br />
&nbsp;
<div>&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Project Affected Families (PAFs) can make a choice in the way compensation is offered- i.) as a lump-sum amount; ii.) 30% as a lumpsum amount, and the rest as an annuity at the rate of 12% interest escalating every year for 33 years; or iii.) The total value as an annuity at the rate of 12% interest escalating every year, for 33 years. The latter two would be adjusted for inflation by escalating every year by 10%.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Share-croppers, landless labourers, artisans et al should receive ten days&rsquo; minimum wage per month for thirty three years when land is acquired by the State for &lsquo;public purposes&rsquo;.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; For such persons, there would be additional provisions for homestead land, training and employment rehabilitation in the rehabilitation and resettlement package.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The NAC has emphasized that lawfully recorded tenants and sharecroppers should be compensated (and paid solatium) for the parcels of land that they are losing, on an 80%:20% basis with the landowner being given 20%, which should not be less than four times their current income.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; A minimum of 5% shares should be distributed (equitably) free of cost to PAFs (increased by 5% for every additional 100 acres acquired). If the Government is allowed to acquire land, then land owners and non-land owners who depended on that land should enjoy four times their present monthly income after acquisition.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The NAC has proposed that compensation for those who lose land will be six times the registered sale deed value including solatium.</div>
<br />
<strong><em>Rehabilitation and Resettlement</em></strong><br />
&nbsp;
<div>&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The NAC has demanded transparency, public consulting, and prior informed consent during the process of land acquisition. The legal rights of Project Affected Families (PAFs) to challenge the entitlement cannot be withdrawn as it has been done under R&amp;R Bill, 2009. Section 11 of the R&amp;R Bill, 2009 needs to be amended so that all compensation must be paid and R&amp;R for all affected persons must be completed in all aspects at least 6 months before taking possession.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Section 3(b) (ii) of the R&amp;R Bill, 2009 does not mention the extent to which affected families have been deprived of their primary source of livelihood.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; All individual entitlements, such as land for land (where applicable), housing, employment and training opportunities, should be compulsorily offered to all PAFs irrespective of size of acquisition as per the NAC. Compulsory provisions for land for land are non-negotiable in case of all tribal and dalit families (to discourage acquisition of tribal and dalit land) and all irrigation projects. There should be an authority like the Auditor General of Displacement and Rehabilitation (AG-DR) to find out after 5 or 10 years of displacement as to what is the present condition of those displaced.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Instead of the Government notifying what amenities are to be provided in resettlement sites as per the Section 30 of the R&amp;R 2009 Bill, basic amenities like roads, safe drinking water, hygiene, educational facilities, community hall, and basic irrigation facilities should be present at resettlement sites. Every PAF family (and not just the BPL homeless families) should be given a built house and homestead land title.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Consent of 70 percent of the affected families in a gram sabha before acquisition is compulsory. A National Commission for Land Acquisition, Resettlement and Rehabilitation (NCLRR) should be established to assess extent of displacement based on the Social Impact Assessment (SIA) and and urgency clause for land acquisition should be used for purposes such as defence, national security and safety of lives as per recommendations of the NAC. The SIA would assess the social and environmental impacts from the project, and the R&amp;R plan drawn up.<br />
<br />
&nbsp;</div>

<div>According to the [inside]Standing Committee Report on the Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill 2007[/inside]<br />
<a href="http://prsindia.org/uploads/media/Land%20Acquisition/scr1226484896_SC_Report_Land_Acquisition_Bill__2008.pdf">http://prsindia.org/uploads/media/Land%20Acquisition/scr1226484896_SC_Report_Land_Acquisition_Bill__2008.pdf</a>: &nbsp;<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Optimum size of land required for a project needs to be determined so that excessive acquisition of land doesn&#39;t take place.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; There should be some legislation like Forest Conservation Act 1980 so that agricultural land can be protected like forest land.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; There is an urgent need to develop wasteland where agricultural land is acquired.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Since displacement leads to traumatic psychological and socio-cultural consequences, multiple displacements of affected families need to be avoided.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; States should declare the area where the tribals are rehabilitated as Scheduled Area. Land rights of tribals and forest dwellers should be recognized as per the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 so that they are compensated and rehabilitated during the process of land acquisition.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The details of the property to be acquired viz. khasra numbers in rural areas and quarter number in urban areas should be identified and widely publicized through prominent local English, Hindi and regional language newspapers. There is a need to avoid complications arising due to inadequacy of communicating the intent of acquisition through notification especially in hilly, tribal and remote areas. In order to circulate notification on rehabilitation and resettlement, the Government should rely on newspapers in local vernacular.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Affected persons should be provided 60 days from the date of publication of the notification to object to the acquisition of land.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Social Impact Assessment study should be done for all projects that displace physically more than 400 families in plain and 200 families in hilly, tribal and scheduled areas (same as NAC recommendation).<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Highest price of sale deed as indicated in the sale deeds of the last three years plus 50 per cent of the said highest price should be the criteria for assessing and determining the market value of the land. For tribal areas, the highest price of a sale deed of the adjoining non-tribal blocks/ village for the last three years plus 50 per cent should be the criteria for assessing and determining the market value of land.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Non agricultural land having valuable mineral resources underneath should be properly evaluated for granting compensation.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; A share of the economic benefits earned due to setting up a project in a land, which is acquired should go to the affected families.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Issue of shares and debentures as part of the compensation is impractical and as such issue of shares and debentures should be over and above the admissible compensation. The rate of solatium should be increased from thirty per centum on market value to sixty per centum on market value.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Land Acquisition Compensation Disputes Settlement Authorities (a kind of Ombudsman) at the Centre and State level should be created for the disposal of disputes, which remain pending in the courts of law.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Record of large tracts of unutilized land available with various Ministries needs to be kept before further land acquisition.<br />
<br />
&nbsp;</div>
**page**</div>

<div><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">According to [inside]A CITIZENS REPORT CARD ON SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONES[/inside] prepared by civil society organization, South Asia Citizens&#39; web:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><a href="http://www.sacw.net/IMG/pdf/CITIZENSREPORTONSEZs.pdf">http://www.sacw.net/IMG/pdf/CITIZENSREPORTONSEZs.pdf</a> </span><br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">THE NUMBERS</span></strong><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Total amount of land to be acquired across India: 150,000 hectares (the area of National Capital Region). This land - predominantly agricultural and typically multicropped - is capable of producing close to 1 million tons of foodgrains. If SEZs are seen to be successful in the future and more cultivated land is acquired, they will endanger the food security of the country.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The latest available statistics on Special Economic Zones show that the Board of Approvals at the Ministry of Commerce, the central body authorised to clear SEZ proposals, has approved 578 SEZs of which 315 have been notified.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * An analysis of figures up to 8th December 2008 displays a continuation of the pattern which has been evident since SEZ Act in 2005.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * As of December 2008 the Central government gave formal approvals to a staggering 552 SEZs in 19 states; 272 of these have been notified. (As of April 2009 the total number of Formal approvals was 578 and notified SEZs were 330)</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * With the significant economic slow-down towards the end of 2008 for the first time we started to see companies applying to de-register/denotify SEZs and it remains to be seen what the net effect will be.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The overwhelming part of SEZs continues to be in information technology and related industries. 181 notified SEZs exist for IT companies representing 66% of the total number of SEZs. Additionally there are 341 formally approved and 11 in-principle approvals.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * With all the different SEZs taken together at various stages of approval the IT sector still accounts for more than half at 55% of the total. The second largest sector will be multi-product with 9% of the all zones.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Andhra Pradesh tops the list of notified SEZs with 57, followed by Tamil Nadu on 44 and Maharashtra on 43.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Maharashtra has the most SEZs waiting to be notified however with 104 formally approved and 34 in principle, compared to AP&#39;s 99 and 2 respectively and Tamil Nadu&#39;s 66 and 18.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * These three states thus account for almost half of all the SEZs in the country. The share is especially significant among the already notified SEZs with 144 out of the total 274.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Even more imbalanced is the spread of SEZs when one considers the locations within each state. 48 out of the 99 formally approved SEZs in Andhra Pradesh are in or close to Hyderabad, while 34 of 66 formally approved are similarly in or close to Chennai.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The main number of SEZs can thus easily be characterised as being in the IT-sector and in one of primarily Western or Southern cities.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * This said, almost every state has tried to get a couple of SEZs to be established within their territories includingtiny Dadra &amp; Haveli&#39;s 4, and Pondicherry&#39;s 1 formally approved zones.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * 53 multiproduct SEZs are at the in principle approval stage meaning they might soon become formally notified. These are the zones which require really large areas of land and have been contentious on the issue of displacement.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Recently the rule preventing larger SEZs than 5,000 hectares was lifted which lead the Adani group to apply for and get granted a merger between the 3 zones of (4498 + 2658 + 2648 hectares) it had created next to each other at Mundra in Gujarat to avoid the land ceiling</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Among the actually operating SEZs the biggest ones apart from the Mundra zone(s) in Gujarat is APIIC 2,206 ha SEZ in Visakhapatnam and the Kakinada SEZ 1,035 ha both in Andhra Pradesh and the Navi Mumbai SEZ 1,223 ha in Maharashtra</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * With the many really large multi-product SEZs in the In Principle category these cover an area of 1.22 lakh hectares, or 869 hectares per SEZ on average.</span><br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">ISSUES OF CONCERN</span></strong><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp; 1. Large scale requirement of land and Forced Acquisition of Land - India is almost unique in its concept of creating SEZs on demand: i.e. the location, size and nature of the zone is explicitly determined not by state economic policy but by the demands of private capital.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp; 2. Despite issuing of guidelines by the Ministry of Commerce and the EGoM, that no forced acquisition of land will take place for private SEZs on 15th June 2007, nearly all states are using the Land Acquisition Act 1894 to acquire the land for developers of SEZs and that too in the absence of any provision for rehabilitation</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp; 3. In some states like Tamil Nadu and AP the governments are even using the urgency clause - 17/4 of the LAA to acquire land compulsorily.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp; 4. It is argued that much of the land being diverted for SEZs is already available with the State Industrial development Corporations (IDCs). While this is a fact, it needs to be specified that in many cases lands which had previously been acquired by IDCs and are now being transferred to SEZ developers also used the Land Acquisition Act.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp; 5. These sales are obviously at much higher rates than their original acquisition price from the farmers.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp; 6. The issue of compensation at market value, even to land owners is meaningless as the scales are heavily weighed in favor of private buyers and Government owned Industrial corporations, who are the informed negotiators in deciding the package</span><br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Landless and Agricultural labourers displaced without compensation-</span></strong><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp; 1. Almost 80% of the agricultural population in India owns only about 17% of the total agriculture land, making them near-landless workers. Far more families and communities depend on a piece of land (for work, grazing) than those who own it outright. However, compensation is being discussed only for those who hold titles to land. No compensation has been planned for those who do not.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp; 2. In states like Gujarat a large part of the land being diverted to SEZs is in the category of common or gowcher land (referred to wrongly as&#39;wasteland&#39;).Since these lands are &#39;common lands&#39; with no individual titles, they are transferred without even consulting the local communities and panchayats.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp; 3. Temple or Panchami land in Tamil Nadu and Waqf board lands in Andhra Pradesh are other examples of Public lands that have been expropriated and privatised for SEZs.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp; 4. The most outrageous acquisitions are taking place in Andhra Pradesh which has the highest number of SEZ approvals, in the form of acquiring assigned lands (allotted to Dalits and Scheduled Tribes) for SEZs. . This has been seen clearly in places like Polepally, Kakinada, Chittoor and Anantapur where SEZs are proposed.</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Destruction of Agro-based and rural economies-</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp; 1. The bulk of land being acquired for SEZs is fertile, agricultural land, especially in case of the multi-product zones. Agriculture Scientists have estimated that close to 1.14 lakh farming households (each household on an average comprising five members) and an additional 82,000 farm worker families who are dependent upon these farms for their livelihoods, will be displaced.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp; 2. The total loss of income to the farming and the farm worker families, then, is an astounding Rs.212-crore a year. These were the estimates in 2006 after the initial SEZ approvals which are now multiplied three-fold.</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Creation of exploitative employment opportunities and working conditions resulting from nullification of labour protection laws -</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The SEZ policy of the government transfers all the powers of the state Labor Commissioner to the Development Commissioners of the SEZs.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The power in the hands of the development Commissioner to declare SEZs as &quot;public utility services&quot; under the Industrial Disputes Act would mean that in SEZ areas workers will have no rights to strike or even to form unions and organize collectively to bargain for better wages or working conditions.</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">ECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The Ministry of Finance conducted a study, and came up with the figures that the cumulative revenue loss from tax holidays to SEZs over the period 2004-05 to 2009-10 is estimated to be 1,75,487 Cr.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The Ministry of Finance conducted a study, and came up with the figures that the cumulative revenue loss from tax holidays to SEZs over the period 2004-05 to 2009-10 is estimated to be 1,75,487 Cr.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * In its performance audit-report on indirect taxes for Union Government tabled in parliament on 11 March 2008, the CAG brought 370 SEZ units under scanner with a limited objective to verify if they had complied with existing Customs Act, Rules, notifications etc. The review brought out systemic as well as compliance weaknesses that caused lost revenues to the tune of Rs.246.72 crores.</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Stated objectives remain unfulfilled?</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce has admitted that 40% of the SEZs approved may never really &quot;take off the ground&quot; (Panos-Kalpavriksh media dialogue on SEZs -December 2008). Additionally the figures of 3.5 lakhs employment and 90,000 crores investment generated by SEZs are being questioned on their authenticity and efficacy since these have to be established through a detailed and independent evaluation.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Further the conditions of contract labour in SEZs are the most pathetic. Wages in existing SEZs are often below minimum. Sen and Dasgupta in a May 2007 survey found that in the NOIDA SEZ workers were getting Rs.80 a day for 9 hours of work. Likewise in Falta in West Bengal.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Indian policy has very little regulation on the activity within a zone. Notwithstanding claims of export-orientation, the only requirement imposed on SEZ units is a vague need for them to have a &lsquo;positive net foreign exchange balance.&#39; Even that only applies to industrial units in the zone. If the goal of SEZs is indeed exports surely a more stringent clause than merely &quot;positive net foreign exchange&quot; for the SEZ as a whole ought to be applied.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * It needs to be mentioned further that a great recession in the world economy is not a good omen for promoting SEZs, which will produce for an increasingly shrinking and protected export market. Also, it&#39;s not specified what happens to a developer whose SEZ does not meet the export requirement.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Just like it&#39;s not specified what the procedure for denotification is. The recession - and the accompanying demand for denotification by developers like DLF (SEZs) is exposing this loophole. In such cases what happens to the land? Will it be returned to farmers? If so, how?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The SEZ Act (Section 9, 11, 12 and 31) takes power back to the center and bureaucracy (by creating &#39;Board of Approvals&#39; and &#39;Development Commissioner&#39; and &lsquo;SEZ Authority&#39;, whose accountability is not certain.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The fact that the SEZs would have their own regulations, the rights for environmental and labour related clearances, security arrangements, means that they would be &#39;self contained privatized autonomous entities&#39;, where existing constitutional rights would be difficult to exercise.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The creation of separate courts for SEZs ridicules the existing judicial system. There is no clarity about how elections will be conducted, and what happens to the governing authority of the Gram Sabha/ Municipality, under the 73rd/74th amendments.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * There is no transparency in the guidelines formulated for selection, modification and rejection of SEZ proposals by the BoA.The Chairman of the Administrative reforms committee, M Veerappa Moily&#39;s report on SEZs states that &#39;We need to restructure the Board of Approval by putting in people who are objective and can take a balanced view.&#39;</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The Commerce Ministry had made public announcements of various studies/ comparison of SEZ with other countries. Mr. Kirit Somaya filed an RTI regarding this, and in the answer that was given stated - &quot;study of export of nearby countries of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka was done. No other studies or scientific analysis available.&quot;</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The SEZ Act was passed in haste without much public debate.In both houses of Indian Democracy has passed this bill was passed within a day (10th and 11th May 2005) with virtually no discussion, undermining many of the objections that were raised.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Further, information that has been demanded from the Ministry of Commerce on the approved projects under the RTI Act, 2005 has been denied on the clause of maintaining &quot;trade secrets&quot;.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * There is great deal of ambiguity and contradictions when one compares how environment clearances are dealt with in the EIA notification and the SEZ legislations.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * While it is units with the SEZs which are exempt from Environment Clearance public hearings, the SEZs itself are required to under go public hearing. However, there are cases like the Mundra SEZ where the Ministry of Environment has recommended that Public Hearing be exempted for the creation of the Multi Product SEZ.</span></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div><em><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">The CAG report on the Goa Industrial Development Corporation, referred to the Government of India in June 2008, concluded (direct quotes):</span></em><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Corporation deviated from its established role, of acquiring and allotting land directly to the entrepreneur, by allotting land to developers for further allotments by them</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Allotments were made without any transparent selection procedures</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Allotments to SEZs were made without publicising, that too before the State Government formulated its SEZ policy</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Land acquired for small and medium scale industries under IGC (Industrial Growth Centre) Scheme was allotted to SEZ violating GOI guidelines</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Revision of premium rate of Verna Phase IV (industrial estate proposed to house SEZs) only after major chunk was allotted at lower rate, tentatively fixed, resulted in loss of Rs. 36.89 crore</span><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Allotment of land contiguous to the land allotted to four SEZs at lesser rate resulted in loss of Rs. 39.47 crore</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Allotment of 14.36 lakh square metre land to two SEZ developers without adopting approved formula resulted in loss of Rs 17.76 crore</span><br />
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<em><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">(Source: The Comptroller and Auditor General of India, Goa State Report, Chapter VII Government Commercial and Trading Activities)</span></em><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">POINTS RAISED BY PARLIAMENTARY STANDING COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp; 1. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce of the previous government under the Chairman ship of Murli Manohar Joshi submitted its 83rd report on the &#39;Functioning of SEZs&#39; to the parliament on 20th June 2007.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp; 2. The most critical recommendation made by the committee included the need to &#39;pause and ponder&#39;.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp; 3. The report clearly expressed concern about the fast pace at which approvals have been granted by the BoA despite apprehensions raised from all quarters.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp; 4. Parliamentary Standing committee slammed the Ministry of Commerce on the ground that at the time of the release of the 83rd report there were 152 formal approvals and 82 notifications by the Board of Approvals and there was no effort to put a halt on the approvals despite the committee&#39;s recommendation to hold approvals till amendments were put in place.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp; 5. By the time the ATR was presented in the Rajya Sabha the total number of approved SEZs had crossed 500. The MoC has merely stated that it was in the process of getting a &#39;scientific evaluation&#39; done on the performance and impacts of SEZs.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp; 6. Most importantly the report criticised the escalation of displacement as a result of the large SEZs leading to displacement and speculation in many situations.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp; 7. Some of the other recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee which were brushed aside by the Ministry of Commerce in the ATR include:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp; 8. Region wise cap on the SEZ approvals to allow for balanced regional development of SEZs.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp; 9. Imposition of restrictions on unnecessary social infrastructure Linking of fiscal incentives to exports</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp; 10. Tax concessions in SEZs are similar to STPs and EoUs - then why is there are a need for SEZs?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp; 11. Re-look at delegation of Labour Commissioner&#39;s powers to the Development Commissioner</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp; 12. 83rd report of the parliamentary standing committee on commerce &#39;on the functioning of Special Economic Zones&#39;</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">**page**</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">FOR MORE PLEASE CLICK THE LINKS LISTED BELOW</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Paper presented at the National Seminar on &#39;Special Economic Zones: Engines of Growth and Social Development for India: Present Problems and Future Prospects&#39; (16 - 17 October &#39;08 at Hyderabad) organised by the Department of Sociology, Osmania University.</span><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><a href="http://www.sacw.net/article574.html">http://www.sacw.net/article574.html</a> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">SEZ Act-2005</span><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><a href="http://www.cnisbss.org/Newsline/PDF/SEZ/SEZ%20Act,%202005.pdf">http://www.cnisbss.org/Newsline/PDF/SEZ/SEZ%20Act,%202005.pdf</a> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Fact Sheet on Special Economic Zones by GOI- MINISTRY OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY</span><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><a href="http://sezindia.nic.in/writereaddata/updates/FACT%20sheet.pdf">http://sezindia.nic.in/writereaddata/updates/FACT%20sheet.pdf</a> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">List of operational SEZs</span><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><a href="http://sezindia.nic.in/writereaddata/pdf/ListofoperationalSEZs.pdf">http://sezindia.nic.in/writereaddata/pdf/ListofoperationalSEZs.pdf</a> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">List of Formal Approvals granted under the SEZ Act,2005 <a href="http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp">http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp</a> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">In principle approvals granted under the SEZ Act, 2005- <a href="http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp">http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp</a> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Statewise distribution of SEZs approved under the SEZ, Act, 2005- <a href="http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp">http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp</a> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Sectorwise distribution of SEZs approved under the SEZ Act, 2005- <a href="http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp">http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp</a> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">[inside]A critique of the National Policy for Rehabilitation and Resettlement (2007)[/inside] by Priyanca Mathur Velath,</span><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><a href="http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;do_pdf=1&amp;id=7235">http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;do_pdf=1&amp;id=7235</a> show</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; *</span><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"> On October 11, 2007, the Union Government announced the National Policy for Rehabilitation and Resettlement 2007 (NPRR 2007), replacing the National Policy on Resettlement and Rehabilitation for Project-Affected Families, 2003.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The new policy fails to examine the process of displacement, which is taken for granted. The draft makes no attempt to question the need for displacement in the first place, or to seek out and actively promote non-displacing or least-displacing alternatives.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The timing and true intention of the new policy along with govt.&#39;s declaration to amend the outdated Land Acquisition Act of 1894 are suspect.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Attempt to redefine the &lsquo;public purpose&#39; under the amendment to the land acquisition act actually favours private interest and big companies over the poor and marginalised.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Under the 2007 policy it has become simpler to required land for big companies as well as strategic and public infrastructure projects.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * &#39;Public purpose&#39; has been redefined to allow the state government to acquire land for a private company, association or body of individuals, provided it is &#39;useful for general public&#39;.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * &#39;Land for land&#39; principle in the 2007 policy suffers from ambiguity, as land is being offered as compensation but &#39;to the extent that government land is available in resettlement areas&#39;.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The policy outlines a number of benefits such as scholarships for the education of eligible people from affected families; preference for groups of cooperatives of affected persons in the allotment of contracts and other economic opportunities in and around the project site; housing benefits to landless affected families in both rural and urban areas; and wage employment to willing affected persons in construction work on the project. But the &lsquo;employment guarantee&#39; to one person from each nuclear family is &lsquo;subject to the availability&#39; of vacancies and &lsquo;suitability of the affected person&#39;. Such qualifying clauses as &quot;if available&quot; and &quot;as far as possible&quot; are widely used by project authorities and policymakers to shirk responsibility.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Conducting a Social Impact Assessment (SIA) has been made mandatory in the policy, but only if more than 400 families have been displaced in the plains areas and 200 in tribal, hilly and other scheduled areas. Why is the SIA mandatory only in projects above a certain size?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * There are provisions in the 2007 policy to introduce a Land Acquisition Compensation Settlement Authority (at the local level, removed from normal civil courts, to assist quick disposal of cases involving compensation disputes), a standing relief and rehabilitation authority at the district level, an ombudsman at the state level (to monitor rehabilitation under any project), a national monitoring committee and national monitoring cell (for effective monitoring of implementation of resettlement plans, with which state governments will have to share information) and a national rehabilitation commission (which will be empowered to exercise independent oversight over the rehabilitation and resettlement of affected families). Aggrieved persons can appeal to the high court and above against settlements decided by the Land Acquisition Compensation Settlement Authority. But the policy does not answer the crucial question as to whether these committees and commissions are empowered to stop a project from proceeding if there are indeed any discrepancies or issues of inadequate resettlement.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Resettlement rights must be guaranteed before any project begins and, in the event of faulty or inadequate resettlement, the project should be stopped from proceeding any further and the project developers held accountable. NPRR 2007 does not address any of these issues; nor does it give displaced persons &lsquo;first rights&#39; over the benefits of the project in question.</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Positive points about the National Policy for Rehabilitation and Resettlement:</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * This policy makes an important announcement that land acquired by the government will revert to the government in case the proposed project does not take off within five years of the acquisition. Since land is often acquired in excess of what is needed and later handed over to the developers for extraneous purposes like building hotels, parks and golf courses, this new clause is a positive one.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Another creditable clause in the new policy is that if the land is sold after the project has taken off, 80% of the net profit earned from the sale goes to the original landowner. Also, that land acquired for &lsquo;public purpose&#39; cannot be changed to any other purpose.</span><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">The study by Planning Commission titled [inside]Dams, Displacement, Policy and Law in India[/inside],</span><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><a href="http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/art_dam.pdf">http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/art_dam.pdf</a> show:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * With the adoption of policies for planned development after freedom in India, a major priority for policymakers was the harnessing of the country&#39;s water resources for irrigation and power. Large storage works such as the Bhakra, the Hirakud, the Tungabhadra and the Damodar Valley Dams were amongst the earliest projects undertaken in the post-Independence period in the country.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * A formidable body of independent empirical research into many of these large dams has established how their social, human and environmental costs have been ignored or grossly understated in the planning of these projects. Of the very many neglected costs of the big dams, some of the most grave are the social and human consequences of displacement.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * There are no reliable official statistics of the numbers of people displaced by large projects since Independence. Many researchers place their estimates between 10 and 25 million. In an influential 1989 study, Fernandes, Das and Rao provide an estimate of some 21 million displaced persons. Scholar-administrator Dr. N. C. Saxena, places his estimate of persons displaced by big projects since 1947 at nearly double this figure - 50 million.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * From the inception of planning of most projects, through various stages of displacement and resettlement, it is to be expected that those likely to be negatively affected by the projects would be consulted and kept informed in such a way as to enable them to best rebuild their ravaged lives. This, however, is very far from being the case. The studies have revealed that the level of information that the oustees had regarding the dam, submergence and subsequent displacement due to them, is lamentably low.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * It is only in recent years that, chiefly under the impact of people&#39;s movements, project authorities, state governments and international funding agencies have accepted responsibility for rehabilitation-one that extends beyond the payment of monetary compensation for expropriated individual assets and the provision of house sites. This neglect of rehabilitation assumes the gravest aspect when seen in relation to older projects, particularly those that commenced or were concluded in the first three decades after Independence.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * It has been observed that the driving objective of project authorities has not been to prepare and assist the families to relocate and to make a gradual and less painful transition to their new habitats. Instead frequently the only objective is to vacate the submergence zone of what are perceived to be its human encumbrances, with the brute force of the state if necessary. The evacuation of the villages was carried out with brutal insensitivity towards the feelings of the villagers who, not unnaturally, were bewildered and distressed at being forced out of their homes.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Resettlement sites are often inhospitable in a number of ways and their locations are selected without reference to availability of livelihood opportunities, or the preferences of displaced persons themselves.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * With the destruction of community and social bonds, the displaced are mired in anomie and a profound sense of loneliness and helplessness. The inflow of money creates greater pressure on family bonds. The outcomes are psychological pathologies and alcoholism, common among displaced populations.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Arguably the most culpable aspect of state-induced impoverishment of displaced populations is the phenomenon of multiple displacements. It has been documented, for instance, that as a direct result of the lack of co-ordination between the multiplicity of irrigation, thermal power and coal-mining agencies in Singrauli, most oustees have been displaced at least twice, and some three or four times in a matter of two or three decades.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * A frequently neglected, but extremely serious problem, is the unwillingness of host populations to accept resettled oustees in their midst.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The vast majority of tribal people displaced by big projects face danger of extinction as traditionally they depend more on natural resources. They are pushed inexorably into a vortex of increasing assetlessness, unemployment, debt-bondage and hunger.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Any loss of access to traditional sources of livelihood - land, forest, sea, river, pasture, cattle or saltpan land - marginalizes women on the labour market. Women not only suffered in terms of health and nutrition, they also lost the capacity to provide a secure future for their children.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Another extremely vulnerable group of oustees is oustees without land, including landless agricultural workers. The only legal reparation to displaced persons recognised by the statutes in India is compensation for loss of assets that are compulsorily acquired by the state for what the state designates as a `public purpose&#39;. However a landless family dependent on the acquired land for their livelihood may be most severely pauperised by the displacement because it loses its only source of economic survival. However, the law and most ehabilitation policies still do not recognise this profound vulnerability.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">**page**</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">[inside]Opposition to Big Dams: Lessons for Policy[/inside]</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Even before Independence, there were instances of anti-dam struggles such as the one led by Senapati Bapat in opposition to the Mulshi hydroelectric project in the Western Ghats.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The first large river valley project in India, Hirakud, resulted in widespread protests in 1946 after the initial notifications. People also launched a struggle against the Rihand project in 1963-64. However, such early protests could not be sustained, partly because of their failure to attract larger alliances, under the overwhelming influence of the nationalist rhetoric of nation-building that accompanied the construction of large dams in India.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The success of the mobilisation against the Silent Valley project, resulting in the decision to shelve the project in 1983, led to a new phase in the history of resistance to big dams in India.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Other notable early struggles against big dams were local movements opposed to the Suvarnarekha, Koel Karo and Srisailam projects.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The most celebrated protest movement against big dams so far has centred around the mega Sardar Sarovar Project on the river Narmada. A number of protest groups gathered under the leadership of activist Medha Patkar and in 1988, local resistance organisations federated into a common platform known as the Narmada Bachao Andolan (Save the Narmada Movement).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * A significant development has been the revival of struggles by people displaced by dams completed years ago, such as on the Bargi (completed 1990), Koyna (1964), Tawa (1975) and Mahi-Kadana (1978). We have already noted the success at Bargi and Tawa to secure fishing rights for cooperative societies of oustees in the dam reservoirs.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * By ensuring that these voices are heard, these movements have succeeded in compelling governments, both central and state, and powerful funding agencies like the World Bank, to rethink their policies on displacement and rehabilitation.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Opponents of big dams have argued that big dams are part of a development strategy that intrinsically impoverishes and disempowers the poor. The opponents to big dams in India have also challenged the dominant orthodoxy that development,especially state-induced development, by necessity entails the human costs of displacement or involuntary resettlement.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Another important issue in the debate around big dams in India is the question of whether the state should retain the power to compulsorily acquire private land for development projects without the consent of the owner or owners of such land.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The next issue in the debate is the nature and extent of state responsibility for the rehabilitation of the displaced. It is chiefly under the impact of people&#39;s movements, supported by painstaking empirical social science research, that the state has in recent times acknowledged that its responsibility for rehabilitation to extend beyond the payment of market value for compulsorily acquired assets. However, the state in India has continued to resist the laying down of the nature of its precise responsibilities for rehabilitation in the form of even a comprehensive policy statement, let alone legislating the right to rehabilitation as a legally enforceable right.</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Displacement and Rehabilitation: Suggested Directions for Policy</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Objectives of any just and equitable law and policy dealing with the colossal social and human impacts of big dams cannot be limited only to minimising the trauma of displacement, and ensuring the just resettlement of the victims of displacement. It must incorporate the objective to end, or severely curtail, displacement itself, to no longer accept state-induced involuntary resettlement as an inevitable cost of all development projects. It must enable people to effectively challenge as equal partners, a form of development which takes for granted the inevitability of displacement.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * It is incumbent upon the government before the launching of the project to justify that in the light of various technical and locational options, this is the least displacing alternative available. This claim should also be justiciable.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * It is imperative that the population likely to be affected by the acquisition be involved in the process from the time that decisions are sought to be made about where a project is to be located. They should be given full information to help them participate in decisions about whether the stated purpose is a public purpose; to explore options which may be less displacing; to work out the costs it involves for them; ando find out how they may gain from the process of change that the acquisition will bring.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Another institutional mechanism to limit displacement is to ensure that in the planning of any project the social and human costs are more accurately assessed and internalised in the cost-benefit analysis of the project.</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Compensation, Resettlement and Rehabilitation</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The policy of rehabilitation must contain safeguards for detailed advance planning for rehabilitation.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * All persons whose source of livelihood, place of residence or other property is affected notwithstanding the legal status enjoyed by them in relation to the concerned location of the resource base for their livelihood and subsistence, shall be deemed to be project affected persons (PAPs).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * If the guiding principle of rehabilitation is that displaced persons should become better off than they were in the past, one proviso that needs to be firmly embedded in the law is that compensation must be paid not at market but at replacement value.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The second guiding principle for assessment and payment of compensation should be that it is not only the loss of assets but also, far more significantly, the loss of livelihoods that must be compensated.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * A third guiding principle is that any displaced person must be fully compensated before displacement from land, house or livelihood is executed.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * If the objectives of rehabilitation of persons displaced as a result of large dams is to ensure that they are not only better off, but are direct project beneficiaries, then at the heart of such a strategy must be a policy of replacing agricultural land and agriculture-based livelihoods with alternate agricultural land of viable size and productivity and with appropriate complements of credit and input assistance.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Simultaneously, the scope for complementary non land-based livelihoods should also be explored along with land-based strategies. One such livelihood opportunity that is always created as a by-product of any large dam project is fresh-water fishing in the large reservoir.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The resettlement sites for displaced tribal families should be selected with great care and in consultation with the traditional/elected leaders or representatives of the displaced families as well as host populations, and established local NGOs. Efforts should be made to ensure that all tribal families of ousted villages are resettled together in a particular area.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Women headed households or single women should not be discriminated against in eligibility for benefits.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Still we are left with the most difficult issue of displaced persons from older dams. It has been estimated that as many as 3 out of every 4 persons displaced by big dams in India have been rendered worse off than they were before. Some reparation must be made, some attempt to rebuild so many millions of broken lives.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">The study titled [inside]Environment of Land Diversion, Displacement and Rehabilitation: A Study of Indian SEZs[/inside], <a href="http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf">http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf</a> show:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * India has adopted the policy of promoting the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) for faster industrial development. It needs about 50,000 hectares of agricultural land for SEZs and 1.49 lakh hectares for all projects which include also industrial, mining, irrigation and infrastructural projects.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Farmers in many parts of the country are resisting for land diversion and acquisition for these purposes.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Land especially agricultural land in India, is a very delicate subject and has been an emotional issue ever since the Zamindari days. Land is livelihood of millions of people. Not only the immediate owners of the land are affected because of land shifting, but also share-croppers or daily wage labourers who forgo their living through a scant, but reasonably reliable source of income.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * While acquiring the land the government agency normally fixes the market value of land much below the prevailing rate in the open market.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * India ratified the ILO Indigenous and Tribal Populations Convention, 1957 in 1958. This Convention deals primarily with the protection and integration of indigenous, tribal and semi-tribal groups. The Convention provides that where as an exceptional measure tribal groups are removed from their land they should be provided with lands of quality at least equal to that of the lands previously occupied by them. It goes on to provide that they should be compensated for any &quot;resulting injury or loss&quot;.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The UN Guiding Principles on Internally Displaced Persons, 1998 is meant to serve as an international standard to guide governments as well as international humanitarian and development agencies in providing assistance and protection to IDPs. They provide protection against arbitrary displacement, offer a basis for protection and assistance during displacement, and set forth guarantees for safe return, resettlement and reintegration.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The Land Acquisition Act, 1894 of India is the primary legislation that provides for acquisition of land. But this Act has been criticized &quot;for considering land only as a commodity generating income&quot;. However, when a family is settled on a piece of land not only does it earn its livelihood from it but it also has a whole social network.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2007 puts provisions for &quot;rehabilitation and resettlement of persons affected by acquisition of land under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894&quot; or due to any other legislation by the Central or State governments or involuntary displacement due to any other reason. The Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 6 December 2007 and has since been referred to the Standing Committee on Rural Development.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * National Rehabilitation and Resettlement Policy, 2007 came in order to solve issues arising out of policies of economic liberalization/de-regularization. The NRRP, 2007 has come into force from Oct. 2007. The new policy is applicable to all affected persons and families whose land, property or livelihood are adversely affected by land acquisition or by involuntary displacement of a permanent nature due to any other reason.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Now, by and large there is unanimity that no development can be accepted at the cost of social equity. Land acquisition needs total reform and rehabilitation package. Land owners, should get adequate compensation of their land.</span><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">According to the study titled: [inside]Large Dam Projects and Displacement in India[/inside], <a href="http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf">http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf</a>:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The government of India does not have figures of people displaced by large dams. This fact is the biggest sign of the fact that displacement and resettlement of people is the least concern of large dam builders.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * India is the third largest dam builder country in the world. It now has over 3600 large dams and over 700 more under construction.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The large dams are the single largest cause of displacement in India.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * A World Bank review of the status of displacement and rehabilitation has shown that the displacement of as many as 0.6 million people across 192 projects had not been accounted for in project planning. In at least one instance, the number of people actually displaced was seven times the number stated in the project documents.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Often only reservoir displacement is taken into account. Whereas Large dam projects can displace people in a number of ways including due to colonies, due to canals, downstream impacts, catchment area treatment, compensatory afforestation, secondary displacement (at resettlement colonies, for example) and due to related conservation schemes like sanctuaries and national parks.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Displacement due to dams in India has been variously estimated. Fernandes, Das &amp; Rao (1989) claimed that Indians displaced by dam projects numbered 21 million.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Available estimates of people displaced by large and medium dams in India show that the 140 dams for which such figures are available, have displaced over 4.4 million people.</span><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">The study titled [inside]Right to displace, but no duty to rehabilitate (A critique of the Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2007)[/inside].</span><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><a href="http://www.indiatogether.org/2008/jan/law-resettle.htm">http://www.indiatogether.org/2008/jan/law-resettle.htm</a> shows:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The bill seems to be based on the premise that the acquiring land for a &#39;public purpose&#39; is a right by the state under its powers of eminent domain, but it accepts no duty to resettle and rehabilitate all the affected citizens. Instead, rehabilitation is presented as an act of benevolence.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2007 seeks to &quot;provide for the rehabilitation and resettlement of persons affected by the acquisition of land for projects of public purpose or involuntary displacement due to any other reason&quot;.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The bill came at a time when concerted efforts were about to begin made by both the central and state governments to increase economic activity through the deployment of domestic and foreign private capital on a gigantic scale in new infrastructure and industry.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The history of large scale land acquisition and consequent displacement goes back to the 1950s, when the newly independent republic embarked on large state owned projects for irrigation, power, steel and heavy engineering that were meant to occupy the &#39;towering heights of the economy&#39;.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Land for even such gigantic projects was (and continues to be) acquired using the coercive powers provided by the colonial Land Acquisition Act. It narrowly defined persons affected by an acquisition to be either land owners or occupiers (tenants), and limited compensation to purely monetary terms.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Even those who were compensated monetarily were hard put to replace their lost land assets and regain their means of livelihood. In the absence of any rehabilitation plan, people displaced by Hirakud dam project occupied whatever open lands they could locate. These lands were not legally theirs, making them vulnerable to constant harassment by officials.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The Narmada Sardar Sarovar project is illustrative of how things have changed over the last six decades. Struggle against displacement by the PAPs led by Narmada Bachao Andolan contributed immensely to change the discourse of the development and displacement.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * But the experience of the Sardar Sarovar and many other projects over the last 60 years reveals the inadequacy of R&amp;R policy - at the project, company, state or even national level- to address the legal neglect of displacement and the rights of the affected people, particularly those without land or tenancy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * These are some of the issues that came under debate as the Rehabilitation and Resettlement bill 2007 was introduced.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The bill prescribes conditions for project affected families to qualify as beneficiaries and makes the benefits themselves conditional on external circumstances.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Under the provisions of the bill, an area will be notified as an &#39;affected area&#39; &quot;where the appropriate Government is of the opinion that there is likely to be involuntary displacement of four hundred or more families en masse in plain areas&quot; (the number is less for hilly and tribal areas).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Thus the opinion of the Government on the scale of the displacement will decide if there will be planned R&amp;R of the displaced.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * There are many other conditions attached to the benefits.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * While acquiring land for a &#39;public purpose&#39;, with its attendant displacement and denial of livelihood, is claimed as a right of the state under its powers of eminent domain, the R&amp;R bill does not accept that it is the unconditional duty of the state to resettle and rehabilitate all the affected citizens so that they are able to maintain, if not improve, their current standard of living.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">**page**</span><br />
&nbsp;</div>

<div><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">The paper by Jaideep Hardikar, published in &lsquo;Infochange&#39; titled [inside]The destruction of &#39;development&#39;[/inside],&nbsp;<a href="http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;do_pdf=1&amp;id=6161">http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;do_pdf=1&amp;id=6161</a>, does not go into depths and details, but it gives a bird&#39;s views of the problem.</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Main Points:</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Since independence at least 50 million people in India have been displaced by dams, mines, thermal power plants, corridor projects, field firing ranges, express highways, airports, national parks, sanctuaries, industrial townships, even poultry farms. They continue to pay the price for India&#39;s &#39;development&#39;.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * These may be conservative figures. Because displacement is usually only understood as direct displacement from land, such figures exclude many groups who are affected but who do not own land.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * A vast majority are landless and marginal farmers, mostly tribal, dalit or other economically backward communities. One study suggests that roughly one in every ten Indian tribals is a displaced person. Tribals constitute 8% of the country&#39;s population, and more than 40% of the displaced persons.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Displacement by mines or thermal power plants is perhaps less visible than the forced movements of people triggered by dams. The acquisition takes place in phases. The would-be oustees are the last ones to know about their eviction by mines. This gives them little or no chance of resistance or coming together to bargain for a better rehabilitation package.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * As things stand today, there&#39;s no region in the country where people haven&#39;t been displaced by development projects. And there&#39;s no region in the country where you would find people rehabilitated according to their aspirations and priorities.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">[inside]World Bank: Resettlement and Rehabilitation (R&amp;R) Policy[/inside]</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">The World Bank has a policy for Resettlement and Rehabilitation (R&amp;R),</span><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><a href="http://www.his.com/~mesas/policy.htm">http://www.his.com/~mesas/policy.htm</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">The Bank&#39;s present policy is contained in the document &quot;Involuntary Resettlement,&quot; Operational Directive (OD) 4.30, adopted June 1990. According to the WB, the objective of its resettlement policy is to ensure that the population displaced by a project receives benefits from it.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">The WB says, &quot;Development projects that displace people involuntarily generally give rise to severe economic, social, and environmental problems.&quot;</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Its R&amp;R policy emphasizes the need for:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Minimizing involuntary resettlement;</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Providing people displaced by a project with the means to improve, or at least restore, their former living standards, earning capacity, and production levels;</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Involving both re-settlers and hosts in resettlement activities;</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * A time-bound resettlement plan; and</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Valuation and compensation principles for land and other assets affected by the project.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">For environmental point of view, the World Bank has categorised the projects into three groups. According to this, Group &quot;A&quot; projects need a full environmental assessment (EA). Category B projects do not require a full EA but do require some environmental analysis. Category C projects do not require environmental analysis.</span><br />
&nbsp;</div>

<div><em><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Category A projects are:</span></em><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Dams and reservoirs;</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Forestry production projects;</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Industrial plants (large-scale) and industrial estates;</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Irrigation, drainage, and flood control (large-scale);</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Land clearance and levelling;</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Mineral development (including oil and gas);</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Port and harbour development;</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Reclamation and new land development;</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Resettlement and all projects with potentially major impacts on people;</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * River basin development;</span><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp; </span><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Thermal and hydropower development; and</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Manufacture, transportation, and use of pesticides or other hazardous and/or toxic materials.</span><br />
<br />
<em><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Category B projects are:</span></em><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Agro-industries (small-scale);</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Electrical transmission;</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Aquaculture and mariculture;</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Irrigation and drainage (small-scale);</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Renewable energy;</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Rural electrification;</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Tourism;</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Rural water supply and sanitation;</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Watershed projects (management or rehabilitation); and</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Rehabilitation, maintenance, and upgrading projects (small-scale).</span><br />
<br />
<em><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Category C projects might be:</span></em><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Education,</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Family planning,</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Health,</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Nutrition,</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Institutional development,</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Technical assistance, and</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Most human resource projects.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">**page**&nbsp; </span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">[inside]Imagining a Post-Development Era? Critical thought, Development and Social Movements by Arturo Escobar[/inside] is a paper, which gives a fair idea of debates on developments till 1960s and afterwards. This is an important reading for a deeper understanding of evolution of concepts of developments in last few decades. As there is a cause and effect relationship between development projects and displacement, therefore while looking into the issue of displacement it is desirable to have an understanding of this whole debate on development.</span><br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Main Points:</span></strong><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Nowadays it has become difficult to talk about development with the same confidence and encompassing scope with which intellectuals and activists spoke about these vital matters in the past decades. Now there are differing views. When one speaks about development, other voices emphasize on the &quot;crisis of development&quot;. The &quot;new social actors&quot; and &quot;new social movements&quot; are raising fundamental questions on the conventional sense of development.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * To examine development as discourse requires understanding why so many countries started to see themselves as underdeveloped, and, how &quot;to develop&quot; became for them a fundamental problem.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * In the previous period, from the early post-War years to the end of the 1970s, development was chiefly a matter of capital, technology, and education and the appropriate policy and planning mechanisms to successfully combine these elements.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Resistance, on the other hand, was primarily a class issue and a question of imperialism. Nowadays, even imperialism and class are thought to be the object of innumerable mediations. Now we come across new ways of thinking on these issues, especially in relation to social movements.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * With the emergence of the new critique it is being argued that development has been an invention and strategy produced by the &quot;First World&quot; about the &quot;underdevelopment&quot; of the &quot;Third World.&quot; Largely, it has been an instrument of economic control over the physical and social reality of much of Asia, Africa and Latin America.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * These schools of thought now are now advocating for &quot;alternatives to development&quot; that needs transformation of the notions of development, modernity and the economy.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The number of scholars in the Third World says that rather than searching for development alternatives, there is a need to go for the &quot;alternatives to development,&quot; that is, a rejection of the entire earlier paradigm.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * In the Third World the process of needs interpretation and satisfaction is inextricably linked to the development apparatus. The &quot;basic human needs&quot; strategy, pushed by the World Bank and adopted by most international agencies, has played a crucial role in this regard. However, the critics say that this strategy is based on a liberal human rights discourse and on the rational, scientific assessment and measurement of &quot;needs&quot;; lacking a significant link to people&#39;s everyday experience, and &quot;basic human needs&quot; discourse does not foster greater political participation.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * This paper argues that the possibility for redefining development rests largely with the action of social movements. Though the paper in most of its parts has discussed the Latin American experiences, it has significance for whole Third World.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">The [inside]main provisions under Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act (MMDR Act)[/inside] are as follows:</span><br />
<em><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><a href="http://mines.gov.in/policy/noticeapril.pdf">http://mines.gov.in/policy/noticeapril.pdf</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><a href="http://www.prsindia.org/uploads/media/draft/Draft%20Mines%20and%20Minerals%20Bill_31%20March%202010.pdf">http://www.prsindia.org/uploads/media/draft/Draft%20Mines%20and%20Minerals%20Bill_31%20March%202010.pdf</a> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">A background and critique:</span><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><a href="http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl2714/stories/20100716271402500.htm">http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl2714/stories/20100716271402500.htm</a> </span></em><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The 1957 Act has outlived its utility despite the several amendments made to it up to 1999. The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation Act, 1957, came into force at a time when governments required much discretionary power to regulate a nascent mining sector. The rise of the market economy in the early 1990s brought about a fundamental change in the government&#39;s attitude to mining.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The National Mineral Policy, 1993, recognised the need to encourage private investment, including foreign direct investment (FDI), and to attract state-of-the-art technology in the mineral sector.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Mining is a three-stage operation, involving regional exploration, detailed exploration, and actual mining.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Procedural delay was identified as one of the impediments in encouraging the flow of private investment and in the introduction of high-end technology for exploration and mining. The Anwarul Hoda Committee, constituted by the Planning Commission in 2005, in its report submitted in 2006 made specific recommendations on the legal framework to avoid procedural delay.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The New Mining Policy (NMP) 2008, while reflecting these recommendations, also sought to develop a sustainable framework for optimum utilisation of mineral resources for industrial growth and for improving the life of people living in the mining areas.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The proposed Act makes significant departures from the existing Act in areas that were seen as instances of micromanagement.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * As per the proposed Act, the union Ministry for mines and minerals give up its &quot;prior approval&quot; power in grant of concessions for minerals in Part C of the First Schedule. In the proposed Act, Part C includes 74 major minerals, while Part A includes coal and lignite and Part B atomic minerals. Part C of the First Schedule of the existing Act includes only 10 metallic and non-metallic minerals.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The proposed Act envisages the setting up of a national mining tribunal, which can check independently decisions as also indecision and delays. It gives more teeth to the Indian Bureau of Mines to regulate the mining plan and mine closure and empowers the Central government to enforce disclosure through databases and websites.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The draft Bill allows the setting up of a national mineral royalty commission with State governments as members, for progressive solutions for revenue-sharing through royalty.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The proposed Act provides for stringent measures to prevent illegal mining. It empowers State governments to detect, prevent and prosecute cases of illegal mining, set up special courts to try such cases and declare those convicted as ineligible for grant of mining concessions.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * One of the consistent demands of the steel industry has been the reservation of mineral-bearing areas for public sector undertakings. The proposed Act rejects this demand, consistent with the Hoda Committee&#39;s recommendation that reservation goes against the principles of providing a level playing field.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The draft Bill guarantees assured annuity to the local population as a percentage of profits (26 per cent) earned by the miner, resettlement and rehabilitation of the local population through employment and skill enhancement.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * It also provides for compulsory consultation with gram sabha/district panchayats in tribal areas before notification of the area for grant of concessions, and preference to tribal cooperatives in the grant of concessions over small deposits.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">According to a report named [inside]SEZs and land acquisition FACTSHEET FOR AN UNCONSTITUTIONAL ECONOMIC POLICY[/inside] Prepared by Citizens&#39; Research Collective</span><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><a href="http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf">http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf</a> </span><br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">SEZ - DISPLACEMENT AND LOSS OF LIVELIHOODS</span></strong><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Estimates show that close to 114,000 farming households (each household on an average comprising five members) and an additional 82,000 farm worker families who are dependent upon these farms for their livelihoods, will be displaced.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * In other words, at least 10 lakh (1,000,000) people who primarily depend upon agriculture for their survival will face eviction. Experts calculate that the total loss of income to the farming and the farm worker families is at least Rs. 212 crores a year.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * This does not include other income lost (for instance of artisans) due to the demise of local rural economies. The government promises &lsquo;humane&#39; displacement followed by relief and rehabilitation.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * However, the historical record does not offer any room for hope on this count: an estimated 40 million people (of which nearly 40% are Adivasis and 25% Dalits) have lost their land since 1950 on account of displacement due to large development projects. At least 75% of them still await rehabilitation.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Almost 80% of the agricultural population owns only about 17% of the total agriculture land, making them near landless farmers. Far more families and communities depend on a piece of land (for work, grazing) than those who simply own it. However, compensation is being discussed only for those who hold titles to land. No compensation has been planned for those who don&#39;t.</span><br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">LOSS OF PUBLIC REVENUE</span></strong><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Exemptions from customs duties, income tax, sales tax, excise duties and service tax (even on luxury hotel facilities, shopping malls, health clubs and recreation centres) given to SEZs, the Finance ministry estimates a loss of Rs.1,60,000 crore till 2010 in revenue. (The Ministry has also asked for capping the number of SEZs at 100.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Finance Minister P. Chidambaram wrote to Cabinet colleagues saying: &quot;SEZs per se will distort land, capital, and labour cost, which will encourage relocation or shifting of industries in clever ways that can&#39;t be stopped. This will be further aggravated by the proliferation of a large number of SEZs in and around metros.&quot;)</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The foregone tax revenue every year is five times the annual allocation for the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and is enough to feed each year 55 million people who go to bed hungry every day.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Furthermore, given the concessions on import duties (not merely for the investors who will produce exportable items but also for the developer, who will not), there are likely to be foreign exchange losses (rather than gains).</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * For the five year period ending 1996-97 the foreign exchange outgo on imports made by units in SEZs and the customs duty forgone amounted to Rs.16461.58 crore against which exports of only Rs.13563.87 crore were reported.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Moreover, these zones are exempt from sales tax, octroi, mandi tax etc on the supply of the goods from the Domestic Tariff Area (rest of India).</span><br />
&nbsp;</div>
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&nbsp;

&bull; Section 105 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, which provides for excluding 13 Central legislation, including Land Acquisition (Mines) Act 1885, Atomic Energy Act, 1962, Railway Act...',
	'disp' => '<p><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">KEY TRENDS</span></p><p>&nbsp;</p><div>&bull; Section 105 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, which provides for excluding 13 Central legislation, including Land Acquisition (Mines) Act 1885, Atomic Energy Act, 1962, Railway Act 1989, National Highways Act 1956 and Metro Railways (Construction of Works) Act, 1978, from its purview, has been amended for payment of compensation with rigours $<br /><br />&bull; The amendments have now relaxed the requirements of consent and Social Impact Assessment survey for projects in following areas: 1. Defence and defence production; 2. Rural infrastructure (including rural electrification); 3. Affordable housing; 4. Industrial corridors; 5. Social infrastructure projects including PPPs in which ownership rests with the government $</div><p>&nbsp;</p><div><p>&nbsp;</p></div><div>&bull; The Standing Committee report on Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011 (submitted on 17 May, 2012) recommended that land may not be acquired for use by private companies and PPPs. The Committee recommended including &ldquo;infrastructure projects&rdquo; within the definition of public purpose. Since sale and purchase of land is a state subject, the threshold for R&amp;R provisions shall be fixed by the states and not the central government. Restriction on land acquisition should also apply to any land under agricultural cultivation. No central act should be exempted from the provisions of the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011 and necessary amendments should be brought in those Acts to bring them at par with this Bill. The Committee recommended that if acquired land is left unutilized for 5 years, the land should be returned to the land owners &alpha;<br /><br />&bull; India is the third largest dam builder country in the world. It now has over 3600 large dams and over 700 more under construction*<br /><br />&bull; Displacement due to dams in India has been variously estimated. Fernandes, Das &amp; Rao (1989) claimed that Indians displaced by dam projects numbered 21 million*<br /><br />&bull; Available estimates of people displaced by large and medium dams in India show that the 140 dams for which such figures are available, have displaced over 4.4 million people*<br /><br />&bull; Many researchers estimated that the number of people displaced due to big projects comes between 10 and 25 million. In an influential 1989 study, Fernandes, Das and Rao provide an estimate of some 21 million displaced persons. Scholar-administrator Dr. N. C. Saxena, places his estimate of persons displaced by big projects since 1947 at nearly double this figure &mdash; 50 million**<br /><br />&bull; India has adopted the policy of promoting the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) for faster industrial development. It needs about 50,000 hectares of agricultural land for SEZs and 1.49 lakh hectares for all projects which include also industrial, mining, irrigation and infrastructural projects***<br /><br />&bull; The Land Acquisition Act, 1894 of India is the primary legislation that provides for acquisition of land***<br /><br />&bull; Since independence at least 50 million people in India have been displaced by dams, mines, thermal power plants, corridor projects, field firing ranges, express highways, airports, national parks, sanctuaries, industrial townships, even poultry farms@<br /><br /><strong><em>Sources:</em></strong></div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>$&nbsp;Amendments to the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, Press Information Bureau, dated: 29 December 2014 (Please <a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Land_act_amendments.pdf" title="Land Act amendments" title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Land_act_amendments.pdf" title="Land Act amendments">click here</a> to access)</div><div>&nbsp;<br />&alpha; <a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Summary%20of%20the%20Standing%20Committee%20recommendations.pdf" title="Summary of the Standing Committee recommendations" title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Summary%20of%20the%20Standing%20Committee%20recommendations.pdf" title="Summary of the Standing Committee recommendations">Standing Committee Report Summary</a>, PRS Legislative Research<br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small">* Large Dam Projects and Displacement in India,</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small"><a href="http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf" title="http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf">http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf</a> </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small">**&nbsp; Planning Commission titled Dams, Displacement, Policy and Law in India,</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small"><a href="http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/art_dam.pdf" title="http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/art_dam.pdf">http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/a<br />rt_dam.pdf</a> </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small">*** Environment of Land Diversion, Displacement and Rehabilitation: A Study of Indian SEZs,</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small"><a href="http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf" title="http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf">http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf</a> </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small">@ The destruction of &#39;development&#39; by Jaideep Hardikar, Infochange</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small"><a href="http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;do_pdf=1&amp;id=6161" title="http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;do_pdf=1&amp;id=6161">http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&a<br />mp;do_pdf=1&amp;id=6161</a> </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small"><a href="http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf" title="http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf">http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf</a> </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">',
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	'title' => 'Displacement',
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	'description' => '<p><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">KEY TRENDS</span></p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<div>&bull; Section 105 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, which provides for excluding 13 Central legislation, including Land Acquisition (Mines) Act 1885, Atomic Energy Act, 1962, Railway Act 1989, National Highways Act 1956 and Metro Railways (Construction of Works) Act, 1978, from its purview, has been amended for payment of compensation with rigours $<br />
<br />
&bull; The amendments have now relaxed the requirements of consent and Social Impact Assessment survey for projects in following areas: 1. Defence and defence production; 2. Rural infrastructure (including rural electrification); 3. Affordable housing; 4. Industrial corridors; 5. Social infrastructure projects including PPPs in which ownership rests with the government $</div>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
</div>

<div>&bull; The Standing Committee report on Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011 (submitted on 17 May, 2012) recommended that land may not be acquired for use by private companies and PPPs. The Committee recommended including &ldquo;infrastructure projects&rdquo; within the definition of public purpose. Since sale and purchase of land is a state subject, the threshold for R&amp;R provisions shall be fixed by the states and not the central government. Restriction on land acquisition should also apply to any land under agricultural cultivation. No central act should be exempted from the provisions of the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011 and necessary amendments should be brought in those Acts to bring them at par with this Bill. The Committee recommended that if acquired land is left unutilized for 5 years, the land should be returned to the land owners &alpha;<br />
<br />
&bull; India is the third largest dam builder country in the world. It now has over 3600 large dams and over 700 more under construction*<br />
<br />
&bull; Displacement due to dams in India has been variously estimated. Fernandes, Das &amp; Rao (1989) claimed that Indians displaced by dam projects numbered 21 million*<br />
<br />
&bull; Available estimates of people displaced by large and medium dams in India show that the 140 dams for which such figures are available, have displaced over 4.4 million people*<br />
<br />
&bull; Many researchers estimated that the number of people displaced due to big projects comes between 10 and 25 million. In an influential 1989 study, Fernandes, Das and Rao provide an estimate of some 21 million displaced persons. Scholar-administrator Dr. N. C. Saxena, places his estimate of persons displaced by big projects since 1947 at nearly double this figure &mdash; 50 million**<br />
<br />
&bull; India has adopted the policy of promoting the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) for faster industrial development. It needs about 50,000 hectares of agricultural land for SEZs and 1.49 lakh hectares for all projects which include also industrial, mining, irrigation and infrastructural projects***<br />
<br />
&bull; The Land Acquisition Act, 1894 of India is the primary legislation that provides for acquisition of land***<br />
<br />
&bull; Since independence at least 50 million people in India have been displaced by dams, mines, thermal power plants, corridor projects, field firing ranges, express highways, airports, national parks, sanctuaries, industrial townships, even poultry farms@<br />
<br />
<strong><em>Sources:</em></strong></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>$&nbsp;Amendments to the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, Press Information Bureau, dated: 29 December 2014 (Please <a href="tinymce/uploaded/Land_act_amendments.pdf" title="Land Act amendments">click here</a> to access)</div>

<div>&nbsp;<br />
&alpha; <a href="tinymce/uploaded/Summary%20of%20the%20Standing%20Committee%20recommendations.pdf" title="Summary of the Standing Committee recommendations">Standing Committee Report Summary</a>, PRS Legislative Research<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small">* Large Dam Projects and Displacement in India,</span><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small"><a href="http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf">http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf</a> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small">**&nbsp; Planning Commission titled Dams, Displacement, Policy and Law in India,</span><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small"><a href="http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/art_dam.pdf">http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/art_dam.pdf</a> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small">*** Environment of Land Diversion, Displacement and Rehabilitation: A Study of Indian SEZs,</span><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small"><a href="http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf">http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf</a> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small">@ The destruction of &#39;development&#39; by Jaideep Hardikar, Infochange</span><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small"><a href="http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;do_pdf=1&amp;id=6161">http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;do_pdf=1&amp;id=6161</a> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small"><a href="http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf">http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf</a> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">**page**</span></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Please <a href="tinymce/uploaded/The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Second Ordinance 2015.pdf" title="The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Second Ordinance 2015">click here</a> to access [inside]The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Second Ordinance 2015[/inside], dated 30 May, 2015</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Please <a href="tinymce/uploaded/The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Second Amendment) Bill 2015.pdf" title="The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Second Amendment) Bill 2015">click here</a> to access [inside]The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Second Amendment) Bill 2015[/inside]</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Please <a href="tinymce/uploaded/RFCTLARR%20Act%20(Amendment)%20Ordinance,%202014.pdf" title="Amended Land Acquisition Act">click here</a> to access [inside]The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Ordinance 2014[/inside], promulgated by the President on 31 December 2014</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Please <a href="tinymce/uploaded/Land_act_amendments.pdf" title="Land Act amendments">click here</a> to access the [inside]Amendments made in the&nbsp; Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013[/inside]. Source: Press Information Bureau, dated: 29 December 2014</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>
<div>The salient features of [inside]The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013[/inside], which repeals the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 are as follows (Please <a href="http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/files/file/Act_Land_Acqusiition_2013.pdf">click here</a>&nbsp; to access):<br />
<br />
&bull; Payment of compensation upto four times the market value in rural areas and two times the market value in urban areas.<br />
<br />
&bull; Rehabilitation and Resettlement is an integral part of the land acquisition. No family will be displaced before rehabilitation.<br />
<br />
&bull; A social impact assessment study to be done compulsorily in all cases of land acquisition irrespective of extent of area.<br />
<br />
&bull; The definition of &lsquo;affected families&rsquo; has been extended to include not only the land owners but also others dependent on land for their livelihoods like agricultural labourers, tenants.<br />
<br />
&bull; To ensure transparency and participation, the Act provides for consent of at least eighty and seventy percent of the land owners in the cases of land acquisition for Private and Public Private Partnership Projects respectively.<br />
<br />
&bull; In Scheduled Areas consent of the Gram Sabhas/ Panchayats / Autonomous District Councils is mandatory in all cases of land acquisition.<br />
<br />
&bull; To safeguard food security and to prevent arbitrary acquisition, the Act directs the States to impose limits on the multi cropped irrigated land that can be acquired.<br />
<br />
&bull; In case, land remains unutilized after acquisition, the new Act empowers States to return the land either to the owner or to the State Land Bank.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>
&nbsp;</div>

<div>Please <a href="tinymce/uploaded/LAAR%20Bill%20as%20passed%20by%20LS.pdf" title="LARR Bill as passed by LS">click here</a> to access [inside]The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2013[/inside] that was passed by the Lok Sabha on 29 August, 2013.&nbsp;</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>In order to access the [inside]Draft National Land Reforms Policy (dated 18 July, 2013)[/inside], prepared by Ministry of Rural Development, please <a href="tinymce/uploaded/Draft_National_Land_Reforms_Policy_July_2013.pdf" title="Draft Land Reforms Policy 2013">click here</a>.</div>

<div><br />
The <a href="tinymce/uploaded/Standing%20Committee%20Report%20on%20LARR%20Bill%202011.pdf" title="Standing Committee report on LARR 2011">report by the Standing Committee</a> on Rural Development pertaining to Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (LARR) Bill 2011 was tabled in the Lok Sabha on 17 May, 2012. As per the [inside]Standing Committee Report 2012[/inside], the salient features of the LARR Bill 2011 (now renamed as Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill) are as follows:<br />
<br />
(1) New integrated legislation dealing with land acquisition and rehabilitation &amp; resettlement while repealing the Land Acquisition Act, 1894.<br />
<br />
(2) Exemption to 16 Central Acts specified in Fourth Schedule from the ambit of the Bill.<br />
<br />
(3) Defining the term affected family, which includes both the land losers and livelihood losers.<br />
<br />
(4) Provision of R &amp; R benefits in case of specified private purchase of land equal to or more than 100 acres in rural areas and equal to or more than 50 acre in urban areas<br />
<br />
(5) Provides Social Impact Assessment (SIA) study in all cases where the Government intends to acquire land for a public purpose.<br />
<br />
(6) Provides for formation of a Committee under the Chief Secretary for examining proposals of land acquisition where land sought to be acquired is equal to or more than 100 acres.<br />
<br />
(7) Putting limitations on acquisition of multi-crop land for safeguarding the food security.<br />
<br />
(8) Institutional mechanism for R&amp;R in the form of institutions of Administrator for Rehabilitation and Resettlement, Commissioner for Rehabilitation and Resettlement, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Committee at project level, the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation &amp; Resettlement Authority at State level and National Monitoring Committee at Central level.<br />
<br />
(9) Provisions of consent of the 80 per-cent affected families for land acquisition for certain projects.<br />
<br />
(10) Provision for enhanced compensation to the land owners and rehabilitation and resettlement entitlements.<br />
<br />
(11) Provision of 25 per-cent on shares as part of compensation in cases where the Requiring Body offers its shares to the owners of land whose land has been acquired.<br />
<br />
(12) Restricting the &lsquo;urgency clause&rsquo; for land acquisition for Defence of India or National Security or for any other emergency out of natural calamities.<br />
<br />
(13) Specified timelines for payment of compensation and provision of rehabilitation and resettlement entitlements.<br />
<br />
[inside]Recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on LARR 2011 Bill[/inside]<br />
<br />
It has been noted by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on LARR 2011 Bill that despite the Government having more than two years time for wider consultations with all stakeholders i.e. between the constitution of Fifteenth Lok Sabha 01.06.2009 and introduction of the LARR Bill, 2011 in September, 2011, it initiated the process of consultation only on 29 July, 2011 when the Draft Bill was put on Department of Land Resources (DOLR, http://dolr.nic.in/) &quot;website&quot; for consultations and the comments thereon were sought by 31 August 2011. The Cabinet approved the Draft Bill on 5 September, 2011 and the Bill was introduced in Lok Sabha on 7 September 2011, leaving little time at the disposal of the Government to seriously consider the suggestions received from various stakeholders.<br />
<br />
Although the Government was late by over two years in bringing the LARR Bill again they gave little time to the stakeholders, including Central Ministries and State Governments concerned to submit their views and also to consider the same. Consultation by the Standing Committee with the State Governments, some of the Central Ministries concerned like Ministries of Urban Development, Panchayati Raj, Tribal Affairs etc. revealed that that their views are at variance with the DoLR in respect of contents of the Bill. This compelled the Standing Committee to invite suggestions from the general public, industry, farmers, NGO&#39;s, experts, Central Ministries, State Governments etc.<br />
<br />
The following key issues having relevance to the provisions of the LARR Bill 2011 came up during discussions held with various stakeholders:<br />
<br />
A. Doctrine of Eminent Domain and Acquisition as &#39;Public Purpose&#39; for private corporations, Public Private Partnerships (PPPs).<br />
<br />
B. Powers of the Central Government vis-&agrave;-vis State Governments in legislation for sale/purchase of land and R &amp; R provisions<br />
<br />
C. Role of Institutions of self government-established by Parts IX &amp; IX A of the Constitution in land acquisition and R&amp;R<br />
<br />
D. Applicability of LARR Bill, 2011 in Scheduled Areas (Schedules V and VI of the Constitution)<br />
<br />
E. Special provisions to safeguard Food Security (Clause 10)<br />
<br />
F. Exemption of 16 Central Acts from purview of the Bill (Clause 98 &amp; Fourth Schedule)<br />
<br />
The Standing Committee report on LARR 2011 has provided the detailed discussion on these above-mentioned issues. The suggestions given by the Committee regarding these issues are being provided here.<br />
<br />
<strong><em>A. Doctrine of Eminent Domain and Acquisition as &ldquo;Public Purpose&rdquo; for Private Corporations, Public-Private Partnerships</em></strong><br />
<br />
Amendment done to section 4 of the original Land Acquisition Act 1894 in 1984 by inserting the words &ldquo;or for a Company&rdquo; after &ldquo;any public purpose&rdquo; extinguished any differentiation between acquisition for a State purpose and &ldquo;acquisition for a private enterprise&rdquo; or &ldquo;State enterprise&rdquo;. What the Courts could interpret from this amendment is that any notification of acquisition issued under section 4 need not specify whether the acquisition is for a &ldquo;public purpose&rdquo; or for &ldquo;a Company&rdquo;. This move led to massive acquisition of land by the State for Companies.<br />
<br />
The Standing Committee report has alleged that the LARR Bill, 2011 &ldquo;seeks to permit, and even facilitate, the acquisition of land by the Government for private companies&rdquo;. By agreeing with the Government of India appointed Expert Group Report (under the Chairmanship of D. Bandyopadhyay) on Development Challenges in Extremist Affected Areas, the Committee report has mentioned that displacement of people happened due to large scale acquisitions. The Standing Committee has suggested that &ldquo;instead of reverting to the classical concept of Eminent Domain or diluting it, the present 2011 Bill extinguishes the distinction in the original 1894 Act between acquisition by the State for a State purpose from purchase of land by a Company for a private purpose by including &ldquo;Public Private Partnership projects&rdquo; and &ldquo;private companies&rdquo; in the definition given in clause 2(1)(b) and (c), as well as 3(za)(vi)(B) and 3(za)(vii) respectively, subject only to their producing &ldquo;public goods or the provision of public services&rdquo; and &ldquo;the provision of land in the public interest&rdquo;, it being entirely left to the executive to determine what is the &ldquo;public interest&rdquo; or &ldquo;public goods&rdquo; or &ldquo;public services&rdquo;.&rdquo;<br />
<br />
The Standing Committee has recommended that land acquisition should not be for use by PPPs and private companies. Public purpose should be limited to state sponsored projects as defined in Clause 3(za)(i) to (vi)(A). The Committee has asked for deleting the provisions relating to acquisition of land for private companies and PPPs [(Clause 3(za)(vi)(B) and (vii)]. The Committee has recommended that Clause 3 (o) (v) which gives wide discretion to the government to define infrastructure projects should be deleted. The Committee has suggested that infrastructure projects should be included in the definition of public purpose.<br />
<br />
The Committee has rejected those sub-clauses of Clauses 2 and 3 that place wide discretion in the hands of the executive to define &ldquo;public purpose&rdquo; and &ldquo;infrastructure projects&rdquo; for for-profit enterprises. It, therefore, has asked for deletion of Clauses 2(1)(b) &amp; (c), 2(2)(b), 3(o)(v), 3(za)vi)(B) and (vii). It has recommended that all cases of land acquisition must entail obligations for adequate compensation, rehabilitation and resettlement to all land losers and other affected persons.<br />
<br />
While questioning the role of Indian State in carrying out land acquisition for Companies in the name of &ldquo;public purpose&rdquo;, the Standing Committee has given the example of countries like USA, Japan, Canada, EU, Australia etc. where private purchase of land and not State acquisition, is the standard. In most developed countries, there is no provision in the laws for State acquisition of privately held land for profit-making private enterprises or for public-private enterprises, the Committee report argued.<br />
<br />
<strong><em>B. Powers of the Central Government vis-vis State Governments in legislation for sale/purchase of land and R&amp;R provisions</em></strong><br />
<br />
Clause 2 (2) (a) of the LARR Bill 2011 provides that R&amp;R provisions are mandatory for all private purchases if the land purchased is over 100 acres in rural areas and 50 acres in urban areas. However, the Standing Committee has recommended that since sale and purchase of land is a State subject, State legislatures have the discretion and flexibility on whether there should be R&amp;R and if so prescribe a threshold for R&amp;R provisions. The Committee report said: &quot;State legislatures, bearing in mind the provisions of this Act, may by law provide for R&amp;R provisions on sale/purchase of land. Limits/ceiling for the purpose shall be fixed by respective States keeping in view the availability of the land and density of the population.&quot;<br />
<br />
<strong><em>C. Role of Institutions of self government established by Parts IX &amp; IX A of the Constitution in land acquisition and R &amp; R</em></strong><br />
<br />
Criticizing the provision in the LARR Bill 2011, where the role of Gram Sabha is limited to consultation during the time of land acquisition, the Committee has suggested that the role of local institutions of self-government should be broadened so as to ensure centrality of these institutions in the planning and implementation of the Bill, with a view to making the entire process of land acquisition and R&amp;R participative, transparent and pro-people in accordance with the letter and spirit of Articles 243G and 243W of Parts IX and IXA of the Constitution. Under Articles 243G and 243W of Parts IX and IXA of the Constitution, State legislation is required to specifically empower local institutions of self-government so as to undertake both planning and implementation of &quot;economic development and social justice&quot;. &ldquo;Beyond merely &quot;consulting&quot; Gram Sabhas, consensus or, at least, consent by the majority of Gram Sabha members (or equivalent body in urban areas where these have been constituted) should be obtained in all matters pertaining to LARR&rdquo;, emphasized the Committee report. The decision making process regarding issues such as land acquisition, review of R&amp;R schemes, determination of compensation, and any dispute regarding the compensation awarded should be entrusted on local elected authories. The Committee has recommended that the Expert Group evaluating the Social Impact Assessment (SIA) report should also have one or more members nominated from the affected Gram Sabha.<br />
<br />
<strong><em>D. Applicability of LARR Bill, 2011 in Scheduled Areas</em></strong><br />
<br />
The Standing Committee report has found that the &ldquo;provisions of the LARR Bill 2011 in respect of areas covered under Schedules V and VI of the Constitution have not been dealt with separately but through provisos to some of the clauses besides being mentioned in the Schedules of the Bill, particularly the Second Schedule&rdquo;.<br />
<br />
The Committee has recommended that alienation of land or land acquisition in Scheduled Areas should be avoided as far as possible. In case of unavoidable land acquisition for public purpose projects, &ldquo;special provision should be made for increased compensation and resettlement and rehabilitation provisions that enforce stricter conditions such as relocation in a similar ecological location, with communities being mandatorily relocated together so as to preserve the economic opportunities, language, culture and community life of the tribal communities&rdquo;. Consent or approval by majority of Gram Sabhas and Autonomous District Councils (ADCs) should be made mandatory in case of land acquisition. Independent and neutral persons should be present in order to watch the proceedings of discussions within the Gram Sabhas/ ADCs so as to ensure that the process of &lsquo;consent seeking&rsquo; is transparent. It has been recommended that PESA provisions must be strictly observed and indicated in all related provisions in the LARR Bill, &ldquo;particular care being taken to ensure that Panchayats at the appropriate level and the Gram Sabhas are specifically endowed with powers to prevent alienation of land and to take appropriate action to restore any unlawfully alienated land, as provided for in Section 4m (iii) of PESA&rdquo;.<br />
<br />
<strong><em>E. Special Provisions to safeguard Food Security (Clause 10)</em></strong><br />
<br />
Provisions under the Clause 10 of the LARR Bill want to protect irrigated and multi-cropped land from land acquisition so as to ensure food security. Only under exceptional circumstances a maximum of five per cent of irrigated multi-cropped land may be acquired in a district with certain conditions such as: &ldquo;whenever multi-crop irrigated land is acquired under sub-section (2), an equivalent area of culturable wasteland shall be developed for agricultural purposes&rdquo;. However, the Standing Committee on LARR Bill 2011 is of the opinion that food security is not confined to producing rice and wheat in irrigated land. Cultivation of nutritional coarse grains, pulses and oilseeds in dryland or rain-fed areas cannot be neglected. Hence the Committee has recommended that &ldquo;in Chapter III, all provisions regarding &ldquo;irrigated multi-cropped land&rdquo; be replaced by &ldquo;any land under agriculture cultivation&rdquo; so as to ensure safeguard for food security in a full measure&rdquo;.<br />
<br />
<strong><em>F. Exemption of Central Acts from Provisions of the Bill [Clause 98 and Fourth Schedule]</em></strong><br />
<br />
Clause 98 of the LARR Bill 2011 made sure that the proposed Act shall not apply to the land acquisition processed under various Acts in the Fourth Schedule, which are listed below:<br />
<br />
1. The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958.<br />
2. The Atomic Energy Act, 1962.<br />
3. The Cantonments Act, 2006.<br />
4. The Damodar Valley Corporation Act, 1948.<br />
5. The Indian Tramways Act, 1886.<br />
6. The Land Acquisition (Mines) Act, 1885.<br />
7. The Metro Railways (Construction of Works) Act, 1978.<br />
8. The National Highways Act, 1956.<br />
9. The Petroleum and Minerals Pipelines (Acquisition of Right of User in Land) Act, 1962.<br />
10. The Requisitioning and Acquisition of Immovable Property Act, 1952.<br />
11. The Resettlement of Displaced Persons (Land Acquisition) Act, 1948.<br />
12. The Special Economic Zones Act, 2005.<br />
13. The Coal Bearing Areas Acquisition and Development Act, 1957.<br />
14. The Electricity Act, 2003.<br />
15. The Railways Act, 1989.<br />
16. The Works of Defence Act, 1903<br />
<br />
It has been suggested by various organizations and State Governments during the consultation with the Standing Committee that &ldquo;by keeping out the 16 Central Acts outside the purview of the Bill, under which Central Government acquires land for Central Projects, almost 95 percent of land acquisition would be outside the purview of the Bill&rdquo;. Some of the State Governments complained that while Central Government sought to exempt all Central Acts from the purview of the Bill, they wanted to impose the same on the State Governments. Therefore the Standing Committee has recommended not exempting any of these Central Acts from the purview of LARR Bill. The Committee has suggested that necessary amendments should be brought in these Central Acts so as to bring them at par with the LARR Bill 2011.<br />
<br />
<strong><em>Definition of &quot;affected family&quot;</em></strong><br />
<br />
Clause 3 (b) &amp; (c) of the LARR Bill 2011 defined &quot;affected family&quot; to include (i) landowners; (ii) agricultural labourers, tenants who have been working in the affected area for three years prior to the acquisition; (iii) tribals and forest dwellers; (iv) families whose livelihood for the previous three years is dependent on the forests or water bodies; and (v) families who have been given land by the state or central government. The Standing Committee has recommended that within the definition of affected family:<br />
* &ldquo;Tribals&rdquo; should be substituted by &ldquo;Scheduled tribes&rdquo;<br />
* &ldquo;Traditional rights&rdquo; should be substituted by &ldquo;forest rights&rdquo;<br />
* &ldquo;Affected people&rdquo; should be substituted with &ldquo;affected family&rdquo;<br />
* &ldquo;Three years&rdquo; in the definition should become &ldquo;three years or more&rdquo;<br />
<br />
Clause 3 (m) of the LARR Bill 2011 defined family includes a person, his or her spouse, minor children, minor brothers and sisters dependent on him. The Standing Committee has recommended that widows and divorcees and abandoned women should be considered a separate family.<br />
<br />
<strong><em>R&amp;R entitlements</em></strong><br />
<br />
R&amp;R entitlements provided to displaced families under the LARR Bill 2011 include among other things: (i) land for a house as per the Indira Awas Yojana in rural areas or a constructed house of at least 50 square metres plinth area in urban areas; (ii) a one-time allowance of Rs 50,000 for affected families; and (iii) the option of choosing either mandatory employment in projects where jobs are being created or a one-time payment of Rs 5 lakh or an inflation adjusted annuity of Rs 2,000 per month per family for 20 years. The Standing Committee has recommended that the monetary components in the R&amp;R entitlements given in Schedule II in the Bill should be indexed to inflation.<br />
<br />
Under the LARR Bill 2011, every resettled area is to be provided with certain infrastructural facilities which include roads, drainage, provision for drinking water, grazing land, banks, post offices, public distribution outlets, etc. However, the Standing Committee has recommended that the infrastructure facilities should be decided on a case by case basis.<br />
<br />
<strong><em>Unutilized land </em></strong><br />
<br />
Clause 95 on unutlized land of the LARR Bill said that if an acquired land is left unutilised for a period of 10 years from the date it was acquired, it shall be returned to the Land Bank or the appropriate government. The Standing Committee has recommended that this period should be reduced to five years and if left unutilised, the land should be returned to the land owners. The Committee has also asked for clearly defining the term Land Bank in the LARR Bill 2011.<br />
<br />
<strong><em>Urgency provisions</em></strong><br />
<br />
The LARR Bill 2011 said that if land is acquired in urgency, an additional 75 percent compensation shall be provided. The Committee asked that in cases of urgency it should be clarified that the extra compensation would be 75 per cent of the total compensation package/ solatium calculated. Under the LARR Bill 2011, if a land is proposed to be acquired under the urgency provisions, a Social Impact Assessment (SIA) may not be conducted. The Committee has recommended that a notice should be issued if SIA is not conducted in an acquisition under the urgency provisions.<br />
<br />
<strong><em>Compensation package</em></strong><br />
<br />
Under the LARR Bill 2011, compensation for the land acquired shall be based on the higher of (a) the minimum land value, specified in the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 for the registration of sale deeds; and (b) the average sale price of the higher priced 50% of all sale deeds registered in the previous 3 years for similar type of land situated in the vicinity. In rural areas, this amount would be doubled. The value of the assets (trees, plants, buildings etc) attached to the land being acquired will be added to this amount. This total amount will then be multiplied by two to get the final compensation amount. In cases of the urgency Clause, additional 75 per cent compensation would be offered.<br />
<br />
The Standing Committee has recommended that the term &ldquo;market value&rdquo; should replace &ldquo;minimum value&rdquo;. In addition, a multi-member land pricing commission or authority should be constituted by appropriate government to finalize the cost of land acquisition state wise/area wise. Award given for the land acquired should be treated only as compensation and not as a base for circle rate for subsequent acquisitions so as to allay the fears of corporate sector regarding a speculative price spiral. Also, 12 per cent interest per annum should be paid in addition to the compensation from the date of the notification till the date of the award.<br />
&nbsp;</div>

<div>**page**</div>

<div>&nbsp;
<div>According to the National Advisory Council 2, <a href="http://nac.nic.in/press_releases/25_may_2011.pdf">http://nac.nic.in/press_releases/25_may_2011.pdf</a> &nbsp;&nbsp;<br />
<br />
[inside]Suggestions for Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill 2009 &amp; Resettlement and Rehabilitation Bill, 2009[/inside], <a href="http://nac.nic.in/pdf/working_group_proposal_for_larr.pdf">http://nac.nic.in/pdf/working_group_proposal_for_larr.pdf</a>: &nbsp;<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The NAC has recommended that it is upto the states to decide the extent of percentage of the total land to be acquired by them. In principle, the NAC disagrees with the 70:30 formula.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Acquired land non-performing for five years should be returned to original owners is another recommendation of NAC, which has been also well received.&nbsp;&nbsp;<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Giving freedom to the industry to acquire land directly could result in large scale cheating and deception in tribal and poor areas of India.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The NAC has recently asked for consolidating the Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill 2009 and Resettlement and Rehabilitation Bill, 2009 under the title Land Acquisition, Resettlement and Rehabilitation Act, 2011. The NAC wants a combined Bill instead of two separate bills since both the Bills are intrinsically inter-related, and having two separate Bills may lead to possibility of amending one without amending the other, and selective application of provisions of each Act, thereby defeating the purpose of providing justice and relief to those displaced.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Passing of separate bills will set in motion fragmented processes, causing confusion, delays, and therefore avoidable distress and suffering for the people. According to the NAC, a separate R&amp;R Bill won&#39;t be required to address displacement due to natural disasters and communal and caste violence since there are separate laws being enacted for Natural Disasters and Communal Violence.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The NAC thinks that the proposed Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill, 2009 does not explicitly mention the poor, and incorporates infrastructure and strategic interests. It has a provision for state acquisition of land for private for-profit companies. Section 5 of the Land Acquisition (Amendment Act) Bill, 2009 is silent on the nature of public interest proposed and the financial, social and environmental costs and benefits associated with a project.<br />
&nbsp;</div>
<strong><em>Compensation</em></strong><br />
&nbsp;
<div>&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Project Affected Families (PAFs) can make a choice in the way compensation is offered- i.) as a lump-sum amount; ii.) 30% as a lumpsum amount, and the rest as an annuity at the rate of 12% interest escalating every year for 33 years; or iii.) The total value as an annuity at the rate of 12% interest escalating every year, for 33 years. The latter two would be adjusted for inflation by escalating every year by 10%.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Share-croppers, landless labourers, artisans et al should receive ten days&rsquo; minimum wage per month for thirty three years when land is acquired by the State for &lsquo;public purposes&rsquo;.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; For such persons, there would be additional provisions for homestead land, training and employment rehabilitation in the rehabilitation and resettlement package.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The NAC has emphasized that lawfully recorded tenants and sharecroppers should be compensated (and paid solatium) for the parcels of land that they are losing, on an 80%:20% basis with the landowner being given 20%, which should not be less than four times their current income.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; A minimum of 5% shares should be distributed (equitably) free of cost to PAFs (increased by 5% for every additional 100 acres acquired). If the Government is allowed to acquire land, then land owners and non-land owners who depended on that land should enjoy four times their present monthly income after acquisition.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The NAC has proposed that compensation for those who lose land will be six times the registered sale deed value including solatium.</div>
<br />
<strong><em>Rehabilitation and Resettlement</em></strong><br />
&nbsp;
<div>&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The NAC has demanded transparency, public consulting, and prior informed consent during the process of land acquisition. The legal rights of Project Affected Families (PAFs) to challenge the entitlement cannot be withdrawn as it has been done under R&amp;R Bill, 2009. Section 11 of the R&amp;R Bill, 2009 needs to be amended so that all compensation must be paid and R&amp;R for all affected persons must be completed in all aspects at least 6 months before taking possession.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Section 3(b) (ii) of the R&amp;R Bill, 2009 does not mention the extent to which affected families have been deprived of their primary source of livelihood.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; All individual entitlements, such as land for land (where applicable), housing, employment and training opportunities, should be compulsorily offered to all PAFs irrespective of size of acquisition as per the NAC. Compulsory provisions for land for land are non-negotiable in case of all tribal and dalit families (to discourage acquisition of tribal and dalit land) and all irrigation projects. There should be an authority like the Auditor General of Displacement and Rehabilitation (AG-DR) to find out after 5 or 10 years of displacement as to what is the present condition of those displaced.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Instead of the Government notifying what amenities are to be provided in resettlement sites as per the Section 30 of the R&amp;R 2009 Bill, basic amenities like roads, safe drinking water, hygiene, educational facilities, community hall, and basic irrigation facilities should be present at resettlement sites. Every PAF family (and not just the BPL homeless families) should be given a built house and homestead land title.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Consent of 70 percent of the affected families in a gram sabha before acquisition is compulsory. A National Commission for Land Acquisition, Resettlement and Rehabilitation (NCLRR) should be established to assess extent of displacement based on the Social Impact Assessment (SIA) and and urgency clause for land acquisition should be used for purposes such as defence, national security and safety of lives as per recommendations of the NAC. The SIA would assess the social and environmental impacts from the project, and the R&amp;R plan drawn up.<br />
<br />
&nbsp;</div>

<div>According to the [inside]Standing Committee Report on the Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill 2007[/inside]<br />
<a href="http://prsindia.org/uploads/media/Land%20Acquisition/scr1226484896_SC_Report_Land_Acquisition_Bill__2008.pdf">http://prsindia.org/uploads/media/Land%20Acquisition/scr1226484896_SC_Report_Land_Acquisition_Bill__2008.pdf</a>: &nbsp;<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Optimum size of land required for a project needs to be determined so that excessive acquisition of land doesn&#39;t take place.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; There should be some legislation like Forest Conservation Act 1980 so that agricultural land can be protected like forest land.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; There is an urgent need to develop wasteland where agricultural land is acquired.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Since displacement leads to traumatic psychological and socio-cultural consequences, multiple displacements of affected families need to be avoided.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; States should declare the area where the tribals are rehabilitated as Scheduled Area. Land rights of tribals and forest dwellers should be recognized as per the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 so that they are compensated and rehabilitated during the process of land acquisition.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The details of the property to be acquired viz. khasra numbers in rural areas and quarter number in urban areas should be identified and widely publicized through prominent local English, Hindi and regional language newspapers. There is a need to avoid complications arising due to inadequacy of communicating the intent of acquisition through notification especially in hilly, tribal and remote areas. In order to circulate notification on rehabilitation and resettlement, the Government should rely on newspapers in local vernacular.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Affected persons should be provided 60 days from the date of publication of the notification to object to the acquisition of land.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Social Impact Assessment study should be done for all projects that displace physically more than 400 families in plain and 200 families in hilly, tribal and scheduled areas (same as NAC recommendation).<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Highest price of sale deed as indicated in the sale deeds of the last three years plus 50 per cent of the said highest price should be the criteria for assessing and determining the market value of the land. For tribal areas, the highest price of a sale deed of the adjoining non-tribal blocks/ village for the last three years plus 50 per cent should be the criteria for assessing and determining the market value of land.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Non agricultural land having valuable mineral resources underneath should be properly evaluated for granting compensation.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; A share of the economic benefits earned due to setting up a project in a land, which is acquired should go to the affected families.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Issue of shares and debentures as part of the compensation is impractical and as such issue of shares and debentures should be over and above the admissible compensation. The rate of solatium should be increased from thirty per centum on market value to sixty per centum on market value.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Land Acquisition Compensation Disputes Settlement Authorities (a kind of Ombudsman) at the Centre and State level should be created for the disposal of disputes, which remain pending in the courts of law.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Record of large tracts of unutilized land available with various Ministries needs to be kept before further land acquisition.<br />
<br />
&nbsp;</div>
**page**</div>

<div><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">According to [inside]A CITIZENS REPORT CARD ON SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONES[/inside] prepared by civil society organization, South Asia Citizens&#39; web:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><a href="http://www.sacw.net/IMG/pdf/CITIZENSREPORTONSEZs.pdf">http://www.sacw.net/IMG/pdf/CITIZENSREPORTONSEZs.pdf</a> </span><br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">THE NUMBERS</span></strong><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Total amount of land to be acquired across India: 150,000 hectares (the area of National Capital Region). This land - predominantly agricultural and typically multicropped - is capable of producing close to 1 million tons of foodgrains. If SEZs are seen to be successful in the future and more cultivated land is acquired, they will endanger the food security of the country.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The latest available statistics on Special Economic Zones show that the Board of Approvals at the Ministry of Commerce, the central body authorised to clear SEZ proposals, has approved 578 SEZs of which 315 have been notified.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * An analysis of figures up to 8th December 2008 displays a continuation of the pattern which has been evident since SEZ Act in 2005.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * As of December 2008 the Central government gave formal approvals to a staggering 552 SEZs in 19 states; 272 of these have been notified. (As of April 2009 the total number of Formal approvals was 578 and notified SEZs were 330)</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * With the significant economic slow-down towards the end of 2008 for the first time we started to see companies applying to de-register/denotify SEZs and it remains to be seen what the net effect will be.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The overwhelming part of SEZs continues to be in information technology and related industries. 181 notified SEZs exist for IT companies representing 66% of the total number of SEZs. Additionally there are 341 formally approved and 11 in-principle approvals.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * With all the different SEZs taken together at various stages of approval the IT sector still accounts for more than half at 55% of the total. The second largest sector will be multi-product with 9% of the all zones.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Andhra Pradesh tops the list of notified SEZs with 57, followed by Tamil Nadu on 44 and Maharashtra on 43.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Maharashtra has the most SEZs waiting to be notified however with 104 formally approved and 34 in principle, compared to AP&#39;s 99 and 2 respectively and Tamil Nadu&#39;s 66 and 18.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * These three states thus account for almost half of all the SEZs in the country. The share is especially significant among the already notified SEZs with 144 out of the total 274.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Even more imbalanced is the spread of SEZs when one considers the locations within each state. 48 out of the 99 formally approved SEZs in Andhra Pradesh are in or close to Hyderabad, while 34 of 66 formally approved are similarly in or close to Chennai.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The main number of SEZs can thus easily be characterised as being in the IT-sector and in one of primarily Western or Southern cities.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * This said, almost every state has tried to get a couple of SEZs to be established within their territories includingtiny Dadra &amp; Haveli&#39;s 4, and Pondicherry&#39;s 1 formally approved zones.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * 53 multiproduct SEZs are at the in principle approval stage meaning they might soon become formally notified. These are the zones which require really large areas of land and have been contentious on the issue of displacement.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Recently the rule preventing larger SEZs than 5,000 hectares was lifted which lead the Adani group to apply for and get granted a merger between the 3 zones of (4498 + 2658 + 2648 hectares) it had created next to each other at Mundra in Gujarat to avoid the land ceiling</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Among the actually operating SEZs the biggest ones apart from the Mundra zone(s) in Gujarat is APIIC 2,206 ha SEZ in Visakhapatnam and the Kakinada SEZ 1,035 ha both in Andhra Pradesh and the Navi Mumbai SEZ 1,223 ha in Maharashtra</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * With the many really large multi-product SEZs in the In Principle category these cover an area of 1.22 lakh hectares, or 869 hectares per SEZ on average.</span><br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">ISSUES OF CONCERN</span></strong><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp; 1. Large scale requirement of land and Forced Acquisition of Land - India is almost unique in its concept of creating SEZs on demand: i.e. the location, size and nature of the zone is explicitly determined not by state economic policy but by the demands of private capital.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp; 2. Despite issuing of guidelines by the Ministry of Commerce and the EGoM, that no forced acquisition of land will take place for private SEZs on 15th June 2007, nearly all states are using the Land Acquisition Act 1894 to acquire the land for developers of SEZs and that too in the absence of any provision for rehabilitation</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp; 3. In some states like Tamil Nadu and AP the governments are even using the urgency clause - 17/4 of the LAA to acquire land compulsorily.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp; 4. It is argued that much of the land being diverted for SEZs is already available with the State Industrial development Corporations (IDCs). While this is a fact, it needs to be specified that in many cases lands which had previously been acquired by IDCs and are now being transferred to SEZ developers also used the Land Acquisition Act.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp; 5. These sales are obviously at much higher rates than their original acquisition price from the farmers.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp; 6. The issue of compensation at market value, even to land owners is meaningless as the scales are heavily weighed in favor of private buyers and Government owned Industrial corporations, who are the informed negotiators in deciding the package</span><br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Landless and Agricultural labourers displaced without compensation-</span></strong><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp; 1. Almost 80% of the agricultural population in India owns only about 17% of the total agriculture land, making them near-landless workers. Far more families and communities depend on a piece of land (for work, grazing) than those who own it outright. However, compensation is being discussed only for those who hold titles to land. No compensation has been planned for those who do not.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp; 2. In states like Gujarat a large part of the land being diverted to SEZs is in the category of common or gowcher land (referred to wrongly as&#39;wasteland&#39;).Since these lands are &#39;common lands&#39; with no individual titles, they are transferred without even consulting the local communities and panchayats.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp; 3. Temple or Panchami land in Tamil Nadu and Waqf board lands in Andhra Pradesh are other examples of Public lands that have been expropriated and privatised for SEZs.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp; 4. The most outrageous acquisitions are taking place in Andhra Pradesh which has the highest number of SEZ approvals, in the form of acquiring assigned lands (allotted to Dalits and Scheduled Tribes) for SEZs. . This has been seen clearly in places like Polepally, Kakinada, Chittoor and Anantapur where SEZs are proposed.</span><br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Destruction of Agro-based and rural economies-</span></strong><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp; 1. The bulk of land being acquired for SEZs is fertile, agricultural land, especially in case of the multi-product zones. Agriculture Scientists have estimated that close to 1.14 lakh farming households (each household on an average comprising five members) and an additional 82,000 farm worker families who are dependent upon these farms for their livelihoods, will be displaced.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp; 2. The total loss of income to the farming and the farm worker families, then, is an astounding Rs.212-crore a year. These were the estimates in 2006 after the initial SEZ approvals which are now multiplied three-fold.</span><br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Creation of exploitative employment opportunities and working conditions resulting from nullification of labour protection laws -</span></strong><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The SEZ policy of the government transfers all the powers of the state Labor Commissioner to the Development Commissioners of the SEZs.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The power in the hands of the development Commissioner to declare SEZs as &quot;public utility services&quot; under the Industrial Disputes Act would mean that in SEZ areas workers will have no rights to strike or even to form unions and organize collectively to bargain for better wages or working conditions.</span><br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">ECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS</span></strong><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The Ministry of Finance conducted a study, and came up with the figures that the cumulative revenue loss from tax holidays to SEZs over the period 2004-05 to 2009-10 is estimated to be 1,75,487 Cr.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The Ministry of Finance conducted a study, and came up with the figures that the cumulative revenue loss from tax holidays to SEZs over the period 2004-05 to 2009-10 is estimated to be 1,75,487 Cr.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * In its performance audit-report on indirect taxes for Union Government tabled in parliament on 11 March 2008, the CAG brought 370 SEZ units under scanner with a limited objective to verify if they had complied with existing Customs Act, Rules, notifications etc. The review brought out systemic as well as compliance weaknesses that caused lost revenues to the tune of Rs.246.72 crores.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Stated objectives remain unfulfilled?</span></strong><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce has admitted that 40% of the SEZs approved may never really &quot;take off the ground&quot; (Panos-Kalpavriksh media dialogue on SEZs -December 2008). Additionally the figures of 3.5 lakhs employment and 90,000 crores investment generated by SEZs are being questioned on their authenticity and efficacy since these have to be established through a detailed and independent evaluation.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Further the conditions of contract labour in SEZs are the most pathetic. Wages in existing SEZs are often below minimum. Sen and Dasgupta in a May 2007 survey found that in the NOIDA SEZ workers were getting Rs.80 a day for 9 hours of work. Likewise in Falta in West Bengal.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Indian policy has very little regulation on the activity within a zone. Notwithstanding claims of export-orientation, the only requirement imposed on SEZ units is a vague need for them to have a &lsquo;positive net foreign exchange balance.&#39; Even that only applies to industrial units in the zone. If the goal of SEZs is indeed exports surely a more stringent clause than merely &quot;positive net foreign exchange&quot; for the SEZ as a whole ought to be applied.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * It needs to be mentioned further that a great recession in the world economy is not a good omen for promoting SEZs, which will produce for an increasingly shrinking and protected export market. Also, it&#39;s not specified what happens to a developer whose SEZ does not meet the export requirement.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Just like it&#39;s not specified what the procedure for denotification is. The recession - and the accompanying demand for denotification by developers like DLF (SEZs) is exposing this loophole. In such cases what happens to the land? Will it be returned to farmers? If so, how?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The SEZ Act (Section 9, 11, 12 and 31) takes power back to the center and bureaucracy (by creating &#39;Board of Approvals&#39; and &#39;Development Commissioner&#39; and &lsquo;SEZ Authority&#39;, whose accountability is not certain.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The fact that the SEZs would have their own regulations, the rights for environmental and labour related clearances, security arrangements, means that they would be &#39;self contained privatized autonomous entities&#39;, where existing constitutional rights would be difficult to exercise.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The creation of separate courts for SEZs ridicules the existing judicial system. There is no clarity about how elections will be conducted, and what happens to the governing authority of the Gram Sabha/ Municipality, under the 73rd/74th amendments.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * There is no transparency in the guidelines formulated for selection, modification and rejection of SEZ proposals by the BoA.The Chairman of the Administrative reforms committee, M Veerappa Moily&#39;s report on SEZs states that &#39;We need to restructure the Board of Approval by putting in people who are objective and can take a balanced view.&#39;</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The Commerce Ministry had made public announcements of various studies/ comparison of SEZ with other countries. Mr. Kirit Somaya filed an RTI regarding this, and in the answer that was given stated - &quot;study of export of nearby countries of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka was done. No other studies or scientific analysis available.&quot;</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The SEZ Act was passed in haste without much public debate.In both houses of Indian Democracy has passed this bill was passed within a day (10th and 11th May 2005) with virtually no discussion, undermining many of the objections that were raised.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Further, information that has been demanded from the Ministry of Commerce on the approved projects under the RTI Act, 2005 has been denied on the clause of maintaining &quot;trade secrets&quot;.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * There is great deal of ambiguity and contradictions when one compares how environment clearances are dealt with in the EIA notification and the SEZ legislations.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * While it is units with the SEZs which are exempt from Environment Clearance public hearings, the SEZs itself are required to under go public hearing. However, there are cases like the Mundra SEZ where the Ministry of Environment has recommended that Public Hearing be exempted for the creation of the Multi Product SEZ.</span></div>

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<div><em><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">The CAG report on the Goa Industrial Development Corporation, referred to the Government of India in June 2008, concluded (direct quotes):</span></em><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Corporation deviated from its established role, of acquiring and allotting land directly to the entrepreneur, by allotting land to developers for further allotments by them</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Allotments were made without any transparent selection procedures</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Allotments to SEZs were made without publicising, that too before the State Government formulated its SEZ policy</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Land acquired for small and medium scale industries under IGC (Industrial Growth Centre) Scheme was allotted to SEZ violating GOI guidelines</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Revision of premium rate of Verna Phase IV (industrial estate proposed to house SEZs) only after major chunk was allotted at lower rate, tentatively fixed, resulted in loss of Rs. 36.89 crore</span><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Allotment of land contiguous to the land allotted to four SEZs at lesser rate resulted in loss of Rs. 39.47 crore</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Allotment of 14.36 lakh square metre land to two SEZ developers without adopting approved formula resulted in loss of Rs 17.76 crore</span><br />
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<em><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">(Source: The Comptroller and Auditor General of India, Goa State Report, Chapter VII Government Commercial and Trading Activities)</span></em><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">POINTS RAISED BY PARLIAMENTARY STANDING COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp; 1. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce of the previous government under the Chairman ship of Murli Manohar Joshi submitted its 83rd report on the &#39;Functioning of SEZs&#39; to the parliament on 20th June 2007.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp; 2. The most critical recommendation made by the committee included the need to &#39;pause and ponder&#39;.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp; 3. The report clearly expressed concern about the fast pace at which approvals have been granted by the BoA despite apprehensions raised from all quarters.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp; 4. Parliamentary Standing committee slammed the Ministry of Commerce on the ground that at the time of the release of the 83rd report there were 152 formal approvals and 82 notifications by the Board of Approvals and there was no effort to put a halt on the approvals despite the committee&#39;s recommendation to hold approvals till amendments were put in place.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp; 5. By the time the ATR was presented in the Rajya Sabha the total number of approved SEZs had crossed 500. The MoC has merely stated that it was in the process of getting a &#39;scientific evaluation&#39; done on the performance and impacts of SEZs.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp; 6. Most importantly the report criticised the escalation of displacement as a result of the large SEZs leading to displacement and speculation in many situations.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp; 7. Some of the other recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee which were brushed aside by the Ministry of Commerce in the ATR include:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp; 8. Region wise cap on the SEZ approvals to allow for balanced regional development of SEZs.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp; 9. Imposition of restrictions on unnecessary social infrastructure Linking of fiscal incentives to exports</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp; 10. Tax concessions in SEZs are similar to STPs and EoUs - then why is there are a need for SEZs?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp; 11. Re-look at delegation of Labour Commissioner&#39;s powers to the Development Commissioner</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp; 12. 83rd report of the parliamentary standing committee on commerce &#39;on the functioning of Special Economic Zones&#39;</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">**page**</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">FOR MORE PLEASE CLICK THE LINKS LISTED BELOW</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Paper presented at the National Seminar on &#39;Special Economic Zones: Engines of Growth and Social Development for India: Present Problems and Future Prospects&#39; (16 - 17 October &#39;08 at Hyderabad) organised by the Department of Sociology, Osmania University.</span><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><a href="http://www.sacw.net/article574.html">http://www.sacw.net/article574.html</a> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">SEZ Act-2005</span><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><a href="http://www.cnisbss.org/Newsline/PDF/SEZ/SEZ%20Act,%202005.pdf">http://www.cnisbss.org/Newsline/PDF/SEZ/SEZ%20Act,%202005.pdf</a> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Fact Sheet on Special Economic Zones by GOI- MINISTRY OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY</span><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><a href="http://sezindia.nic.in/writereaddata/updates/FACT%20sheet.pdf">http://sezindia.nic.in/writereaddata/updates/FACT%20sheet.pdf</a> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">List of operational SEZs</span><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><a href="http://sezindia.nic.in/writereaddata/pdf/ListofoperationalSEZs.pdf">http://sezindia.nic.in/writereaddata/pdf/ListofoperationalSEZs.pdf</a> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">List of Formal Approvals granted under the SEZ Act,2005 <a href="http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp">http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp</a> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">In principle approvals granted under the SEZ Act, 2005- <a href="http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp">http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp</a> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Statewise distribution of SEZs approved under the SEZ, Act, 2005- <a href="http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp">http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp</a> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Sectorwise distribution of SEZs approved under the SEZ Act, 2005- <a href="http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp">http://sezindia.nic.in/about-asi.asp</a> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">[inside]A critique of the National Policy for Rehabilitation and Resettlement (2007)[/inside] by Priyanca Mathur Velath,</span><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><a href="http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;do_pdf=1&amp;id=7235">http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;do_pdf=1&amp;id=7235</a> show</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; *</span><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"> On October 11, 2007, the Union Government announced the National Policy for Rehabilitation and Resettlement 2007 (NPRR 2007), replacing the National Policy on Resettlement and Rehabilitation for Project-Affected Families, 2003.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The new policy fails to examine the process of displacement, which is taken for granted. The draft makes no attempt to question the need for displacement in the first place, or to seek out and actively promote non-displacing or least-displacing alternatives.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The timing and true intention of the new policy along with govt.&#39;s declaration to amend the outdated Land Acquisition Act of 1894 are suspect.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Attempt to redefine the &lsquo;public purpose&#39; under the amendment to the land acquisition act actually favours private interest and big companies over the poor and marginalised.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Under the 2007 policy it has become simpler to required land for big companies as well as strategic and public infrastructure projects.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * &#39;Public purpose&#39; has been redefined to allow the state government to acquire land for a private company, association or body of individuals, provided it is &#39;useful for general public&#39;.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * &#39;Land for land&#39; principle in the 2007 policy suffers from ambiguity, as land is being offered as compensation but &#39;to the extent that government land is available in resettlement areas&#39;.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The policy outlines a number of benefits such as scholarships for the education of eligible people from affected families; preference for groups of cooperatives of affected persons in the allotment of contracts and other economic opportunities in and around the project site; housing benefits to landless affected families in both rural and urban areas; and wage employment to willing affected persons in construction work on the project. But the &lsquo;employment guarantee&#39; to one person from each nuclear family is &lsquo;subject to the availability&#39; of vacancies and &lsquo;suitability of the affected person&#39;. Such qualifying clauses as &quot;if available&quot; and &quot;as far as possible&quot; are widely used by project authorities and policymakers to shirk responsibility.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Conducting a Social Impact Assessment (SIA) has been made mandatory in the policy, but only if more than 400 families have been displaced in the plains areas and 200 in tribal, hilly and other scheduled areas. Why is the SIA mandatory only in projects above a certain size?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * There are provisions in the 2007 policy to introduce a Land Acquisition Compensation Settlement Authority (at the local level, removed from normal civil courts, to assist quick disposal of cases involving compensation disputes), a standing relief and rehabilitation authority at the district level, an ombudsman at the state level (to monitor rehabilitation under any project), a national monitoring committee and national monitoring cell (for effective monitoring of implementation of resettlement plans, with which state governments will have to share information) and a national rehabilitation commission (which will be empowered to exercise independent oversight over the rehabilitation and resettlement of affected families). Aggrieved persons can appeal to the high court and above against settlements decided by the Land Acquisition Compensation Settlement Authority. But the policy does not answer the crucial question as to whether these committees and commissions are empowered to stop a project from proceeding if there are indeed any discrepancies or issues of inadequate resettlement.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Resettlement rights must be guaranteed before any project begins and, in the event of faulty or inadequate resettlement, the project should be stopped from proceeding any further and the project developers held accountable. NPRR 2007 does not address any of these issues; nor does it give displaced persons &lsquo;first rights&#39; over the benefits of the project in question.</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Positive points about the National Policy for Rehabilitation and Resettlement:</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * This policy makes an important announcement that land acquired by the government will revert to the government in case the proposed project does not take off within five years of the acquisition. Since land is often acquired in excess of what is needed and later handed over to the developers for extraneous purposes like building hotels, parks and golf courses, this new clause is a positive one.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Another creditable clause in the new policy is that if the land is sold after the project has taken off, 80% of the net profit earned from the sale goes to the original landowner. Also, that land acquired for &lsquo;public purpose&#39; cannot be changed to any other purpose.</span><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">The study by Planning Commission titled [inside]Dams, Displacement, Policy and Law in India[/inside],</span><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><a href="http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/art_dam.pdf">http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/art_dam.pdf</a> show:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * With the adoption of policies for planned development after freedom in India, a major priority for policymakers was the harnessing of the country&#39;s water resources for irrigation and power. Large storage works such as the Bhakra, the Hirakud, the Tungabhadra and the Damodar Valley Dams were amongst the earliest projects undertaken in the post-Independence period in the country.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * A formidable body of independent empirical research into many of these large dams has established how their social, human and environmental costs have been ignored or grossly understated in the planning of these projects. Of the very many neglected costs of the big dams, some of the most grave are the social and human consequences of displacement.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * There are no reliable official statistics of the numbers of people displaced by large projects since Independence. Many researchers place their estimates between 10 and 25 million. In an influential 1989 study, Fernandes, Das and Rao provide an estimate of some 21 million displaced persons. Scholar-administrator Dr. N. C. Saxena, places his estimate of persons displaced by big projects since 1947 at nearly double this figure - 50 million.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * From the inception of planning of most projects, through various stages of displacement and resettlement, it is to be expected that those likely to be negatively affected by the projects would be consulted and kept informed in such a way as to enable them to best rebuild their ravaged lives. This, however, is very far from being the case. The studies have revealed that the level of information that the oustees had regarding the dam, submergence and subsequent displacement due to them, is lamentably low.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * It is only in recent years that, chiefly under the impact of people&#39;s movements, project authorities, state governments and international funding agencies have accepted responsibility for rehabilitation-one that extends beyond the payment of monetary compensation for expropriated individual assets and the provision of house sites. This neglect of rehabilitation assumes the gravest aspect when seen in relation to older projects, particularly those that commenced or were concluded in the first three decades after Independence.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * It has been observed that the driving objective of project authorities has not been to prepare and assist the families to relocate and to make a gradual and less painful transition to their new habitats. Instead frequently the only objective is to vacate the submergence zone of what are perceived to be its human encumbrances, with the brute force of the state if necessary. The evacuation of the villages was carried out with brutal insensitivity towards the feelings of the villagers who, not unnaturally, were bewildered and distressed at being forced out of their homes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Resettlement sites are often inhospitable in a number of ways and their locations are selected without reference to availability of livelihood opportunities, or the preferences of displaced persons themselves.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * With the destruction of community and social bonds, the displaced are mired in anomie and a profound sense of loneliness and helplessness. The inflow of money creates greater pressure on family bonds. The outcomes are psychological pathologies and alcoholism, common among displaced populations.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Arguably the most culpable aspect of state-induced impoverishment of displaced populations is the phenomenon of multiple displacements. It has been documented, for instance, that as a direct result of the lack of co-ordination between the multiplicity of irrigation, thermal power and coal-mining agencies in Singrauli, most oustees have been displaced at least twice, and some three or four times in a matter of two or three decades.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * A frequently neglected, but extremely serious problem, is the unwillingness of host populations to accept resettled oustees in their midst.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The vast majority of tribal people displaced by big projects face danger of extinction as traditionally they depend more on natural resources. They are pushed inexorably into a vortex of increasing assetlessness, unemployment, debt-bondage and hunger.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Any loss of access to traditional sources of livelihood - land, forest, sea, river, pasture, cattle or saltpan land - marginalizes women on the labour market. Women not only suffered in terms of health and nutrition, they also lost the capacity to provide a secure future for their children.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Another extremely vulnerable group of oustees is oustees without land, including landless agricultural workers. The only legal reparation to displaced persons recognised by the statutes in India is compensation for loss of assets that are compulsorily acquired by the state for what the state designates as a `public purpose&#39;. However a landless family dependent on the acquired land for their livelihood may be most severely pauperised by the displacement because it loses its only source of economic survival. However, the law and most ehabilitation policies still do not recognise this profound vulnerability.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">**page**</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">[inside]Opposition to Big Dams: Lessons for Policy[/inside]</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Even before Independence, there were instances of anti-dam struggles such as the one led by Senapati Bapat in opposition to the Mulshi hydroelectric project in the Western Ghats.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The first large river valley project in India, Hirakud, resulted in widespread protests in 1946 after the initial notifications. People also launched a struggle against the Rihand project in 1963-64. However, such early protests could not be sustained, partly because of their failure to attract larger alliances, under the overwhelming influence of the nationalist rhetoric of nation-building that accompanied the construction of large dams in India.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The success of the mobilisation against the Silent Valley project, resulting in the decision to shelve the project in 1983, led to a new phase in the history of resistance to big dams in India.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Other notable early struggles against big dams were local movements opposed to the Suvarnarekha, Koel Karo and Srisailam projects.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The most celebrated protest movement against big dams so far has centred around the mega Sardar Sarovar Project on the river Narmada. A number of protest groups gathered under the leadership of activist Medha Patkar and in 1988, local resistance organisations federated into a common platform known as the Narmada Bachao Andolan (Save the Narmada Movement).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * A significant development has been the revival of struggles by people displaced by dams completed years ago, such as on the Bargi (completed 1990), Koyna (1964), Tawa (1975) and Mahi-Kadana (1978). We have already noted the success at Bargi and Tawa to secure fishing rights for cooperative societies of oustees in the dam reservoirs.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * By ensuring that these voices are heard, these movements have succeeded in compelling governments, both central and state, and powerful funding agencies like the World Bank, to rethink their policies on displacement and rehabilitation.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Opponents of big dams have argued that big dams are part of a development strategy that intrinsically impoverishes and disempowers the poor. The opponents to big dams in India have also challenged the dominant orthodoxy that development,especially state-induced development, by necessity entails the human costs of displacement or involuntary resettlement.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Another important issue in the debate around big dams in India is the question of whether the state should retain the power to compulsorily acquire private land for development projects without the consent of the owner or owners of such land.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The next issue in the debate is the nature and extent of state responsibility for the rehabilitation of the displaced. It is chiefly under the impact of people&#39;s movements, supported by painstaking empirical social science research, that the state has in recent times acknowledged that its responsibility for rehabilitation to extend beyond the payment of market value for compulsorily acquired assets. However, the state in India has continued to resist the laying down of the nature of its precise responsibilities for rehabilitation in the form of even a comprehensive policy statement, let alone legislating the right to rehabilitation as a legally enforceable right.</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Displacement and Rehabilitation: Suggested Directions for Policy</span></strong><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Objectives of any just and equitable law and policy dealing with the colossal social and human impacts of big dams cannot be limited only to minimising the trauma of displacement, and ensuring the just resettlement of the victims of displacement. It must incorporate the objective to end, or severely curtail, displacement itself, to no longer accept state-induced involuntary resettlement as an inevitable cost of all development projects. It must enable people to effectively challenge as equal partners, a form of development which takes for granted the inevitability of displacement.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * It is incumbent upon the government before the launching of the project to justify that in the light of various technical and locational options, this is the least displacing alternative available. This claim should also be justiciable.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * It is imperative that the population likely to be affected by the acquisition be involved in the process from the time that decisions are sought to be made about where a project is to be located. They should be given full information to help them participate in decisions about whether the stated purpose is a public purpose; to explore options which may be less displacing; to work out the costs it involves for them; ando find out how they may gain from the process of change that the acquisition will bring.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Another institutional mechanism to limit displacement is to ensure that in the planning of any project the social and human costs are more accurately assessed and internalised in the cost-benefit analysis of the project.</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Compensation, Resettlement and Rehabilitation</span></strong><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The policy of rehabilitation must contain safeguards for detailed advance planning for rehabilitation.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * All persons whose source of livelihood, place of residence or other property is affected notwithstanding the legal status enjoyed by them in relation to the concerned location of the resource base for their livelihood and subsistence, shall be deemed to be project affected persons (PAPs).</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * If the guiding principle of rehabilitation is that displaced persons should become better off than they were in the past, one proviso that needs to be firmly embedded in the law is that compensation must be paid not at market but at replacement value.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The second guiding principle for assessment and payment of compensation should be that it is not only the loss of assets but also, far more significantly, the loss of livelihoods that must be compensated.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * A third guiding principle is that any displaced person must be fully compensated before displacement from land, house or livelihood is executed.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * If the objectives of rehabilitation of persons displaced as a result of large dams is to ensure that they are not only better off, but are direct project beneficiaries, then at the heart of such a strategy must be a policy of replacing agricultural land and agriculture-based livelihoods with alternate agricultural land of viable size and productivity and with appropriate complements of credit and input assistance.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Simultaneously, the scope for complementary non land-based livelihoods should also be explored along with land-based strategies. One such livelihood opportunity that is always created as a by-product of any large dam project is fresh-water fishing in the large reservoir.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The resettlement sites for displaced tribal families should be selected with great care and in consultation with the traditional/elected leaders or representatives of the displaced families as well as host populations, and established local NGOs. Efforts should be made to ensure that all tribal families of ousted villages are resettled together in a particular area.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Women headed households or single women should not be discriminated against in eligibility for benefits.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Still we are left with the most difficult issue of displaced persons from older dams. It has been estimated that as many as 3 out of every 4 persons displaced by big dams in India have been rendered worse off than they were before. Some reparation must be made, some attempt to rebuild so many millions of broken lives.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">The study titled [inside]Environment of Land Diversion, Displacement and Rehabilitation: A Study of Indian SEZs[/inside], <a href="http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf">http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf</a> show:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * India has adopted the policy of promoting the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) for faster industrial development. It needs about 50,000 hectares of agricultural land for SEZs and 1.49 lakh hectares for all projects which include also industrial, mining, irrigation and infrastructural projects.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Farmers in many parts of the country are resisting for land diversion and acquisition for these purposes.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Land especially agricultural land in India, is a very delicate subject and has been an emotional issue ever since the Zamindari days. Land is livelihood of millions of people. Not only the immediate owners of the land are affected because of land shifting, but also share-croppers or daily wage labourers who forgo their living through a scant, but reasonably reliable source of income.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * While acquiring the land the government agency normally fixes the market value of land much below the prevailing rate in the open market.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * India ratified the ILO Indigenous and Tribal Populations Convention, 1957 in 1958. This Convention deals primarily with the protection and integration of indigenous, tribal and semi-tribal groups. The Convention provides that where as an exceptional measure tribal groups are removed from their land they should be provided with lands of quality at least equal to that of the lands previously occupied by them. It goes on to provide that they should be compensated for any &quot;resulting injury or loss&quot;.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The UN Guiding Principles on Internally Displaced Persons, 1998 is meant to serve as an international standard to guide governments as well as international humanitarian and development agencies in providing assistance and protection to IDPs. They provide protection against arbitrary displacement, offer a basis for protection and assistance during displacement, and set forth guarantees for safe return, resettlement and reintegration.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The Land Acquisition Act, 1894 of India is the primary legislation that provides for acquisition of land. But this Act has been criticized &quot;for considering land only as a commodity generating income&quot;. However, when a family is settled on a piece of land not only does it earn its livelihood from it but it also has a whole social network.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2007 puts provisions for &quot;rehabilitation and resettlement of persons affected by acquisition of land under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894&quot; or due to any other legislation by the Central or State governments or involuntary displacement due to any other reason. The Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 6 December 2007 and has since been referred to the Standing Committee on Rural Development.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * National Rehabilitation and Resettlement Policy, 2007 came in order to solve issues arising out of policies of economic liberalization/de-regularization. The NRRP, 2007 has come into force from Oct. 2007. The new policy is applicable to all affected persons and families whose land, property or livelihood are adversely affected by land acquisition or by involuntary displacement of a permanent nature due to any other reason.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Now, by and large there is unanimity that no development can be accepted at the cost of social equity. Land acquisition needs total reform and rehabilitation package. Land owners, should get adequate compensation of their land.</span><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">According to the study titled: [inside]Large Dam Projects and Displacement in India[/inside], <a href="http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf">http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf</a>:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The government of India does not have figures of people displaced by large dams. This fact is the biggest sign of the fact that displacement and resettlement of people is the least concern of large dam builders.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * India is the third largest dam builder country in the world. It now has over 3600 large dams and over 700 more under construction.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The large dams are the single largest cause of displacement in India.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * A World Bank review of the status of displacement and rehabilitation has shown that the displacement of as many as 0.6 million people across 192 projects had not been accounted for in project planning. In at least one instance, the number of people actually displaced was seven times the number stated in the project documents.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Often only reservoir displacement is taken into account. Whereas Large dam projects can displace people in a number of ways including due to colonies, due to canals, downstream impacts, catchment area treatment, compensatory afforestation, secondary displacement (at resettlement colonies, for example) and due to related conservation schemes like sanctuaries and national parks.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Displacement due to dams in India has been variously estimated. Fernandes, Das &amp; Rao (1989) claimed that Indians displaced by dam projects numbered 21 million.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Available estimates of people displaced by large and medium dams in India show that the 140 dams for which such figures are available, have displaced over 4.4 million people.</span><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">The study titled [inside]Right to displace, but no duty to rehabilitate (A critique of the Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2007)[/inside].</span><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><a href="http://www.indiatogether.org/2008/jan/law-resettle.htm">http://www.indiatogether.org/2008/jan/law-resettle.htm</a> shows:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The bill seems to be based on the premise that the acquiring land for a &#39;public purpose&#39; is a right by the state under its powers of eminent domain, but it accepts no duty to resettle and rehabilitate all the affected citizens. Instead, rehabilitation is presented as an act of benevolence.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2007 seeks to &quot;provide for the rehabilitation and resettlement of persons affected by the acquisition of land for projects of public purpose or involuntary displacement due to any other reason&quot;.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The bill came at a time when concerted efforts were about to begin made by both the central and state governments to increase economic activity through the deployment of domestic and foreign private capital on a gigantic scale in new infrastructure and industry.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The history of large scale land acquisition and consequent displacement goes back to the 1950s, when the newly independent republic embarked on large state owned projects for irrigation, power, steel and heavy engineering that were meant to occupy the &#39;towering heights of the economy&#39;.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Land for even such gigantic projects was (and continues to be) acquired using the coercive powers provided by the colonial Land Acquisition Act. It narrowly defined persons affected by an acquisition to be either land owners or occupiers (tenants), and limited compensation to purely monetary terms.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Even those who were compensated monetarily were hard put to replace their lost land assets and regain their means of livelihood. In the absence of any rehabilitation plan, people displaced by Hirakud dam project occupied whatever open lands they could locate. These lands were not legally theirs, making them vulnerable to constant harassment by officials.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The Narmada Sardar Sarovar project is illustrative of how things have changed over the last six decades. Struggle against displacement by the PAPs led by Narmada Bachao Andolan contributed immensely to change the discourse of the development and displacement.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * But the experience of the Sardar Sarovar and many other projects over the last 60 years reveals the inadequacy of R&amp;R policy - at the project, company, state or even national level- to address the legal neglect of displacement and the rights of the affected people, particularly those without land or tenancy.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * These are some of the issues that came under debate as the Rehabilitation and Resettlement bill 2007 was introduced.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The bill prescribes conditions for project affected families to qualify as beneficiaries and makes the benefits themselves conditional on external circumstances.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Under the provisions of the bill, an area will be notified as an &#39;affected area&#39; &quot;where the appropriate Government is of the opinion that there is likely to be involuntary displacement of four hundred or more families en masse in plain areas&quot; (the number is less for hilly and tribal areas).</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Thus the opinion of the Government on the scale of the displacement will decide if there will be planned R&amp;R of the displaced.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * There are many other conditions attached to the benefits.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * While acquiring land for a &#39;public purpose&#39;, with its attendant displacement and denial of livelihood, is claimed as a right of the state under its powers of eminent domain, the R&amp;R bill does not accept that it is the unconditional duty of the state to resettle and rehabilitate all the affected citizens so that they are able to maintain, if not improve, their current standard of living.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">**page**</span><br />
&nbsp;</div>

<div><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">The paper by Jaideep Hardikar, published in &lsquo;Infochange&#39; titled [inside]The destruction of &#39;development&#39;[/inside],&nbsp;<a href="http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;do_pdf=1&amp;id=6161">http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;do_pdf=1&amp;id=6161</a>, does not go into depths and details, but it gives a bird&#39;s views of the problem.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Main Points:</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Since independence at least 50 million people in India have been displaced by dams, mines, thermal power plants, corridor projects, field firing ranges, express highways, airports, national parks, sanctuaries, industrial townships, even poultry farms. They continue to pay the price for India&#39;s &#39;development&#39;.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * These may be conservative figures. Because displacement is usually only understood as direct displacement from land, such figures exclude many groups who are affected but who do not own land.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * A vast majority are landless and marginal farmers, mostly tribal, dalit or other economically backward communities. One study suggests that roughly one in every ten Indian tribals is a displaced person. Tribals constitute 8% of the country&#39;s population, and more than 40% of the displaced persons.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Displacement by mines or thermal power plants is perhaps less visible than the forced movements of people triggered by dams. The acquisition takes place in phases. The would-be oustees are the last ones to know about their eviction by mines. This gives them little or no chance of resistance or coming together to bargain for a better rehabilitation package.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * As things stand today, there&#39;s no region in the country where people haven&#39;t been displaced by development projects. And there&#39;s no region in the country where you would find people rehabilitated according to their aspirations and priorities.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">[inside]World Bank: Resettlement and Rehabilitation (R&amp;R) Policy[/inside]</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">The World Bank has a policy for Resettlement and Rehabilitation (R&amp;R),</span><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><a href="http://www.his.com/~mesas/policy.htm">http://www.his.com/~mesas/policy.htm</a>.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">The Bank&#39;s present policy is contained in the document &quot;Involuntary Resettlement,&quot; Operational Directive (OD) 4.30, adopted June 1990. According to the WB, the objective of its resettlement policy is to ensure that the population displaced by a project receives benefits from it.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">The WB says, &quot;Development projects that displace people involuntarily generally give rise to severe economic, social, and environmental problems.&quot;</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Its R&amp;R policy emphasizes the need for:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Minimizing involuntary resettlement;</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Providing people displaced by a project with the means to improve, or at least restore, their former living standards, earning capacity, and production levels;</span><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Involving both re-settlers and hosts in resettlement activities;</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * A time-bound resettlement plan; and</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Valuation and compensation principles for land and other assets affected by the project.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">For environmental point of view, the World Bank has categorised the projects into three groups. According to this, Group &quot;A&quot; projects need a full environmental assessment (EA). Category B projects do not require a full EA but do require some environmental analysis. Category C projects do not require environmental analysis.</span><br />
&nbsp;</div>

<div><em><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Category A projects are:</span></em><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Dams and reservoirs;</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Forestry production projects;</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Industrial plants (large-scale) and industrial estates;</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Irrigation, drainage, and flood control (large-scale);</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Land clearance and levelling;</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Mineral development (including oil and gas);</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Port and harbour development;</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Reclamation and new land development;</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Resettlement and all projects with potentially major impacts on people;</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * River basin development;</span><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp; </span><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Thermal and hydropower development; and</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Manufacture, transportation, and use of pesticides or other hazardous and/or toxic materials.</span><br />
<br />
<em><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Category B projects are:</span></em><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Agro-industries (small-scale);</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Electrical transmission;</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Aquaculture and mariculture;</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Irrigation and drainage (small-scale);</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Renewable energy;</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Rural electrification;</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Tourism;</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Rural water supply and sanitation;</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Watershed projects (management or rehabilitation); and</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Rehabilitation, maintenance, and upgrading projects (small-scale).</span><br />
<br />
<em><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Category C projects might be:</span></em><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Education,</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Family planning,</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Health,</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Nutrition,</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Institutional development,</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Technical assistance, and</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Most human resource projects.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">**page**&nbsp; </span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">[inside]Imagining a Post-Development Era? Critical thought, Development and Social Movements by Arturo Escobar[/inside] is a paper, which gives a fair idea of debates on developments till 1960s and afterwards. This is an important reading for a deeper understanding of evolution of concepts of developments in last few decades. As there is a cause and effect relationship between development projects and displacement, therefore while looking into the issue of displacement it is desirable to have an understanding of this whole debate on development.</span><br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Main Points:</span></strong><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Nowadays it has become difficult to talk about development with the same confidence and encompassing scope with which intellectuals and activists spoke about these vital matters in the past decades. Now there are differing views. When one speaks about development, other voices emphasize on the &quot;crisis of development&quot;. The &quot;new social actors&quot; and &quot;new social movements&quot; are raising fundamental questions on the conventional sense of development.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * To examine development as discourse requires understanding why so many countries started to see themselves as underdeveloped, and, how &quot;to develop&quot; became for them a fundamental problem.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * In the previous period, from the early post-War years to the end of the 1970s, development was chiefly a matter of capital, technology, and education and the appropriate policy and planning mechanisms to successfully combine these elements.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Resistance, on the other hand, was primarily a class issue and a question of imperialism. Nowadays, even imperialism and class are thought to be the object of innumerable mediations. Now we come across new ways of thinking on these issues, especially in relation to social movements.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * With the emergence of the new critique it is being argued that development has been an invention and strategy produced by the &quot;First World&quot; about the &quot;underdevelopment&quot; of the &quot;Third World.&quot; Largely, it has been an instrument of economic control over the physical and social reality of much of Asia, Africa and Latin America.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * These schools of thought now are now advocating for &quot;alternatives to development&quot; that needs transformation of the notions of development, modernity and the economy.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The number of scholars in the Third World says that rather than searching for development alternatives, there is a need to go for the &quot;alternatives to development,&quot; that is, a rejection of the entire earlier paradigm.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * In the Third World the process of needs interpretation and satisfaction is inextricably linked to the development apparatus. The &quot;basic human needs&quot; strategy, pushed by the World Bank and adopted by most international agencies, has played a crucial role in this regard. However, the critics say that this strategy is based on a liberal human rights discourse and on the rational, scientific assessment and measurement of &quot;needs&quot;; lacking a significant link to people&#39;s everyday experience, and &quot;basic human needs&quot; discourse does not foster greater political participation.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * This paper argues that the possibility for redefining development rests largely with the action of social movements. Though the paper in most of its parts has discussed the Latin American experiences, it has significance for whole Third World.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">The [inside]main provisions under Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act (MMDR Act)[/inside] are as follows:</span><br />
<em><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><a href="http://mines.gov.in/policy/noticeapril.pdf">http://mines.gov.in/policy/noticeapril.pdf</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><a href="http://www.prsindia.org/uploads/media/draft/Draft%20Mines%20and%20Minerals%20Bill_31%20March%202010.pdf">http://www.prsindia.org/uploads/media/draft/Draft%20Mines%20and%20Minerals%20Bill_31%20March%202010.pdf</a> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">A background and critique:</span><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><a href="http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl2714/stories/20100716271402500.htm">http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl2714/stories/20100716271402500.htm</a> </span></em><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The 1957 Act has outlived its utility despite the several amendments made to it up to 1999. The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation Act, 1957, came into force at a time when governments required much discretionary power to regulate a nascent mining sector. The rise of the market economy in the early 1990s brought about a fundamental change in the government&#39;s attitude to mining.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The National Mineral Policy, 1993, recognised the need to encourage private investment, including foreign direct investment (FDI), and to attract state-of-the-art technology in the mineral sector.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Mining is a three-stage operation, involving regional exploration, detailed exploration, and actual mining.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Procedural delay was identified as one of the impediments in encouraging the flow of private investment and in the introduction of high-end technology for exploration and mining. The Anwarul Hoda Committee, constituted by the Planning Commission in 2005, in its report submitted in 2006 made specific recommendations on the legal framework to avoid procedural delay.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The New Mining Policy (NMP) 2008, while reflecting these recommendations, also sought to develop a sustainable framework for optimum utilisation of mineral resources for industrial growth and for improving the life of people living in the mining areas.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The proposed Act makes significant departures from the existing Act in areas that were seen as instances of micromanagement.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * As per the proposed Act, the union Ministry for mines and minerals give up its &quot;prior approval&quot; power in grant of concessions for minerals in Part C of the First Schedule. In the proposed Act, Part C includes 74 major minerals, while Part A includes coal and lignite and Part B atomic minerals. Part C of the First Schedule of the existing Act includes only 10 metallic and non-metallic minerals.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The proposed Act envisages the setting up of a national mining tribunal, which can check independently decisions as also indecision and delays. It gives more teeth to the Indian Bureau of Mines to regulate the mining plan and mine closure and empowers the Central government to enforce disclosure through databases and websites.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The draft Bill allows the setting up of a national mineral royalty commission with State governments as members, for progressive solutions for revenue-sharing through royalty.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The proposed Act provides for stringent measures to prevent illegal mining. It empowers State governments to detect, prevent and prosecute cases of illegal mining, set up special courts to try such cases and declare those convicted as ineligible for grant of mining concessions.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * One of the consistent demands of the steel industry has been the reservation of mineral-bearing areas for public sector undertakings. The proposed Act rejects this demand, consistent with the Hoda Committee&#39;s recommendation that reservation goes against the principles of providing a level playing field.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The draft Bill guarantees assured annuity to the local population as a percentage of profits (26 per cent) earned by the miner, resettlement and rehabilitation of the local population through employment and skill enhancement.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * It also provides for compulsory consultation with gram sabha/district panchayats in tribal areas before notification of the area for grant of concessions, and preference to tribal cooperatives in the grant of concessions over small deposits.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">According to a report named [inside]SEZs and land acquisition FACTSHEET FOR AN UNCONSTITUTIONAL ECONOMIC POLICY[/inside] Prepared by Citizens&#39; Research Collective</span><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><a href="http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf">http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf</a> </span><br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">SEZ - DISPLACEMENT AND LOSS OF LIVELIHOODS</span></strong><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Estimates show that close to 114,000 farming households (each household on an average comprising five members) and an additional 82,000 farm worker families who are dependent upon these farms for their livelihoods, will be displaced.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * In other words, at least 10 lakh (1,000,000) people who primarily depend upon agriculture for their survival will face eviction. Experts calculate that the total loss of income to the farming and the farm worker families is at least Rs. 212 crores a year.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * This does not include other income lost (for instance of artisans) due to the demise of local rural economies. The government promises &lsquo;humane&#39; displacement followed by relief and rehabilitation.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * However, the historical record does not offer any room for hope on this count: an estimated 40 million people (of which nearly 40% are Adivasis and 25% Dalits) have lost their land since 1950 on account of displacement due to large development projects. At least 75% of them still await rehabilitation.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Almost 80% of the agricultural population owns only about 17% of the total agriculture land, making them near landless farmers. Far more families and communities depend on a piece of land (for work, grazing) than those who simply own it. However, compensation is being discussed only for those who hold titles to land. No compensation has been planned for those who don&#39;t.</span><br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">LOSS OF PUBLIC REVENUE</span></strong><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Exemptions from customs duties, income tax, sales tax, excise duties and service tax (even on luxury hotel facilities, shopping malls, health clubs and recreation centres) given to SEZs, the Finance ministry estimates a loss of Rs.1,60,000 crore till 2010 in revenue. (The Ministry has also asked for capping the number of SEZs at 100.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Finance Minister P. Chidambaram wrote to Cabinet colleagues saying: &quot;SEZs per se will distort land, capital, and labour cost, which will encourage relocation or shifting of industries in clever ways that can&#39;t be stopped. This will be further aggravated by the proliferation of a large number of SEZs in and around metros.&quot;)</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * The foregone tax revenue every year is five times the annual allocation for the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and is enough to feed each year 55 million people who go to bed hungry every day.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Furthermore, given the concessions on import duties (not merely for the investors who will produce exportable items but also for the developer, who will not), there are likely to be foreign exchange losses (rather than gains).</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * For the five year period ending 1996-97 the foreign exchange outgo on imports made by units in SEZs and the customs duty forgone amounted to Rs.16461.58 crore against which exports of only Rs.13563.87 crore were reported.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Moreover, these zones are exempt from sales tax, octroi, mandi tax etc on the supply of the goods from the Domestic Tariff Area (rest of India).</span><br />
&nbsp;</div>
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&nbsp;

&bull; Section 105 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, which provides for excluding 13 Central legislation, including Land Acquisition (Mines) Act 1885, Atomic Energy Act, 1962, Railway Act...'
$disp = '<p><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">KEY TRENDS</span></p><p>&nbsp;</p><div>&bull; Section 105 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, which provides for excluding 13 Central legislation, including Land Acquisition (Mines) Act 1885, Atomic Energy Act, 1962, Railway Act 1989, National Highways Act 1956 and Metro Railways (Construction of Works) Act, 1978, from its purview, has been amended for payment of compensation with rigours $<br /><br />&bull; The amendments have now relaxed the requirements of consent and Social Impact Assessment survey for projects in following areas: 1. Defence and defence production; 2. Rural infrastructure (including rural electrification); 3. Affordable housing; 4. Industrial corridors; 5. Social infrastructure projects including PPPs in which ownership rests with the government $</div><p>&nbsp;</p><div><p>&nbsp;</p></div><div>&bull; The Standing Committee report on Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011 (submitted on 17 May, 2012) recommended that land may not be acquired for use by private companies and PPPs. The Committee recommended including &ldquo;infrastructure projects&rdquo; within the definition of public purpose. Since sale and purchase of land is a state subject, the threshold for R&amp;R provisions shall be fixed by the states and not the central government. Restriction on land acquisition should also apply to any land under agricultural cultivation. No central act should be exempted from the provisions of the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011 and necessary amendments should be brought in those Acts to bring them at par with this Bill. The Committee recommended that if acquired land is left unutilized for 5 years, the land should be returned to the land owners &alpha;<br /><br />&bull; India is the third largest dam builder country in the world. It now has over 3600 large dams and over 700 more under construction*<br /><br />&bull; Displacement due to dams in India has been variously estimated. Fernandes, Das &amp; Rao (1989) claimed that Indians displaced by dam projects numbered 21 million*<br /><br />&bull; Available estimates of people displaced by large and medium dams in India show that the 140 dams for which such figures are available, have displaced over 4.4 million people*<br /><br />&bull; Many researchers estimated that the number of people displaced due to big projects comes between 10 and 25 million. In an influential 1989 study, Fernandes, Das and Rao provide an estimate of some 21 million displaced persons. Scholar-administrator Dr. N. C. Saxena, places his estimate of persons displaced by big projects since 1947 at nearly double this figure &mdash; 50 million**<br /><br />&bull; India has adopted the policy of promoting the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) for faster industrial development. It needs about 50,000 hectares of agricultural land for SEZs and 1.49 lakh hectares for all projects which include also industrial, mining, irrigation and infrastructural projects***<br /><br />&bull; The Land Acquisition Act, 1894 of India is the primary legislation that provides for acquisition of land***<br /><br />&bull; Since independence at least 50 million people in India have been displaced by dams, mines, thermal power plants, corridor projects, field firing ranges, express highways, airports, national parks, sanctuaries, industrial townships, even poultry farms@<br /><br /><strong><em>Sources:</em></strong></div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>$&nbsp;Amendments to the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, Press Information Bureau, dated: 29 December 2014 (Please <a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Land_act_amendments.pdf" title="Land Act amendments" title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Land_act_amendments.pdf" title="Land Act amendments">click here</a> to access)</div><div>&nbsp;<br />&alpha; <a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Summary%20of%20the%20Standing%20Committee%20recommendations.pdf" title="Summary of the Standing Committee recommendations" title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Summary%20of%20the%20Standing%20Committee%20recommendations.pdf" title="Summary of the Standing Committee recommendations">Standing Committee Report Summary</a>, PRS Legislative Research<br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small">* Large Dam Projects and Displacement in India,</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small"><a href="http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf" title="http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf">http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf</a> </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small">**&nbsp; Planning Commission titled Dams, Displacement, Policy and Law in India,</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small"><a href="http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/art_dam.pdf" title="http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/art_dam.pdf">http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/a<br />rt_dam.pdf</a> </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small">*** Environment of Land Diversion, Displacement and Rehabilitation: A Study of Indian SEZs,</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small"><a href="http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf" title="http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf">http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf</a> </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small">@ The destruction of &#39;development&#39; by Jaideep Hardikar, Infochange</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small"><a href="http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;do_pdf=1&amp;id=6161" title="http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&amp;do_pdf=1&amp;id=6161">http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&a<br />mp;do_pdf=1&amp;id=6161</a> </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small"><a href="http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf" title="http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf">http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf</a> </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">'
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Displacement

KEY TRENDS   • Section 105 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, which provides for excluding 13 Central legislation, including Land Acquisition (Mines) Act 1885, Atomic Energy Act, 1962, Railway Act 1989, National Highways Act 1956 and Metro Railways (Construction of Works) Act, 1978, from its purview, has been amended for payment of compensation with rigours $ • The amendments have now relaxed the requirements of consent and Social Impact Assessment survey for projects in following areas: 1. Defence and defence production; 2. Rural infrastructure (including rural electrification); 3. Affordable housing; 4. Industrial corridors; 5. Social infrastructure projects including PPPs in which ownership rests with the government $     • The Standing Committee report on Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011 (submitted on 17 May, 2012) recommended that land may not be acquired for use by private companies and PPPs. The Committee recommended including “infrastructure projects” within the definition of public purpose. Since sale and purchase of land is a state subject, the threshold for R&R provisions shall be fixed by the states and not the central government. Restriction on land acquisition should also apply to any land under agricultural cultivation. No central act should be exempted from the provisions of the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011 and necessary amendments should be brought in those Acts to bring them at par with this Bill. The Committee recommended that if acquired land is left unutilized for 5 years, the land should be returned to the land owners α • India is the third largest dam builder country in the world. It now has over 3600 large dams and over 700 more under construction* • Displacement due to dams in India has been variously estimated. Fernandes, Das & Rao (1989) claimed that Indians displaced by dam projects numbered 21 million* • Available estimates of people displaced by large and medium dams in India show that the 140 dams for which such figures are available, have displaced over 4.4 million people* • Many researchers estimated that the number of people displaced due to big projects comes between 10 and 25 million. In an influential 1989 study, Fernandes, Das and Rao provide an estimate of some 21 million displaced persons. Scholar-administrator Dr. N. C. Saxena, places his estimate of persons displaced by big projects since 1947 at nearly double this figure — 50 million** • India has adopted the policy of promoting the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) for faster industrial development. It needs about 50,000 hectares of agricultural land for SEZs and 1.49 lakh hectares for all projects which include also industrial, mining, irrigation and infrastructural projects*** • The Land Acquisition Act, 1894 of India is the primary legislation that provides for acquisition of land*** • Since independence at least 50 million people in India have been displaced by dams, mines, thermal power plants, corridor projects, field firing ranges, express highways, airports, national parks, sanctuaries, industrial townships, even poultry farms@ Sources:     $ Amendments to the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, Press Information Bureau, dated: 29 December 2014 (Please click here to access)   α Standing Committee Report Summary, PRS Legislative Research * Large Dam Projects and Displacement in India, http://www.sandrp.in/dams/Displac_largedams.pdf **  Planning Commission titled Dams, Displacement, Policy and Law in India, http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/a rt_dam.pdf *** Environment of Land Diversion, Displacement and Rehabilitation: A Study of Indian SEZs, http://www.mse.ac.in/Frontier/w23%20Verma.pdf @ The destruction of 'development' by Jaideep Hardikar, Infochange http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&a mp;do_pdf=1&id=6161 http://www.sacw.net/Nation/sezland_eng.pdf