2. • Land acquisition is the process by which the
government acquires private property for
public purpose.
• Till 2013, land acquisition in India was
governed by Land Acquisition Act of 1894 .
4. • Under the 1894 Act, the government could acquire
any land as it wishes to, in the name of "public
purpose“. The term “public purpose” was
ambiguous and open to executive-discretion. So,
poor peoples’ land was acquired at throwaway
prices in pretext of development projects.
• Sometimes such projects never started, and the same
cheap land was resold at higher price to real estate
developers, without building anything for “public
purpose”.
5. • No safeguards: There is no real appeal mechanism to
stop the process of the acquisition. A hearing (under
section 5A) is prescribed but this is not a discussion or
negotiation. The views expressed are not required to
be taken on board by the officer conducting the
hearing.
• Silent on resettlement and rehabilitation of those
displaced: There are absolutely no provisions in the 1894
law relating to the resettlement and rehabilitation of
those displaced by the acquisition.
• Urgency clause: This is the most criticised section of the
Law. The clause never truly defines what constitutes an
urgent need and leaves it to the discretion of the
acquiring authority.
6. • Low rates of compensation: The rates paid for the
land acquired are the prevailing circle rates in the
area which are notorious for being outdated and
hence not even remotely indicative of the actual
rates prevailing in the area.
• Litigation: Even where acquisition has been carried
out the same has been challenged in litigations on
the grounds mentioned above. This results in the
stalling of legitimate infrastructure projects.
9. • The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land
Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, which
came into force from 1 January 2014.
• The title of the old law conveyed that its primary purpose was
to expedite the acquisition of land. However, the principle
objective of the new Bill is fair compensation, thorough
resettlement and rehabilitation of those affected, adequate
safeguards for their well-being and complete transparency in
the process of land acquisition. The title has been amended to
reflect this.
• Retrospective operation: To address historical injustice it
applies retrospectively to cases where no land acquisition
award has been made. Also in cases where the land was
acquired five years ago but no compensation has been paid
land acquisition process will be started afresh
10.
11. 1. COMPENSATION : Compensation in rural areas would be calculated by
multiplying market value by two and adding assets attached to the land or
building and adding a solatium. In urban areas it would be market value
plus assets attached to the land and solatium.
ILLUSTRATION
Suppose the market value of a piece of land in rural area is 10,00,000.
Multiplying it by 2 ----- 10,00,000 x 2 = 20,00,000
Adding value of assets (2,00,000) attached to land ------ = 22,00,000
Adding 100% solatium, the final compensation = 44,00,000
A piece of land of market value 10,00,000 in urban area -----
Adding value of asset (2,00,000) attached to land ------ = 12,00,000
Adding 100% solatium , the final compensation = 24,00,000
12. *Compensation for livelihood losers: In addition to those
losing land, the Bill provides compensation to those who
are dependent on the land being acquired for their
livelihood. To qualify for benefits under this Act the time
period has been reduced to three years of dependence (on
the acquired land) from five
*Fishing rights: In the case of irrigation or hydel projects,
affected families may be allowed fishing rights in the
reservoirs.
*Share in appreciated land value: Where the acquired land
is sold to a third party for a higher price, 40% of the
appreciated land value (or profit) will be shared with the
original owners.
13. CONSENT: Consent of up to 80 per cent of people
required for private projects. For PPP projects, the
approval of 70 per cent of the same is mandatory
Multi-cropped, irrigated land cannot be acquired
unless it is for defence or emergency caused by natural
calamity
Land should be returned to original owner or the State
Land Bank if not used in five years for the purpose for
which it is acquired
The government will not acquire land for private
companies for private purpose
14. Exemption from income tax and stamp duty: No
income tax shall be levied and no stamp duty shall be
charged on any amount that accrues to an individual as
a result of the provisions of the new law.
The Bill also proposes amenities like schools, health
centres and civic infrastructure in places where project-
affected people are resettled
15. The urgency clause should be exercised in the rarest of
rare cases like national defense or for resettlement
purposes.
The Social Impact Assessment (SIA) has to be carried
out in consultation with the representatives of the
Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs)
Reports prepared under the Social Impact Assessment are
to be shared with these representatives.
16. 1.INVESTIGATION PROCESS
When a local authority or a company requires a land,
an application is required to be made by it to the
revenue authority,accompanied with a copy of the plan
showing survey nos., purpose of acquisition and the
reason for the particular site to be chosen and the
provision made for the cost of the acquisition.
After the government has been fully satisfied about the
purpose, the least area needed, and other relevant
facts as provided under land acquisition rules, it will
issue a notification under Section 4 of the act that the
particular land is required for public purpose.
Procedure for the Land Acquisition
17. 2. Objection and Confirmation
Objections are invited from all persons interested in land within thirty days from the date
of notification.
The objections will be valid on one or more of the following grounds:
* i. That the purpose for which the land is proposed for acquisition is not a public purpose.
* ii. That the land is not or less suitable than another piece of land for the said purpose.
* iii. That the area under acquisition is excessive.
* iv. That the acquisition will destroy or impair historical or artistic monuments or will
desecrate religious buildings, graveyards and the like.
3. Claim and Award
The collector will issue notices under Section 9 to all persons interested in the acquisition
to file their claim reports.
In determining the compensation the market value of the land is determined at the date
of notification. The rise and fall in the value during the period of transaction and
notification is taken into consideration.
Compensation is also payable when:
* i. Part of the property is proposed for acquisition in such a manner that the remainder
depreciates in value.
* ii. When the land notified for acquisition has standing crops or trees.
* iii. If the person interested has to change his place of residence or business then the excess
rent payable for the new premises is also considered for compensation
18. After necessary inquiries the collector declares his award
showing true area of the land, total amount of compensation
payable and apportionment of compensation if there are
more than one owners or claimants.
4. Reference to Court
Any person interested to whom the award is not satisfactory
can submit a written application to the court.
This application should be made within six weeks from the
date of declaration of the award.
19. The new government
passed an ordinance on
Land Acquisition on 29th
December 2014
introducing major
changes to the 2013 Act.
20. *LARR Act-2013 established an extremely complex and impractical
land acquisition process.
*Holdouts: Jholachhap NGOs would instigate 20-25% of the affected
families to stage holdout- promising them it’ll fetch them even
higher prices. and Given the 70-80% consent requirement, the
project will never kickoff.
*Litigation: because local (and therefore corruption) Patwari and
Tehsildars never maintain proper land records of who owns how
much land.
*This raised the land prices, red tapism and thus the overall project
cost.
*Neither the farmer could sell its land and move to urban areas, nor
the entrepreneur could buy the land and move towards rural areas.
21.
22. Pros
The existing Act kept 13 most frequently used
acts for Land Acquisition for Central Government
Projects out of the purview. These acts are
applicable for national highways, metro rail,
atomic energy projects, electricity related
projects, etc. The present amendments bring all
those exempted from the 13 acts under the
purview of this Act for the purpose of
compensation, rehabilitation and resettlement.
Therefore, the amendment benefits farmers and
affected families.
23. The proposed changes in the Land Acquisition Act
would allow a fast track process for defence and
defence production, rural infrastructure including
electrification, affordable housing, industrial
corridors and infrastructure projects including
projects taken up under Public Private Partnership
mode where ownership of the land continues to be
vested with the government.
As per the changes brought in the Ordinance,
multi-crop irrigated land can also be acquired
for purposes like national security, defence, rural
infrastructure including electrification, industrial
corridors and building social infrastructure.
24. Cons
The original Land Acquisition Act, 2013 had a
consent clause for acquiring land – industrial
corridors, Public Private Partnership projects,
rural infrastructure, affordable housing and
defence. But after the central government
changed, it exempted these five categories
from the rule of acquitting land in the Bill
tabled on February 24.
Social assessment which was mandatory
before acquitting land has also been exempted
in the Bill tabled in the Lok Sabha.
25. *As per the existing law, land will be given back to the farmer
if it remains unused for five years. The proposed amendment
says the land will be returned only if the specified project on
the land fails to complete the deadline.
*Also whether the land is fertile or not will also not be taken
into consideration while acquiring it for these five specific
sectors.
*Bureaucrats will be punished if found guilty of violating any
clause of the existing Land Act. However, the new clause
makes government sanction necessary to prosecute civil
servants.
26.
27. *
*Anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare launched a two-day
token agitation against the new land acquisition act on
February 23 and 24. His agitation has received support from
thousands of activists and farmers
*Hazare pressed for repeal of the ordinance issued by the
union government on 29 December 2014
*In a post on his blog, Hazare has criticised this amendment as
anti-farmer and pro-corporate
*He opposed the various clauses in the ordinance like removal
of SIA,Consent Requirement,multi crop land provision,Return
of Land to Farmers if unused.
30. In an attempt to placate the opposition and
some unhappy allies, government brought
nine official amendments and added two
clauses to the controversial legislation.
The amendments have been passed in the
Lok Sabha setting the stage for its
consideration in Rajya Sabha where the
numbers are loaded against the government.
31. The social impact asssessment of land to be
acquired will be the prerogative of the state
governments
The amendments include dropping of
exemption to "social infrastructure" projects
as there were fears that private individuals
may use this clause to open colleges and
hospitals which are actually business models
32. Multi-crop lands will not be acquired
Land will be returned to the farmer if the
project is not completed, but the time
consumed by court cases and injunctions will
not be counted.
The most important clause- the Consent Clause
has not been dealt with yet,this being the major
reason for the widespread opposition against
the ordinance
33. Government has decided to prorogue the
Rajya Sabha and repromulgate the Land
Ordinance in the next session, as the
existing ordinance lapses on April 5 with
the end of the Rajya Sabha Session.
Sources said that the government will try
its best to bring the Land bill in Rajya
Sabha to replace the Ordinance in the
second half of the Budget session after it
reconvenes on April 20.
34. It may agree to reintroduce the provision of
taking farmers' consent for acquiring land.The
earlier 80 percent consent requirement can be
reduced to 51 percent.
Similarly, instead of the earlier social impact
assessment (SIA), the government may involve
expert groups to examine the land deals to find
out whether excess land has been acquired for a
project and whether it has affected the original
inhabitants.
