DEBANJALI SAHA- WEST BENGAL LAND REFORMS

SIGN NORTHSCHOOL OF PLANNING AND
ARCHITECTURE DELHI (SPA D)
Environmental Planning Studio
LAND MANAGEMENT : WEST BENGAL
PRESENTED BY: DEBANJALI
SAHA
SCHOOL OF PLANNING AND
ARCHITECTURE, NEW DELHI
MARCH, 2019

HISTORY OF WEST BENGAL:
LAND MANAGEMENT: WEST BENGAL
SUBJECT: LAND MANGEMENT
SUBMITTED BY: Debanjali Saha
The partition of West Bengal was
the most important event during
the rule of Lord Curzon. It was
carried out mainly for the
convenience of administration.
Bengal in those days was the
biggest province of India extending
over 1,89,000 SQ. Miles with a
population of 80 million. It was
comprising of Bengal, Bihar and
Orissa and was under the central of
one lieutenant Governor.
The Bengal Presidency (1757–
1912), later reorganized as the
Bengal Province (1912–1947), was
once the largest subdivision
(presidency) of British India, with
its seat in Calcutta (now Kolkata).
In 1905, Bengal proper was
partitioned, with Eastern Bengal
and Assam headquartered in Dacca
and Shillong. British India was
reorganised in 1912 and the
presidency was reunited into a
single Bengali-speaking province.
The decision to effect the Partition
of Bengal was announced on 19
July 1905 by the Viceroy of India,
Curzon. The partition took place on
16 October 1905 and separated the
largely Muslim eastern areas from
the largely Hindu western areas.
Hindus were outraged at what they
saw as a "divide and rule" policy,
even though Curzon stressed it
would produce administrative
efficiency.
MAP: Bengal in 1904
MAP: Bengal in 1905-1911
MAP: Bengal after Partition in 1947

INTRODUCTION OF WEST BENGAL:
• West Bengal is an Indian state, located in Eastern India on
the Bay of Bengal.
• With over 9 crore inhabitants (as of 2011), it is India's
fourth-most populous state.
• It has an area of 88,752 km2 (34,267 sq mi).
• A part of the ethno-linguistic Bengal region of the Indian
subcontinent, it borders Bangladesh in the east, and Nepal
and Bhutan in the north.
• It also borders the Indian states of Odisha, Jharkhand,
Bihar, Sikkim, and Assam.
• The state capital is Kolkata (Calcutta), the seventh-largest
city in India, and center of the third-largest metropolitan
area in the country.
• As for geography, West Bengal includes the Darjeeling
Himalayan hill region, the Ganges delta, the Rarh region,
and the coastal Sundarbans.
Overview of West Bengal State
Area 88,752 km2
No of Districts 21
Population 9.12 crore
Density 1028 per km2
Growth of Population 13.8%
Sex Ratio 950
Literacy Rate 76%
MAP: India
MAP: Districts of West Bengal

• STATE LEVEL
 1948 - West Bengal Land (Requisition and Acquisition) Act
 1955 - West Bengal Land Reforms Act
 1969 - West Bengal Acquisition and Settlement of homestead Land Act, 1969
 1975 - West Bengal Acquisition of homestead land for Agricultural labourers, artisans and
Fisherman Act
 1976 - Howrah-Amta Light Railway Company (Acquisition of land) Act
 1979 - West Bengal Town and Country (Planning and Development) Act
 1981 - Land Acquisition (West Bengal Amendment) Act
 1993 - West Bengal Government Land (Regulation of Transfer) Act
 1999 - Land Acquisition (West Bengal Amendment) Act
 2001 - West Bengal Thika Tenancy (Acquisition and regulation) Act
 2011 – Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Act
• NATIONAL LEVEL
 1894 - Land Acquisition Act
 1976 - Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act
 2013 - Right to Fair Compensation and Rehabilitation Act
 2015 - Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill
LIST OF ACTS FOLLOWED IN WEST BENGAL:

INTRODUCTION: WEST BENGAL LAND REFORMS
• In the first two decades since Independence, land reform was considered one of the main policy instruments for
economic development in India.
• Yet very little has been achieved, and it has all but disappeared from the policy agenda nowadays except for the recent
focus on land acquisition policy.
• Transition from land reform to land acquisition was experience of West Bengal.
• With regard to land, West Bengal is different from other Indian states in many ways:
 extent of land reform
 state politics
 recent land acquisition fiascos
HOW MUCH LAND REFORMS IN WEST BENGAL ?
• Large in comparison with other Indian states due to a Left Front government elected in 1978, reelected for a record five
terms till 2010
• By early 1990s, 6.7% of land area distributed as land titles for the poor, compared with less than 1% for most other
states
• Only state to seriously implement sharecropper registration program (Operation Barga):
 minimum share of tenant
 protection from eviction
EFFECT OF LAND REFORM ON AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY IN W.B
• Distribution of land titles had no significant effects (owing to small, infertile plots distributed)
• Operation Barga, on the other hand, had significant positive effect on productivity at the farm and village levels 1%
land area distributed associated with 0.2–0.4% rise in farm productivity, with high spillovers to owner cultivated farms.
• However, contribution of Operation Barga to observed productivity growth in West Bengal in 1980s-90s was small,
relative to various agricultural development programs implemented by local governments

WEST BENGAL LAND REFORMS ACT, 1955
• It extends to the whole of West Bengal, except the area under Calcutta municipal
Corporation.
• Right of Raiyat in respect of land: A raiyat (Occupant tenant) is the owner of his plot of land
and the plot of land shall be hereditable and transferable.
• Permission for change of area, character or use of land:
 A raiyat holding any land should apply to the collector of the revenue dept. for change of
area of character of such land or for conversion of the same.
 Mode of use of land may be residential, commercial, industrial, agriculture excluding
plantation of tea, forestry, sericulture, horticulture, public utilities or other use of land.
• Right of purchase by co-sharer or contiguous tenant:
 This was done to avoid small fragmentation of big chunk of land.
 If a portion or share of a plot of land of a raiyat is transferred to any person other than a co-
sharer of a raiyat’s plot of land, the 1st priority to offer the land is given to the Bargadar (land
cultivator), 2nd the Co-sharer (anyone sharing crop from the same land) and 3rd to the
adjoining Raiyat (to the person sharing the longest common boundary with the land
transferred).
 They apply to the Munsif having territorial jurisdiction, for transfer of the said portion of
the land. Along with a deposit of a sum total of 10% of the purchasing amount.

• Modes of transfer of land by Scheduled Tribes
 If a raiyat belongs to ST , then he may transfer his plot of land in one of the following ways:
a. By a complete mortgage entered into with a person belonging to a Scheduled Tribe for
a period not exceeding seven years
b. By sale or gift to the Government for a public or charitable purpose
c. By simple mortgage to the Government or lo a registered Co-operative Society
d. by simple mortgage or mortgage by deposit of title deeds in favour of a scheduled
bank, a co-operative land mortgage bank or a corporation, owned or controlled by the
Central or Stale Government, or by both, for the development of land or improvement
of agricultural production
e. By gift to a person belonging to a Scheduled Tribe
f. By sale or exchange in favour of any person belonging to a Scheduled Tribe
 If he wants to sell his land to a person not belonging to any Schedule Tribe, permission shall
be granted by the Revenue officer until he is willing to pay the fair market price of the plot
of land that the proposed sale is intended to for the following purposes:
a. For the improvement of any other part of the plot of land
b. For investment
WEST BENGAL LAND REFORMS ACT, 1955

HOWRAH-AMTA LIGHT RAILWAY COMPANY (ACQUISITION OF LAND) ACT, 1976
• Act Act to provide for the acquisition of certain lands held by the Howrah-Amta
Light Railway Company Limited for providing better facilities for transport and
communication to the members of the public by construction of broad-gauge
railway line in Howrah-Amta-Bargachia-Champadanga and Dankuni-Sheakhala areas
within the districts of Howrah and Hooghly and for matters connected with it.
• ACQUISITION OF LAND:
Any land acquired should be notified in the official Gazette, objections are
welcomed and then the state government should entitled to transfer any land
acquired under this section.
• PAYMENT OF AMOUNT:
 The State Government should deposit in cash in Court to the credit of the company
an amount which shall be determined by the Collector, where the land is situated
within the limits of Howrah Municipality, at the rate of rupees seventy-four
thousand and seven hundred fifty per hectare and,
 where the land is situated outside the Howrah Municipality, at the rate of rupees
four thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight per hectare in case of firm land and
rupees one thousand three hundred and forty-five per hectare in case of any
other land.

SINGUR LAND REHABILITATION AND DEVELOPMENT ACT, 2011
• “An Act to provide for taking over of the land covered by the lease granted to Tata
Motors Limited for the sole purpose of Small Car Manufacturing project and letters of
allotment issued to the Vendors as recommended by Tata Motors Limited in view of
non-commissioning and abandoning Small Car Project and ancillary factories with a view
to returning such portion of the land to the unwilling owners thereof, who have not
accepted compensation and to utilize the balance portion in public interest and for the
benefit of the State.”
• PAYMENT OF AMOUNT:
 For the transfer to and vesting of the land leased to the Tata Motors Limited, the
amount of compensation would be adjudged and determined by the District Judge,
Hooghly on an application being made by the Tata Motors Limited in due compliance
with the principles of natural justice and by reasoned order.
 The amount determined in accordance with the provisions is a simple interest at the
rate of 6% per annum from the period of application made by the claimant and ending
on the date offender of the amount which is determined and payable by the State
Government

• URBAN LAND (Ceiling and Regulation) Act, 1976
This is not applied to any vacant land in an urban agglomeration.
 STANDARD HECTARE in relation to an agriculture land, an extend of land equivalent to:
1.00 hectare in an irrigation area
1.40 hectare in any other area
• Ceiling Area
The ceiling area should be according to the following:
a. In the case of raiyat, who is an adult person, 2.50 standard hectare. (i.e.2.5x 1Ha for
irrigated Land and 2.5x1.4Ha for other area).
b. In case of a raiyat, who is the sole surviving member of a family, 2.50 standard hectares
c. In the case of a raiyat having a family consisting of >2 member but <5 members, 5.00
standard hectare
d. In the case of a raiyat having a family consisting of >5 members, 5.00 standard hectare,
plus 0.50 standard hectare for each member in excess of five, however the aggregate of
the ceiling for such raiyat should not exceed 7.00 standard hectare. (i.e. for example if 7
members, then (5+0.5+0.5)= 6ha he can hold)
e. In the case of any other raiyat, 7.00 standard hectares. (i.e. 7x 1.4 (unirrigated land) =
9.8 ha maximum limit a person can hold)
URBAN LAND (CEILING AND REGULATION) ACT, 1976

f. In the case of a family consisting of more raiyats than one, the ceiling area of
all the other raiyats in the family shall not, in any case, exceed:
 Where the number of members of such family does not exceed five
members, 5.00 standard hectare.
 Where the number of members of such family exceed five members, 5.00
standard hectare, plus 0.50 standard hectare for each member in excess of
five, however the aggregate of the ceiling should not exceed 7.00 standard
hectare.
• EXEMPTIONS:
The provisions shall not be applied to the following:
a. To any land owned as a raiyat by a local authority or any wholly
Government company or any authority constituted.
b. To any land in hilly portion of the district of Darjeeling

• LIMITATION ON FURTHER ACQUISITION OF LAND BY A RAIYAT:
If at any time, the land owned by a raiyat exceeds the ceiling area on account of
transfer, inheritance or otherwise, the area of land which is in excess of the ceiling
area should vest in the state. The exemptions were such person requires land for :
a. The purpose of establishing a mill, factory or workshop, livestock breeding farm,
industrial park, financial hub, power plant, sub-station, tourism project, airport,
biotech park, education and medical institutions etc. thus if a detail project
report along with the purpose if submitted, then non-agricultural land wont
have any ceiling limit.
b. For the purpose of future expansion of any such mill, factory, industrial park and
all the above mentioned purposes, there wont be any ceiling limit. Thus the
state government on such terms and condition, allows to acquire and hold land
in excess of the ceiling area limit.
If a person fails to utilize such land within 3 years of the date of permission granted
under the provision for the purpose for which he has been so permitted by the
State Government, then all the rules related with the ceiling area should be
applied to the area of land which is held in excess of the ceiling area.

FROM LAND REFORM TO LAND ACQUISITION IN WEST BENGAL
• REASONS:
a. Agricultural productivity plateaued since the mid-90s
b. Combined with considerable fall in land per household and per capita
c. Most rural households cannot rely on agriculture any more for their livelihoods
d. Decline in proportion of household heads declaring agricultural cultivation as their
primary occupation (less than 50% by 2003)
e. Corresponding rise in landlessness (almost 50% in 2003)
f. And in education and aspirations of the young, who seek non-agricultural occupations
Thus, from the early 2000s, the Left Front realized the need to expand non-agricultural
employment
So it bent over backwards to invite private industry
Tried to lure Tata away from tax concessions offered in HP and Uttaranchal
Tata picked a site in Singur, 90 km from Kolkata, located on the Durgapur Expressway
WB state government used its powers of eminent domain using the 1894 Land
Acquisition Act, acquired 997 acres of (mostly) prime agricultural land
Small marginal landowners – 12,000 cheques issued for owners, 3000 for registered
sharecroppers

• The history of land acquisition began with the Bengal Regulation I of
1824 to promote British commercial interests.
• Land for construction of Railways was acquired under the said
Regulation and finally the first Railway came up in 1853.
• The Bengal Regulation I of 1824 was replaced by Act I of 1850, by
which the provision for land acquisition was extended to Calcutta
town.
• By 1857, various laws on land acquisition were consolidated as Act
VI of 1857 and it was made applicable to the whole of British India.
• The 1857 Act was replaced by the Land Acquisition Act (Act X of
1870).
• The Act of 1870 was repealed and the Act of 1894 was enacted for
the purpose of facilitating acquisition of private land by the
Government for public purposes.
INTRODUCTION: LAND ACQUISITION IN WEST BENGAL

Land Acquisition Act 1894 (LAA 1894) is a well drafted and well served piece of
legislation that served land acquisition purpose for more than a century. In general
land acquisition is composed of three macro-processes:
• First, affected parties and their land ownership are to be identified.
• Second, fair processes by which stakeholders are notified of the acquisition and are
given a chance to voice their views followed by the declaration.
• Finally, an acceptable compensation package to be arrived upon and distributed.
 COMPONENTS OF COMPENSATION (SECTION 23)
• Market value of the land at the date of publication of Notification and
damages sustained by land owner at the time of taking possession of the land.
• 12% additional market value per annum from the date of Notification to the
date of award or the date of taking possession of land whichever is earlier.
• Sum of 30% solatium on market value in consideration of compulsory nature
of acquisition.
• Interest @ 9% per annum upto one year and @15% after one year on all
items of compensation from the date of taking possession till the
compensation is paid or deposited.
LAND ACQUISITION ACT, 1894

• Non- Consultative, Non transparent, Low compensation
• Large scale acquisition of land, especially under Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Act, 2005 led to hue
and cry.
• The state governments have acquired large tracts of land in rural areas, belonging to
farmers/rural landowners at throwaway prices in the name of development projects.
• Later, after changing the land use, land was handed over to private builders for construction of
multi storey residential and commercial complexes, industries etc.
• These private entrepreneurs later sold these complexes to the general public at very high prices.
• There have been cases where the landowners/farmers were assured of employment generation,
but that did not happen as they were neither skilled for the job nor qualified for the same.
• The farmers have been cheated in the name of land acquisition for public purpose – as they do
not get the market price for their land due to the under rated sale deeds and the government
playing broker/agent for the private players.
• Need felt for a more balanced Act.
 FARMERS PROBLEM:
 High dependence on rainfall and natural calamities.
 Insufficient irrigation facility.
 Low proportion of irrigated Land.
 Fertilizers subsidy.
 Credit availability & cost.
 Disguised and Under employment.
LAND ACQUISITION ACT, 1894

• The RFCT LAR&R 2013 had introduced some significant changes to India’s land
acquisition law.
• The primary among them is the vastly increased compensation for the land
owners, who were also recognised as urban and rural land owners.
• The law therefore distinguished the operation of differential forces of land
markets operating in urban and rural setting while determining land value.
 Therefore, the cash award required was raised to be at least four times the
estimated local market value of land in rural areas, and at least twice in urban
areas.
 The act also mandates that all affected parties be paid a Rehabilitation and
Resettlement (R&R) package in addition to the cash compensation for lost assets
so that the displacement costs are met by projects.
 The RFCT LAR&R Act 2013 requires that a Social Impact Assessment (SIA) be
conducted to identify the affected families and calculate the social impact when
land is acquired.
RIGHT TO FAIR COMPENSATION AND REHABILITATION ACT, 2013

 COMPENSATION PACKAGE TO LAND OWNER AND TENANTS
• Based on market value of Land
a) the market value, if any, specified in the Indian Stamp Act 1899 for the area;
b) the average sale price for similar type of land situated in the nearest village or
nearest vicinity area, ascertained from 50% of the sale deeds registered during the
preceding 3 years; or
c) consented amount of compensation in case of acquisition of lands for private
companies or for public private partnership projects, whichever is higher.
i. Multiplying factor (Market value x 2 in urban Areas, x 4 in Rural Areas )
ii. Solatium 100% (The Collector having determined the total compensation to be paid,
shall, to arrive at the final award, impose a “Solatium” amount equivalent to one hundred
per cent. Of the compensation amount.)
Additional compensation in case of multiple displacements–The Collector shall, as
far as possible, not displace any family which has already been displaced by the
appropriate Government for the purpose of acquisition under the provisions of this
Act, and if so displaced, shall pay an additional compensation equivalent to that of
the compensation determined under this Act for the second or successive
displacements.

 REHABILITATION AND RESETTLEMENT OF PROJECT AFFECTED FAMILY
The Collector shall pass Rehabilitation and Resettlement Awards for each affected
family
a. Provision of housing units in case of displacement
b. Land for Land in case of irrigation projects
c. Offer for Developed Land
d. Choice of Annuity / Employment(one family member) / Lump sum payment
e. Subsistence grant for displaced families for a Period of one year
f. Transportation cost for displaced families
g. Cattle shed/petty shops cost
h. One-time grant to artisan, small traders and certain others
i. One-time Resettlement Allowance
j. Monthly stipend for one year
 INFRASTRUCTURAL AMENITIES
a. Roads within the resettled villages
b. Proper drainage, sanitation and drinking water
c. Panchayat Ghars, Post Offices, Fair Price Shops, Schools and Primary Health Centres
d. Irrigation facilities to the agricultural land allocated to the resettled families

 SOCAIL IMPACT ASSESSMENT (SIA)
• The RFCT LAR&R Act 2013 requires that a Social Impact Assessment (SIA) be
conducted to identify the affected families and calculate the social impact when
land is acquired.
• A committee of independent experts examines the SIA and approves the social
impact assessment of the project, an administrative committee reviews if it serves
the public interest and also if the benefits outweigh the costs, and the disputes are
to be referred to a specially constituted body instead of civil courts.
• Multi-cropped land is proposed not to be acquired except under special
circumstances, and, even under such, land acquisition must not exceed 5% of the
cultivated area in the district.
• Social impacts of the project, and the nature and cost of addressing them.
 The RFCT LAR&R Act 2013 required that if land acquired under it remained
unutilised for five years, it would be returned to the original owners or the
government land bank. The Ordinance states that the period after which
unutilised land will need to be returned will be five years, or any period specified
at the time of setting up the project, whichever is later.

LAND ACQUISITION, REHABILITATION AND RESETTLEMENT BILL ,2015
The RFCT LAR&R Bill 2015 is still under the process of becoming a law and it seeks to make some
amendments to the earlier act of 2013. It has been passed by the Lok Sabha but yet discussion of its
controversies is going in Rajya Sabha to get passed. It has same lines as that of RFCT LAR&R 2013 Act
but with some major modifications.
• The RFCT LAR&R Act 2013 exempted 13 laws (such as the National Highways Act, 1956 and the
Railways Act, 1989) from its purview. However, the RFCT LAR&R Act 2015 required that the
compensation, rehabilitation, and resettlement provisions of these 13 laws be brought in
consonance with the RFCT LAR&R Act 2015, within a year of its enactment, through a notification.
• The RFCT LAR&R 2015 Ordinance creates five special categories of land use to be exempt from
the provision of public consent: (i) defence, (ii) rural infrastructure, (iii) affordable housing, (iv)
industrial corridors, and (v) infrastructure projects including Public Private Partnership (PPP)
projects where the central government owns the land. (The RFCT LAR&R Act 2013 requires that
the consent of 80% of land owners is obtained for private projects and that the consent of 70% of
land owners be obtained for PPP projects).
• The RFCT LAR&R Act 2013 excluded the acquisition of land for private hospitals and private
educational institutions from its purview. The new Ordinance removes this restriction.
• While the RFCT LAR&R Act 2013 was applicable for the acquisition of land for private companies,
the new Ordinance changes this to acquisition for 'private entities'. A private entity is defined any
entity other than government entity, and could include a proprietorship, partnership, company,
corporation, non-profit organisation, or other entity under any other law.

COMPARISON OF LAA 1894, RFCT LARR 2013, RFCT LARR 2015
SL.NO PARAMETERS LAA 1894 RECFT LAAR 2013 RFCT LARR 2015
1. Public Purpose Includes several uses
such as infrastructure,
development and
housing projects. Also
includes use by
companies under
certain conditions.
Same as LAA 1894 Excludes acquisition of land
for private hospitals and
private educational
institutions.
2. Consent from
affected people
Consent of 80 % of displaced people
required in case of acquisition for
private companies and 70 % for
public-private partnerships
Consent for five categories of
projects is exempted
1. Defence 2. Affordable
Housing 3. Rural
Infrastructure 4. Industrial
Corridor 5. Infrastructure The
consent for the other projects
remains same as that of 2013
Act.
3. Social Impact
Assessment (SIA)
SIA has to be undertaken in every
acquisition.
Exemption of SIA for above
mentioned five categories of
Consent and also limits on
irrigated land.
4. Compensation Based on the market
value.
Two times of market value for urban
areas & four times of market value
in rural area”.
Same as 2013 Act
TABLE: Comparison of LAA 1894, RFCT LAR&R 2013 and RFCT LAR&R 2015

COMPARISON OF LAA 1894, RFCT LARR 2013, RFCT LARR 2015
SL.NO PARAMETERS LAA 1894 RECFT LAAR 2013 RFCT LARR 2015
5. Market Value Based on the current use of
land. Explicitly prohibits
using the intended use of
land while computing
market value.
Higher of: (a) value specified for
stamp duty, and (b) average of the
top 50% by recorded price of sale
of land in the vicinity.
Same as 2013 Act
6. Solatium 30% 100% 100%
7. Rehabilitation
and
Resettlement
R&R necessary for all affected
families. Minimum R&R
entitlements to be provided to
each family. With employment to
the members of the affected family
R&R award for each
affected family includes
mandatory employment to
at least one member of
such an affected family of a
farm labourer.
8. Food Security Multi-crop land to be acquired only
as a last resort. States to impose
limits on the area of agricultural/
multi-crop land that can be
acquired in a State. If agricultural
land is acquired, the state has to
cultivate an equivalent area of land
elsewhere.
No limit on multi-crop land
to be acquired for above
said five categories.
TABLE: Comparison of LAA 1894, RFCT LAR&R 2013 and RFCT LAR&R 2015

• In the second half of 2006, the West Bengal government acquired 997 acres of prime
agricultural land in order to enable Tata, a leading industry house in India, to build a
factory for Nano, its new model for a small and cheap car.
• In order to do so, the state government used its power of eminent domain under the
aegis of the 1894 Land Acquisition Act, which was inherited from colonial times.
• It was hoping the new car factory and the expected boost it would provide to small
firms producing ancillary car parts would jumpstart a new phase of industrial
development in the state, promoting much needed job growth in the non-agricultural
sector.
• In order to woo Tata away from other Indian states offering favourable tax concessions,
the West Bengal government allowed Tata to specify the location of its factory, and
offered it a long lease on favourable terms.
 Tata chose an area called Singur located on the Durgapur Expressway about 90 Km from
Kolkata, the neighbouring urban metropolis and transport hub in Eastern India.
 The West Bengal government subsequently decided to acquire the area required for
the factory and offer compensation to those whose lands were being acquired as
required by the 1894 Act.
CASE STUDY : TATA NANO PROJECT, SINGUR

• This resistance soon snowballed into a protest movement,
which the main opposition party, the Trinamool Congress
(TMC) subsequently galvanised.
• The state government subsequently offered to improve the
terms of compensation, including 25% compensation for
tenant farmers engaged in cultivation of acquired plots.
• No plans were offered to compensate agricultural workers
claiming to have lost employment on acquired lands.
• Local outbreaks of violence occurred, and the protests
acquired national and international media attention.
• Eventually, two years later, after being frustrated with the
protests and non-acquisition, M/s Tata Motors decided to
withdraw from West Bengal, and took the Nano car
manufacturing factory to Sanand, Gujarat.
SINGUR
 A household survey in 12 Singur villages, which were acquired for Tata Car Factory, was conducted in 2013.
 The results of the study show that most of the land was acquired from marginal landowners, and from those
engaged in cultivation on the acquired plots.
 For most affected owners, more than half the land they owned in 2005 was acquired.
 A significant fraction of landowners were under-compensated owing to misclassification of their plots in the official
land records, besides inability of the latter to incorporate other sources of plot heterogeneity.
 Acquisition of land resulted in 40% lower income growth for owners and half that for tenants.
 Agricultural workers that were directly affected experienced significant reductions in employment earnings
compared with unaffected agricultural workers, who in turn, experienced smaller earnings growth compared with
non-agricultural workers.
MAP: Location Of Singur In Hoogly District, W.B

• Hence, land acquisition in Singur imposed significant economic hardships on a large fraction of affected owners, tenants
and workers. A large fraction of owners were under-compensated relative to market values. Tenants were under-
compensated and agricultural workers were not compensated at all. Singur case clearly expressed the ground level
hurdles that need to be overcome for successful land.
SL.NO PARAMETERS LAA 1894 RECFT LAAR 2013
1. Public Purpose No effect of this clause would have affected No effect of this clause would have
affected
2. Consent from affected
people
As there was no provision of consent, it
reduced the time for acquisition but this
was the main cause of Tata Nano Plant’s
Failure.
This would have increased the time
for acquisition but later people
wouldn’t have complained about
forceful acquisition of their land
3. Social Impact
Assessment (SIA)
Since there was no provision of this clause,
it was also the reason of failure of Tata
Nano Plant. As people who were affected
later on rose up together in a group along
with the Political support.
This would have certainly helped
Tata’s project, as all the parameters
would have already looked upon to
avoid any problem at later stage
4. Compensation Market prices of the lands were determined
by land records of already sold lands. But
the records were misclassified in order to
save Stamp Duty. Due to this many farmers
were under compensated, which was also
the reason of failure this project.
The compensation in this act is much
higher which would increase the cost
of the project, but certainly it would
lead to satisfaction of owners of
acquired land. And it would lead to
the success of the project.
TABLE: Effect on M/s Tata Nano Project considering various LARR Acts

SL.NO PARAMETERS LAA 1894 RECFT LAAR 2013
5. Market Value The market values were misclassified, this
lead to under compensation of many farmers
which lead to dissatisfaction among these
farmers and then they rose up together,
which caused the project to go in vain
The market price in this case would be higher
which increase the cost of the project but
certainly it would beneficial during the
operation stage of the project
6. Solatium This was low only 30% of the market value. As
already stated market value was misclassified,
the farmers didn’t get proper solatium which
in turn affected the project’s success.
100% solatium will certainly cost more for the
project during the acquisition stage. But the
chances of project getting successful will be
much higher.
7. Rehabilitation
and
Resettlement
The affected families were not provided with
job security and the shelter of their livelihood
which created a more hurdles in the project
which lead to failure of project.
Providing Job security to the members of
affected family and shelter for their livelihood
would increase project cost and also some
portion of employment would be unqualified
for the project thereby creating project
hurdle.
8. Food Security Many lands where multi crops were
cultivated were acquired; this reduced the
production of many crops which affected the
supply of these crops across the state. Thus
food security to the people was reduced.
Moreover the cost of multi cropped land was
more so it increased acquisition cost.
Only 5% of multi cropped land can be
acquired under this act which would help to
ensure the Food security for all the people
across the stat and help to ensure the lower
cost of acquisition.
TABLE: Effect on M/s Tata Nano Project considering various LARR Acts

• West Bengal State Laws (https://www.latestlaws.com/bare-acts/state-acts-rules/west-
bengal-state-laws/)
• GoI (1985), The Land Acquisition Act 1894, Indian Gazette, Government of India (GoI),
New Delhi, (http://dolr.nic.in)
• Ghose, J., 2015, Bill Summary: The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in
Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Bill, 2015, PRS
Legislative Research Institute for Policy Research Studies Web page
http://www.prsindia.org/uploads/media/Land%20and%20R%20and%20R/Bill%20Sum
mary%20-%20LARR%20Bill%202015.pdf
• Ghatak, M., S. Mitra, D. Mookherjee and A. Nath (2013), Land Acquisition and
Compensation: What really happened in Singur?, Economic and Political Weekly of
India, XLVIII (21): 32-44
REFERENCE:

DEBANJALI SAHA- WEST BENGAL LAND REFORMS

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