GAPD

Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation & Resettlement (LARR) Bill 2011. (Economic Times, 01 Aug 2012) (Business standard, 09 Aug 2012)

What is land acquisition

Land acquisition is the process by which the government forcibly acquires private property for public purpose without the consent of the landowner. It is thus different from a land purchase, in which the sale is made by a willing seller.

How it is governed
Land Acquisition is governed by the Land Acquisition Act, 1894. The government has to follow a process of declaring the land to be acquired, notify the interested persons, and acquire the land after paying due compensation. Various state legislatures have also passed Acts that detail various aspects of the acquisition process.

Problems with Land Acquisition Act 1894

Very old, ineffective, weak Draconian Delayed and no compensation No livelihood provisions afterwards

Why the new law required?

Heightened public concern: Singur, Yamuna Express etc. Absence of proper rehabilitation law Anticorruption movement Public unrest at many places Law and order problems: police and farmer clashes in UP

Proposed major changes

The purpose for which land may be acquired. The amount of compensation to be paid. The process of acquisition. Use of the land acquired. Dispute settlement mechanisms.

LAAR applicable to
when the government acquires land, for its own use and control, to transfer it for the use of private companies for public purpose, and on the request of private companies for immediate use for public purpose Applicable even to private companies

Government can acquire land for these Public Purposes

strategic defense purposes and national security, roads, railways, highways, and ports, built by government and public sector enterprises planned development or improvement of villages. residential purposes for the poor and landless.

Arguments
Pros Land acquisition will require the consent of 80 per cent of project affected people Affected families include those whose livelihood may be affected due to the acquisition, and includes landless laborers. Cons Projects involving land acquisition and undertaken by private companies or public private partnerships require the consent of 80 per cent of the people affected. However, no such consent is required in case of PSUs.

Limits on land acquisition

maximum of five per cent of irrigated multi-cropped land may be acquired in a district. Every acquisition requires a Social Impact Assessment (SIA) by an independent body followed by a preliminary notification and a final award by the District Collector. In the case of urgency, the Bill proposes that the appropriate government shall acquire the land after 30 days from the date of the issue of the notification (without SIA). This clause may be used only for defense, national security, and conditions arising out of a national calamity.

Compensation
The value of the assets (trees, plants, buildings etc) attached to the land being acquired will be added to this amount. Mandated the job for one person in each affected family or Rs. Two lakhs. Separate allowance for SC,ST. provision for housing, if the land is acquired for housing projects

Argument against compensation

The market value is based on recent reported transactions. This value is doubled in rural areas to arrive at the compensation amount. This method may not lead to an accurate adjustment because people sell land to each other at underreported price to save stamp duty. The government can temporarily acquire land for a maximum period of three years. There is no provision for rehabilitation and resettlement in such cases.

Who can resolve dispute?

Administrator. Commissioner for Rehabilitation and Resettlement. Rehabilitation and Resettlement Committee (for acquisition of 100 acres or more of land). National Monitoring Committee for Rehabilitation and Resettlement; and Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Authority (which shall adjudicate all disputes, with appeal to the High Court).

What if the acquired land is not used?

If an acquired land which is transferred to a person for a consideration, 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.

In cases where the ownership of an acquired land is sold to any person, without any development made, 20 per cent of the profit made shall be shared among all the persons from whom the land was acquired.

CII on LAAR
"Agglomerating land from numerous owners is not a task which the corporate sector can do effectively, especially in the absence of proper land records and with small, scattered land-holdings. "As per the provisions stipulated in the Bill, cost of land acquisition in the country is likely to increase by 3-3.5 times, severely affecting the viability of industrial projects across the board and this may erode competitiveness of the manufacturing sector, CII suggested that instead of using the broad-term "affected families" needs to be clearly defined and according to their losses, suitable compensation package should be laid down. It said that the proposal regarding acquisition of irrigated multi cropped land would severely affect mineral extraction projects as minerals occur naturally and hence their locations cannot be chosen. The provision of consent of 80% affected families should be reduced to 60%.