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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | UPA introduces land acquisition Bill in Lok Sabha by Ruhi Tewari

UPA introduces land acquisition Bill in Lok Sabha by Ruhi Tewari

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published Published on Sep 8, 2011   modified Modified on Sep 8, 2011

The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government on Wednesday introduced the politically crucial land acquisition Bill in the Lok Sabha, less than two months after the ministry of rural development began drafting it.

The National Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation & Resettlement Bill, 2011, aims to address rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) by providing safeguards for both landowners and livelihood losers while clearly defining the “public purpose” for which land can be acquired by the government. It also adds a clause prescribing a specific timeline for compensation.

With the Bill modified to include suggestions from various groups since it was unveiled for pre-legislative consultation in July, the government hopes to pass it in the forthcoming winter session of Parliament.

Giving a political colour to the sensitive piece of legislation, Union minister for rural development Jairam Ramesh on Wednesday described the Bill as a “political response to a political problem”, giving the credit for it to Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi.

“The entire process, from the beginning of the drafting of the Bill to its introduction, took 55 days. The entire credit should go to Rahul Gandhi, who not only gave the broad principles of the Bill but also spoke to the Prime Minister and various other people to impress upon them the urgency of the Bill,” Ramesh said.

A significant addition to the final Bill is the timeline for providing compensation as well as R&R entitlements to land owners and livelihood losers.

According to the Bill, compensation will have to be given within three months from the date of the award; monetary R&R entitlements have to be provided within six months.

Infrastructure R&R benefits will have to be given within 18 months of the award. In the case of irrigation or hydel projects, R&R should be completed six months prior to submergence.

The Bill says “no involuntary displacement can take place without the completion of R&R”.

The Bill also provides for transferring land to the state government if the area is not used for the purpose it was acquired for within 10 years. The original draft provided for returning such land to its original user within five years.

The ministry will make another amendment to the Bill to allow the state to either return the land to its original owner or use it for any public purpose as defined by the Act, according to Ramesh.

While the provision for creating a land bank was introduced at the insistence of West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who was brought on board after meetings with Ramesh, the period was increased from five to 10 years to allow for securing all clearances for a project.Banerjee is an ally of the UPA government.

Land acquisition has become a controversial and political issue after some protests by farmers against unfair compensation and forcible acquisition turned violent.

The issue has assumed greater significance ahead of the assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh next year, particularly with land agitations in some parts of the state posing a potential electoral challenge to the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party, or BSP.

Gandhi, seen as a future prime ministerial candidate of the Congress, has been leading campaigns in the state for a comprehensive land acquisition law following farmer protests, hoping to revive the party’s political fortunes in the state.

The Congress expects to expedite the Bill and make it a law by the end of the year as a strategy to counter the BSP in Uttar Pradesh.

“Land acquisition will be a key issue in the Uttar Pradesh elections... This Bill is as much about politics as it is about land acquisition,” Ramesh said.

In an indication of the Congress’ intention, the rural development ministry has circulated a document highlighting “18 key differences” between the Uttar Pradesh land policy and its land acquisition Bill.

Other provisions introduced in the Bill include tightening the definition of public purpose, introducing a stage-based retrospective effect clause, removing the blanket ban on acquisition of multi-crop irrigated land, tightening the urgency clause to remove the “rarest of rare”provision in which it can be invoked as well as slight modifications to the R&R package.

Significantly, compensation in rural areas has been lowered from six times the original market value to four times, while that in urban areas remains the same at double the market value.

Ramesh said this was done to address concerns of “reducing the heavy burden” on those acquiring land.
 
“Having six times of market value as compensation, along with the R&R package, would substantially increase the cost of acquiring land... The Prime Minister said the signal to investors should be that this is a sensitive and not a prohibitive Bill,” said Ramesh.

The minister said the Bill will not supersede 16 of the specialized items of legislation on land acquisition, including those for special economic zones and railways. The Union government, however, will have the power to apply provisions of this law through a notification. States will also continue to have their own land acquisition laws, but the new Bill will provide a minimum compensation and R&R package.

While industry lobby groups are happy with the Bill, they have reservations on certain provisions.

“We welcome this Bill as it will make the process clear and transparent and we will know the procedure to be followed. (But) we feel that in some parts, the Bill could have been simpler, like in rehabilitation, etc.; the clauses are very complex,” said Rajiv Kumar, secretary general of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

“We are not sure whether it will be implemented (in) retrospective or perspective manner, but we think it should not be retrospective,” he added.

Live Mint, 8 September, 2011, http://www.livemint.com/2011/09/07223445/UPA-introduces-land-acquisitio.html?atype=tp


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