THE RIGHT TO FAIR COMPENSATION
AND TRANSPARENCY IN LAND
ACQUISITION, REHABILITATION AND
RESETTLEMENT BILL, 2011 –
Proposed Amendments after inputs from
Standing Committee, GoI Ministries /
Departments
Department of Land Resources
Ministry of Rural Development
Government of India
21st September 2012
13:30PM
New Title
The Bill is being renamed to emphasize and better
reflect the Government’s Commitment towards:
̶
Securing a legal guarantee for the rights of all
those individuals and families affected by the
process of land acquisition
̶
Strengthening the rights based approach that
has been a key element of the UPA’s legislative
agenda
̶
Ensuring greater transparency in the land
acquisition process.
“THE RIGHT TO FAIR COMPENSATION AND
TRANSPARENCY IN LAND ACQUISITION,
REHABILITATION AND RESETTLEMENT BILL, 2012”
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Summary of Major Changes Proposed
1. Consent shall be required from two thirds of all land losers.
Compensation and R&R will be given to both land losers and
livelihood losers
2. Bill shall apply prospectively only, i.e., for new acquisitions only,
and not retrospectively
3. Definition of Market Value to be amended to ensure that acquisition
price doesn't form basis for compensation calculation in future
acquisitions. Two new explanations added.
4. States given large flexibility
• A sliding scale will give states flexibility to fix compensation in
rural areas, depending on their distance from urban areas
• Restrictions/thresholds on amount of multi-crop irrigated land and
net sown area per district or State available for acquisition left to
the discretion of States
• Land size thresholds on when R&R on private purchase of land
becomes applicable left to the discretion of States
5. Payment for R&R costs by acquirer made a ‘one-off’ (Acquirer to
put all monies in an escrow account, and ongoing commitments like
annuities and benefits to be administered by agency established
under this Act). Possession can be taken upon payment of monetary
obligations.
6. PRI representative to be included in SIA Committees
7. Separate chapter on Tribals Rights and Lands to ensure
acquisition in tribal areas done only as ‘last resort’, adequate
compensation for community rights under FRA, and compliance with
Samatha judgment
8. Removal of penalties on govt. officers to prevent abuse
9. Three Acts (SEZ Act, 2005, Works of Defence Act, 903, and
Cantonments Act, 2006) to be removed from Schedule, i.e., LARR
will apply to these acquisitions immediately
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The Draft Bill had listed 8 categories of Public
Purpose where Eminent Domain would apply
1. Land for strategic purposes relating to armed forces of the
Union, national security or defence, police, safety of the people;
2. Land for railways, highways, ports, airports, power and
irrigation purposes for use by Government and public sector
companies or corporations;
3. Land for the project affected families
4. Land for Planned development or improvement of village or
urban sites or for residential purpose to weaker sections in rural
or urban areas;
5. Land for Government administered educational, agricultural,
health and research schemes or institutions;
6. Land for persons residing in areas affected by natural
calamities
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------7. Land acquired by the Government for PPP projects for the
production of goods for public or the provision of public
services for infrastructure including those involving the
production of intermediate goods and services for these
purposes
8. Land for private companies for the production of goods for
public or provision of public services for infrastructure
including those involving the production of intermediate goods
and services for these purposes
Under (7) and (8), consent of at least two thirds of the Land
Losers shall be obtained through a prior informed process
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Eminent Domain and Public Purpose
1.
Land to be acquired only for clearly defined public
purpose:
•
For PPP projects, government will acquire land
only when :
(a) Consent of two thirds of all Land Losers has
been taken;
(b) Ownership of the acquired land rests with the
government so that PPP can apply
•
2.
For private projects in public interest,
government will acquire land only when:
consent of two thirds of Land losers has been
taken
Definition of Public Purpose tightened: redrafted
clause will define “public purpose” to include the
provision of land for private companies for the
production of goods for pulbic or provision of public
services. (Planning Commission recommendation)
In each case, fair Compensation and R&R provisions
as laid out in the Bill will apply both to Land losers and
Livelihood losers
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Exemption of Central Acts from Provisions of
the Bill
SEZ Act, 2005, Works of Defence Act, 1903, and
Cantonments Act, 2006 to be removed from
Schedule, i.e., LARR will apply to these
acquisitions
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Provisions related to Food Security
1.
As per original Bill, multi-crop irrigated land will not be
acquired except as a demonstrably last resort
measure. Restrictions will be placed on amount of
multi-crop irrigated land that may be acquired in any
district/State
2.
As per original Bill, restrictions will be placed on the
amount of net sown area of a district/State that may
be cumulatively acquired.
3.
However, restrictions/thresholds for both 1 (multicrop irrigated land) and 2 (net sown area) are
being left entirely to the discretion of respective
State governments (Standing Committee
recommendation)
4.
Also, these restrictions/thresholds will not apply
linear projects (such as Railways, highways, Major
District Roads, power lines, and irrigation canals)
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Determination of Market Value and
Compensation for Land (1/3)
1. Compensation:
• Schedule I of LARR Bill 2011 to determine minimum
compensation (Original Bill)
• But States may set up Land Pricing Commissions/
Authorities to ‘top up’ this amount and manage process
(Standing Committee recommendation)
2. Market Value:
• Compensation to be:
―2 times the market rate (including solatium) in urban
areas
―2-4 times the market rate (including solatium) in rural
areas (based on a sliding scale reflecting the
distance of project from urban area)
• Sliding scale to be determined by State government or
State Land Pricing Commission /Authority
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Determination of Market Value and
Compensation for Land (2/3)
ILLUSTRATIVE SLIDING SCALE
This multiplier factor will gradually rise from 1 to 2 as we move away
from urban locations into rural areas.
The precise slabs will be left to respective State Governments.
Illustrative Sliding Scale
(precise scale to be determined by each State Government)
Radial Distance from urban area (km)
0-10
10-20
20-30
30-40
40-50
Multiplier Factor
1.00
1.20
1.40
1.80
2.00
In addition, 100% solatium will be added to the
Multiplier Factor
* Multiplier factor is the multiple of the market value as
determined based on the average registered sale transactions in
the last 3 years.
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Determination of Market Value and
Compensation for Land (3/3)
1. Land compensation calculated will not be taken as
base for circle rate for subsequent acquisitions, to
ensure there is no speculative price spiral (Standing
Committee recommendation)
2. Benefits of enhanced compensation extended to all
covered in LA proceedings in case the Court
enhances compensation (Standing Committee
recommendation)
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R&R Entitlements
1. One-off payment of R&R costs by acquirer: Ongoing
commitments like annuities and benefits to be
administered by State agency (Ministry of Road
Transport and Highways recommendation). Possession
may be taken upon satisfaction of monetary
components.
2. R&R linked to Consumer Price Index, to be revised
every 3 years (Standing Committee recommendation)
3. No double displacement except exceptional cases,
and if so, double compensation due (Standing
Committee recommendation)
4. Procedures for SC/ST, currently in Schedule II, to come
under main Bill (Standing Committee recommendation)
5. Land for Land proviso for urbanisation – 20% of
developed land to be available to land losing families in
lieu of equivalent compensation (already in Schedule II)
needs to be shown separately (Standing Committee
recommendation)
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R&R in case of Private Purchases of Land
1. 2011 draft Bill sought to provide R&R to affected families
on private purchase of land and gave thresholds (where
purchase >=100 acres in rural areas and >=50 acres in
urban areas)
•
Now it is proposed that limits/ceiling for the
purpose shall not in the Bill but will be fixed by
respective State governments keeping in view
the availability of the land and density of the
population
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Power to Amend Schedules
1. Clause 99, allowing government to amend the
schedules by notification, to remain as proposed in the
original Bill.
• It provides adequate safeguard to prevent
arbitrary changes to the Schedules by executive
action.
• It clearly calls for the draft Notification with any
proposed changes to be laid in the floor of the
house for 30 days and if both houses agree in
disapproving or modifying the Notification, the
Notification would not be issued or issued in such
modified form.
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Enhanced Role for Local Institutions of Self
Governments (LSGs)
Several amendments to better reflect role of Local Self
Governments (Standing Committee/Ministry of Panchayati
Raj recommendations):
1. Amend preamble to reflect role of Local Self
Government Institutions
2. Participation of District Panchayat President or
Chairperson of Municipal body in Project level
Committees etc
3. For the word ‘Village Panchayat’, the word ‘Gram
Sabha’ substituted.
4. Project level Committee (Clause 41): add sub- clause
after (f) “the Chairperson of DPC”
5. Inclusion of two representatives of Panchayat, Gram
Sabha, Municipality or Municipal Corporation, as the
case may, to be done in the Expert Group for the
evaluation of the SIA report
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Amendments to Preamble
• The Preamble should be amended to better reflect the
emphasis on the participation of and consultation with
local bodies;
“ A Bill to ensure, in concert with institutions of local self
-government and Gram Sabhas established under the
Constitution, a humane, participative, informed,
consultative and transparent process” for land
acquisition, resettlement and rehabilitation
(Standing Committee recommendation)
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Determination of Social Impact and Public
Purpose
1. SIA proceedings to made more transparent: distribute
reports and summary including local language (Standing
Committee recommendation)
2. PRI representatives to be part of SIA Team (Standing
Committee recommendation)
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Applicability in Schedule V and VI Areas
1. Acquisition in Scheduled areas only as a “last resort”
(Standing Committee recommendation)
2. Relocation together and to similar ecological zone as far
as possible (Standing Committee recommendation)
3. PESA to be strictly observed: including traditions and
customs; cultural identity, community resources,
customary mode of dispute resolution, approval of
plans, identification of beneficiaries, and furnishing of
UCs etc. (Standing Committee recommendation)
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Urgency Clause
Where urgency Clause is invoked, the 75% additional
compensation should be for the total compensation
package (Standing Committee recommendation)
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Status of ongoing Land Acquisitions
Proceedings under 1894 Act
Bill to apply only prospectively, and not to ongoing
Land Acquisition Proceedings initiated under the 1894
Act.
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Return of Unused Land
1. Land to be returned if unused for 5 years (instead of 10
years) (Standing Committee recommendation)
2. Land to be returned to State Land Bank
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State and National Monitoring Committees
1. State level Monitoring Committees to monitor R&R of
State level projects (Standing Committee
recommendation)
2. National Monitoring Committee to over see R&R relating
to central government projects, to sort out differences
between one or more State Committees where project
area is in more than one State and to coordinate with
State Monitoring Committees for finding solutions to the
unresolved issues (Standing Committee
recommendation)
3. National Committee may associate local self
government representatives (Standing Committee
recommendation)
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Payment of Interest on Compensation
12 per cent interest per annum on compensation
amount should be payable from the date of notification
till the date of award (Standing Committee
recommendation)
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Temporary Occupation of Land
1. Temporarily Occupy land only for Government purposes
and not for a Company (Standing Committee
recommendation)
2. In Schedule V and Schedule VI areas, the provision to
convert temporary occupation into permanent
acquisition should be with due consent of Gram Sabha
(s) or Autonomous District Councils (ADCs), as the
case, may be (Standing Committee recommendation.
Already exists but will be made clearer by additional
requirement to pay deference to relevant case law)
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Penalties
Penalties proposed on government servants to be
amended so that the provisions are in line with the
Government policy in regard to punitive provisions and
not prone to abuse (Standing Committee
recommendation and Ministry of Road Transport and
Highways recommendation)
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Definitions
Key Definitions Amended
1.
•
•
•
•
•
•
Affected family
Tribes to be substituted by ‘Scheduled Tribes’
Traditional rights to be substituted by ‘forest rights’
Where years occur, add ‘or more’
Project Affected people ‘’to be changed to ‘affected families’
Tenant to be changed as tenant or any form of tenancy or
usufruct right
In 3 (k) substitute has with ‘need’
2. Appropriate government
• In relation to acquisition of land in more than one State, central
government in consultation with state government.
3. Family
• Widows, divorcees, women abandoned as separate family
4. Tenant
• Add any form of tenancy
5. Land owner 3 r (ii) and (iii)
• Patta right holder under FRA only
6. Persons interested 3 (x) (ii)
• For ‘tribals’ substitute ‘Scheduled tribes’; for traditional rights
substitute ‘Forest Rights’
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