What is Land Acquisition? In India, the term “Land Acquisition” is used to denote the process of acquiring land for a public purpose. It usually involves government acquiring land by paying a fixed compensation to the affected land owners.
History of Land Acquisition Act in India:
In India, British introduced the first land acquisition act. It was called the Bengal Resolution I of 1824 and was applicable to the whole of Bengal province. It enabled govt to obtain land or other immovable property at a fair valuation, for roads, canal or other public purposes. Similar legislation was enacted in Bombay under the Act XXVIII of 1839. The coverage of these act got extended to Calcutta by the Act I of 1850. Another act, the Act XLII of 1850, included Railways as public work and enable Govt to acquire land for construction of railways. In Madras, Act XX of 1852 was passed for facilitating the acquisition of land for public purposes in the Presidency oi Fort St. George. Later the act got extended by Act I of 1854.
With enactment of Act VI of 1857, the whole British India came under an uniform land acquisition law. Under this act, the Collector was empowered to fix the compensation and disputes were to be referred to arbitators whose decision was to be final. This Act was amended by Acts II of 1861 and XXII of 1863. As many arbitrators were found to be in-competent and corrupt, a new Act X of 1870 was passed to replace arbitators with civil court for dispute resolving. The Act of 1870 was found to be defective in various respects and eventually the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (Act I of 1894) was passed. This Act was later amended several times. After independence, The Indian Independence (Adaptation of Central Acts and Ordinances) Order, 1948 adopted the Land Acquisition Act of 1894 by replacing the words “the whole of British India” with “all the Provinces of India”.
Till 2013, land acquisition was done under the British-era “Land Acquisition Act 1894”. The procedure followed was lengthy and costly, often resulting in delays. In 2007, UPA Govt introduced “Amendment Bill” and “Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill” in the parliament to replace this Land Acquisition Act 1984. But, both bills lapsed in 2009. Finally in 2013 UPA Government passed the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Resettlement and Rehabilitation Act (RFCTLAAR Act) 2013, which came into force on January 1, 2014. The Act was more towards villagers or farmers. It made consent (80% for private projects and 70% a public-private partnership (PPP) project) of the affected families mandatory. Compensation was set at four times the market price for rural and and two times for urban land. In May 2014, BJP Government came into power and decided to amend the Act. They introduced an Amendment Bill, which got passed in the Lok Sabha passed but remained hanged in Rajya Sabha. So, the Govt promulgated an Ordinance in December, 2014.
Difference between Land Acquisition Act 2013 and Land Acquisition Ordinance 2015:
- Consent: In Land Acquisition Bill 2015, no consent required for 5 types of projects: Defense, Rural infrastructure, Affordable housing, Industrial corridors and infrastructure and social infrastructure projects including Public private partnership projects. In Land Acquisition Act 2013, there is mandatory requirement of consent from 80% landowners for private projects and from 70% landowners for public-private projects.
- Social Impact Assessment: Under Land Acquisition Bill 2015, Social Impact Assessment (SIA) will not be applicable for the selected 5 type of projects. In the act of 2013, there was mandatory SIA to check whether a project serves the stated public purpose, the benefits outweigh the costs and adverse impact, and is in larger public interest.
- Returning land: Under the Bill of 2015, land will be returned, if remains unused for 5 years, or any period specified at start of project, whichever later. As per the Act of 2013, acquired land was to be returned if it remains unused for 5 years.
- Agricultural Land: As per the Bill of 2015, there will be no limits on acquisition of agricultural land if the project falls under the 5 categories. According to Act of 2013, Agricultural land can be acquired only as a measure of last resort and a limit was set by state Govt.
- Private entities: Under the Bill of 2015, land can be acquired by any private Entity such as company, corporation, non-profit, partnership, etc. The Act of 2013 allowed land acquisition by private companies. The 2015 Bill replaced the word Company with Entity. A private entity is defined as an entity other than a government entity, and can include a proprietorship, partnership, company, corporation, non-profit organisation, or other entity.
- Private hospitals and educational institutions: The 2015 Bill allows acquisition of land for private hospitals and educational institutions. The Act of 2013 excluded private hospitals and educational institutions.
- Inclusion of Laws: The 2015 Bill included 13 laws that were excluded in the Act of 2013. Those laws contain provisions for compensation, rehabilitation and resettlement. The Act of 2013 mandated that a notification for including these 13 exempt laws will be laid before Parliament within an year.
- Punishing govt officials: Under the Land Acquisition Bill 2015, prior sanction of the government needed before starting the process of prosecuting defaulting government officials. In the Land Acquisition 2013, there is provision of prosecuting guilty officials.
Pros and Cons of the amendments:
Pros:
- The amendments will help business entities in easily acquiring land. This would attract more businesses to setup industries and manufacturing units in India. Ultimately Indian economy will benefit.
- The Bill of 2015 will include 13 Acts so far excluded under the Land Acquisition Act 2013. The government claims that these Acts are pro-farmer, as they offers rehabilitation, resettlement and compensation provisions.
Cons:
- The amended act removes mandatory consent of the land owners for projects under 5 categories.
- As Social Impact Assessment (SIA) is removed, only the land owners will be compensated.
- Under the new provisions, Government could easily hand over acquired lands to private companies.