• 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 .

Land Acquisition Act

1894

• 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”.

• 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.

• 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The rates paid for the land acquired are the prevailing circle rates in the area which are notorious for being outdated and hence not even remotely indicative of the actual rates prevailing in the area.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.

L.A.R.R

Act,

2013

• 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

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

*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.

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

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

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.

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

2. Objection and ConfirmationObjections 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 AwardThe 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

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 CourtAny 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.

The new government

passed an ordinance on

Land Acquisition on 29th

December 2014

introducing major

changes to the 2013 Act.

*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.

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.

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.

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.

*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.

**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.

*

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.

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

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

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 RajyaSabha to replace the Ordinance in the second half of the Budget session after it reconvenes on April 20.

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.

Presentation made by:-

*Tarun Khunger – 237

*Ramji patel – 493

*Jatin Suneja – 340

*Simranjit Singh – 629

*Abhinav Kumar – 553