Highlights LARR Ordinance

Why ordinance needed

·         The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition and Resettlement & Rehabilitation Act, 2013 ( LARR Act)  may have had its heart in the right place, but is in reality too rigorous, making it difficult  for land acquiring bodies, land acquiring authorities, industrialists and farmers.

·         Under Section 105 of the Land Acquisition Act, clarity was needed on what provisions apply to the aforesaid 13 legislations and it had to be done before January 1, 2015.

·         It was necessary to give a message to investors that effort is made  to free up procedural bottlenecks which are almost a hallmark of any infrastructure investment in India.

Removal of consent clause and  Social Impact Assessment

·         The Ordinance seeks to amend Section 10(A) of the Act to expand sectors where assessment and consent will not be required. For five sectors, the consent clause has been removed. So the government or private individuals/companies will no longer need mandatory 80% consent for land acquisition in those five sectors.

·          the mandatory "consent" clause and Social Impact Assessment (SIA) will not be applicable if the land is acquired for national security, defence, rural infrastructure including electrification, industrial corridors and housing for the poor including PPP where ownership of land continues to be vested with the government.

·         Rehabilitation and resettlement packages will be available as per the new Land Acquisition Act.

'Pro-farmer step'

·         The ordinance seeks to  promote farmer’s interest  by including 13 so far excluded Acts under the new Land Acquisition Act. It is hailed as a pro-farmer move as with this decision, rehabilitation, resettlement and compensation provisions will be applicable for the 13 existing central pieces of legislations. Till now land could be acquired under these Acts and there was no uniform central policy of rehabilitation and resettlement. 

·         These Acts include the Coal Bearing Areas Acquisition and Development Act 1957, the National Highways Act 1956, Land Acquisition (Mines) Act 1885,  Atomic Energy Act 1962, the Indian Tramways Act 1886, the Railways Act 1989, the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act 1958, the Petroleum and Minerals Pipelines (Acquisition of Right of User in Land) Act 1962 and the Damodar Valley Corporation Act 1948. The Electricity Act 2003, Requisitioning and Acquisition of Immovable Property Act 1952, the Resettlement of Displaced Persons (Land Acquisition) Act 1948 and the Metro Railways (Construction of Works) Act 1978 are also brought under its purview to provide higher compensation, rehabilitation and resettlement benefits to farmers whose land is being acquired.

 Compensation remains the same

·         The compensation package remains the same i.e. as may be decided by state government not exceeding four times the market price for rural and and two times for urban land. Despite pressure from various groups the package has been kept intact.

सामाजिक परिणाम निर्धारण मुल्यमापन गट

पुणे: शासनाने नुकतीच नवीन भूसंपादन अधिनियमाचे कलम ७ अंतर्गत   सामाजिक परिणाम निर्धारण मुल्यमापन  करण्यासाठी तदन्य गट स्थापन केला आहे. तसेच तसेच कलम ११ व् १९  अंतर्गत प्रसिध्द करावे लागणा-या अधिसूचनांचे नमुने प्रसिद्ध केले आहेत।  महाराष्ट्र राज्यात अत्यंत अभ्यासपूर्वक या नविन कायद्याची कार्यपध्दती निश्चित केली जाते  ही निश्चितच जमेची बाजू आहे।    

नवीन भूसंपादन कायदा कलम 4(१) व कलम 2(३)(e) प्रमाणे अधिसूचना

पुणे : महाराष्ट्र शासनाने दि. 19/01/2015 रोजी शासन राजपत्र, असाधारण भाग 4(अ) मध्ये नवीन भूसंपादन कायदा The Right to fair compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 चे   कलम 4(१) व कलम 2(३)(e) प्रमाणे अधिसूचना प्रसिध्द करणेत आली आहे (अधिसूचना पाहण्यासाठी येथे क्तिक करा). 

 

Ordinance to amend New Land Acquisition Act 2013

Pune: The Union Cabinet recently approved an ordinance to amend the contentious land acquisition act and ease restrictions including a "consent clause" which was seen as obstacle for power, highways, housing, defence and infrastructure projects and holding up the economy's growth potential. 

The ordinance seeks to waive the "consent clause" - the requirement to secure specific consent of owners of 70% -80% of land owners if acquisitions are meant for defence and defence production, rural infrastructure including electrification, housing for poor and affordable housing, industrial corridors and infrastructure projects including projects under Public-Private Partnership mode where ownership the land continues to be vested with the government. Multi-crop land can also be acquired for such purposes. 

Such acquisitions will also be exempt from social impact assessment and the application of Food Security Act, two other requirements laid down under the Land Acquisition Act which have been widely identified as factors snagging projects and development. Nearly 80% of land acquired in the country is for such projects.

The ordinance marks a bold move considering that the entire political class had thrown its weight behind the Land Acquisition Act despite reservations in Congress and BJP about its implications on development and costs. The Act was inspired by the resentment against the arbitrary and exploitative land acquisitions which peaked when governments took over farm lands for SEZs and real estate projects. 

About Right to Fair  Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act 2013 , many felt that the "course correction" went too far and to impractical lengths because of the provisions that made land acquisition steeply prohibitive and time-consuming. With the pendulum swinging to the other extreme, state governments including those belonging to those Congress called for a fresh look at the law.

The Land Acquisition Act made it mandatory for seeking consent of 70% of gram sabhas for PPP projects and 80% for private entities. This clause was seen as a major roadblock for acquiring land for projects, an object of persistent complaints by the industry as well as states. 

While the pre-acquisition restrictions have been waived, the government has decided that the compensation and rehabilitation and resettlement packages would remain as prescribed in the present law. 

With respect to compensation and resettlement and rehabilitation norms, the cabinet also approved bringing under the ambit of the ordinance 13 most frequently used Acts for land acquisition for central government projects such as national highways, metro rail, atomic energy projects, electricity. This is expected to benefit farmers and affected families. 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByMPSwvfUkBgQzhJb3RBdUp5X1E/view

Aurangabad Bench of Mumbai HC conditinally allows declaration of Awards

Aurangabad Bench of Mumbai High Court has on 23rd Sept 2014 in WP 4274/14 passed following order :

Interest of justice would be sub served by passing the following order.

" 6] The awards that would be passed after the issuance of notification dated 13.8.2014 would be subject to the decision of the present writ petition. As far as the present petition is concerned, the respondents shall not pass award in respect of land of the petitioner until further orders of this Court.

7] S.O. to 30.9.2014.

8] Office to issue authenticated copy of the order to the learned counsel for the parties on demand."

Welcome to his is new blog for Land Acquisition Officers and persons interested in fair and transparent land acquisition.


Pralhad Kachare
Dy. Commissioner, LA
Pune