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Land acquisition: NAC's formula will not halt land wars, say experts by Kavita Chowdhury

The National Advisory Council's (NAC) idea about a uniformland acquisition policy - with the government being responsible for all public purpose transfer of tracts - has not found all-round support.

There are no differences on safeguarding the rights of farmers and landowners. But experts say the most essential aspect is to put in place a powerful institutional mechanism for conflict resolution that will also supervise the process of acquisition. In the absence of a whole new system, land conflicts will persist.

Against the backdrop of the recent examples of war over land, the Sonia Gandhi- led NAC's recommendation to stringently define "public purpose" has, however, been welcomed unanimously. Planning Commission member Mihir Shah, who looks after rural development, argues: " By just ensuring that the state is stepping in, we can't say it won't go wrong. The Uttar Pradesh land row is a case in point." According to Shah, it is imperative to put in place an institutional mechanism for ex- ante conflict resolution.

" We need an integral mechanism so that whoever acquires the land - be it the government or the industry - will be overseen by this institution and held accountable by it." The present draft of the National Development, Land Acquisition, Resettlement and Rehabilitation Bill has a provision for a national commission which, Shah says, is " too loose and not clearly defined". Fellow plan panel member Abhijit Sen finds it " absurd" that people should question why the state should be involved in land acquisition. " The NAC is trying to prevent a situation where big players manage to browbeat farmers," Abhijit Sen says.

Significantly, the NAC proposal has clubbed the twin aspects of acquisition and rehabilitation in a single integrated legislation unlike the rural development ministry proposal to have two Bills for this purpose.

The NAC proposal states that the law will only provide acquisition for " public purpose" and then goes on to stringently define it as " land acquisition for strategic, infrastructural (purposes) and for social services like education and health care". Shah, however, calls for " greater clarity" on what constitutes public purpose. " It needs to be unambiguous. We need to distinguish between public utility - that generates regular income - and a road or bridge, which would be for public purpose," he says.

"Public-private partnerships (PPPs) nowadays are justified by defining them cleverly as public purpose," says Abhijit Sen. In fact, he points out: " Even judicial verdicts have given in to development such as that of setting up industry as public purpose." Statistician Pronob Sen of the National Sample Survey Organisation insists that land for non- public purposes also needs to be defined in the law.

The NAC draft says the consent of the majority of a gram sabha will be necessary for land acquisition. So, in a case where most landowners agree on the sale of their plots and a few hold out to blackmail the government, the will of the majority would prevail.

Pronob Sen says it is essential to factor in such a clause. Moreover, the NAC's provision to stipulate the urgency clause only for national security and defence appears limited to Pronob Sen. He says: "If, for instance, a natural disaster occurs and there is a need to relocate people, this would be an ' urgency' situation." The council's compensation clause, which says it should be six times the registered sale deed value, has not found too many takers.

"There has to be a link between the prospective value of the land after development and compensation," Shah says. But he welcomes the NAC proposal to give jobs to at least one person from the affected family in case of commercial projects.

Even as the government is claiming that it will place the Bill in Parliament in the Monsoon Session, a number of hurdles will have to be cleared and contrary views resolved before the land acquisition law becomes a reality.


Pro-farmer clauses suggested by NAC
 
1 A single, comprehensive law on land acquisition as well as resettlement & rehabilitation ( R& R)

2 All options of acquiring more barren, less fertile tracts and wastelands must be explored before taking over agricultural land

3" Project affected persons or families" should be defined comprehensively

4 A just, timely compensation, R& R package must be provided through a humane, participatory and transparent process

5 Acquisition should be done only for " public purposes" - for " strategic & infrastructural purposes" and " social services such as education & healthcare"

6The compensation must be fixed at six times the registered sale deed value, including solatium

7 Non- land owners who lose livelihoods owing to acquisition - agricultural workers, artisans, fishermen - should be compensated through a grant equal to 10 days of minimum wages per month for 33 years

8 If acquired land is not used within five years, it must be returned to the original owners

9 There should be no urgency clause, except for national security and defence

10 A social impact assessment must be held for big projects to assess social as well as environmental repercussions

11 The R& R package is a legal right of affected families. It should be notified upfront

12 First preference must be given to one person from the affected families in employment generated by commercial projects

13 A National Commission for Land Acquisition, Resettlement and Rehabilitation should be set up