Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation & Resettlement Bill 2011: State Govt. Free to Enact Other Laws ...

Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill 2011

aa States governments free to enact other laws..

 The State governments are free to enact any law to enhance or / add to the entitlements enumerated under the Bill which confers higher compensation than payable under the Bill or / make provisions for rehabilitation and resettlement which are more beneficial than those provided under the Bill.

aaUrban Areas there is no multiplier. This means no enhancement of the market value calculated occurs.

However a solatium of 100 % (which currently exists at 30 %) is imposed on this market value calculated. This ‘solatium’ amount is a compensation to ameliorate the pain of forcible acquisition.

aa In Rural Areas the multiplier has been left entirely to the discretion of State Governments which may range on a sliding scale from 1 to 2 depending on the radial distance from urban centres.

aa States are also required to impose limits on the area of agricultural / multi-crop land that can be acquired in a State. No acquisition of such lands in excess of that limit can take place.

aa When acquiring agricultural land, the State has to cultivate an equivalent area of land elsewhere as agricultural land. If they cannot do this then they must deposit an amount equivalent to its value in an account to be used for the purposes of enhancing food security.

aa Consent..

In the case of Public Private Partnership projects consent has been reduced from 80% to 70%. In additional only the consent of land owners is required.

aa  Definition of Market Value has been amended to ensure that acquisition price does not form the basis for compensation calculation in future acquisitions.

Also power has been given to the District Collector to not consider transactions which he feels are outliers and not indicative of true value while calculating market value.

Earlier there was a danger of a price-spiral as (a multiple of) price of first acquisition in an area would go into calculation of land price for any subsequent acquisitions

aa States given large flexibility..

A sliding scale will give states flexibility to fix compensation in rural areas (between 2  (two) and 4 (Four) times market value), depending on their distance from urban areas. Earlier Compensation in rural areas was to be 4 times market value.

aa Restrictions / thresholds on amount of irrigated multicrop land and net sown area per district or State available for acquisition left to the discretion of States.

Earlier amount of irrigated multi-cropped irrigated land that could be acquired was capped at 5 per cent, and amount of net sown area that could be acquired was also capped.

aa Land size thresholds on when R&R on private purchase of land becomes applicable has now been left to the discretion of States. Earlier R & R on private purchases was to apply to all acquisitions more than 100 acres in rural areas & 50 acres in urban areas.

aa 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.

Earlier the Buyer would have had to pay and be involved with R & R infrastructure building until complete, and R&R annuities to perpetuity. However, families will not be displaced from this land till their alternative R & R sites are ready for occupation.

aa Collector can be considered Appropriate Government: In cases where the land sought to be acquired is below a certain threshold then the Collector can be the acquiring authority.

aaIt must be understood that most of these amendments are non-consequential in nature. Out of these 157 amendments, 103 amendments are typographical / definitional, 28 Amendments are minor in nature and only 26 Amendments are substantive in nature. This classification is explained below.

aa Substantive changes..

 These are significant changes. They bring about new provisions or thoroughly alter existing provisions on any area. Example: Changes in quantum of consent required, process for determining compensation etc.

aa Minor changes..

 These are changes which are new additions but are of such a nature that they do not alter the provisions of the Bill as it was originally drafted. Example: adding time limits to existing processes. These do not fundamentally alter the process.

aa Typographical /Nomenclature/ Definitional changes..

 These are minor modifications which correct errors in type or clarify definitions which already exist. Example: replacing the term ‘project affected persons’ with ‘project affected families’.

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