Land Bill: Rebooting the land acquisition debate
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In September of 2013, the The new law titled the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act 2013 drew sharp responses from both sides of the stakeholder spectrum. Industry, almost universally decried the law as ludicrously difficult to implement, while farmer groups felt it didn’t go far enough in addressing historical injustices. Nonetheless, it was a huge victory on an issue that had been at the heart of almost every single land movement in independent India.
While in opposition, the
The
This Ordinance brought about major changes to the very structure of the law. It created a vaguely worded special category which contained activities exempt from seeking consent of the affected parties or satisfying the requirements of the Social Impact Assessment prescribed under the 2013 law.
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It posited additional qualifications for return of land and gave officers, who violated the law, the additional protection of sanction before prosecution. The special powers (known as the residuary power) to take actions to implement the law or to remove difficulties was extended from two years to five.
This was, of course, in addition to the amendment that the laws contained in Schedule IV of the 2013 Act (relating to acquisition of land for special sectors such as railways, highways, atomic energy etc.) and which had been exempted for a year’s time from the application of the 2013 law, would now have to apply the provisions related to compensation and rehabilitation/ resettlement contained in the 2013 law. This was not a show of kindness, but rather a necessity, since the 2013 law contained a direction to amend the law within one year to bring the compensation and rehabilitation/resettlement amounts in line with the new law (though they could still follow their own process for acquisition).
Reaction to the Ordinance was almost unanimously negative. Having seen the impact of the new law
Currently the law is being debated in
(Muhammad A. Khan is an advocate who worked as the Officer on Special Duty to Mr. Jairam Ramesh in the Ministry of Rural Development. He, along with Mr. Jairam Ramesh, is the author of a book on how the new law on land acquisition was made, to be published by Oxford University Press in April 2015.)
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