Parliament passes land acquisition bill

Marking a second major political victory for the UPA government, the parliament Thursday passed the seminal land bill that aims to provide fair compensation to those whose land is taken away, brings transparency to the process of land acquisition to set up factories or buildings and assures generous compensation and rehabilitation of those affected by land takeover.

The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2012 aims to replace a law enacted by the British in 1894.

The bill was passed by Lok Sabha Aug 29 and the Rajya Sabha Sep 4 but was referred to the lower house again to approve the three new amendments passed by the upper house on Wednesday.

Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh moved the three new amendments, related to exemptions for irrigation projects, which were passed by the lower house without any discussion.

These amendments were incorporated by the government at the behest of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The bill will now go to President Pranab Mukherjee for his assent before it becomes a law.

In both the houses most parties supported the bill but gave their suggestions to make it more farmer-friendly after over seven hours of debate.

The passage of this bill comes close on the heels of the food bill that enshrines food rights and promises access to subsidised food to almost 800 millions Indians.

Both these legislations have been dubbed “populist” by economists but the Congress, especially its leader, Sonia Gandhi, have made the twin bills their showpiece instruments to improve the lives of India’s poor and hope to leverage on them to return to power in the general elections slated for next year.

Industry is unhappy with the bill as it makes acquisition of land to set up industries infinitely more difficult as large tracts of land have fragmented ownership but the ruling Congress – as well as other parties – want to show that their heart is with farmers and tribals as no party want to be seen as anti-poor ahead of a general election.

“Compensation is not only for land owners and farmers but also for those whose livelihood will be affected,” Ramesh said. He said urgency clause will operate only in case of national calamity and security and private companies cannot invoke it.

The Congress termed the Rajya Sabha’s approval a historic step.

“There was national consensus on it. It reflects the vision of the UPA government and the Congress,” Congress general secretary Janardan Dwivedi said.

Most parties supported the bill but said fertile land should not be acquired for industrial development. Instead, barren land should be used for the purpose, they said.

BJP Rajya Sabha member Vinay Katiyar, who initiated the debate, said acquired land, if not used for more than five years, should go back to farmers and not to land banks and suggested fast track courts for speedy disposal of disputes related to land acquisition.

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati and Samajwadi Party member Ram Gopal Yadav accused the UPA of rushing through the bill with an eye on upcoming elections.The Trinamool Congress and the Communist Party of India-Marxists also opposed the bill.

“This bill is not good for farmers, not good for industry and not good for the country,” Trinamool leader Derek O’Brien said.

CPI-M leader P. Rajeev called the bill a “political gimmick” and an “eyewash” ahead of the 2014 general elections.

“This is not an election bill but a necessary bill,” said Ramesh.

Parties like the CPI-M, Communist Party of India, Trinamool, Janata Dal-United (JD-U), Biju Janata Dal, Rashtriya Janata Dal, SP and Bahujan Samaj Party also said that the consent of the farmer was key in any land acquisition and suggested that fair compensation should be paid to him.

A key feature of the bill is that the consent of 80 percent of land owners concerned is needed for acquiring land for private projects and of 70 percent landowners for public-private projects.

The compensation has also been significantly increased under the new law. It suggests compensation for the owners of the acquired land to be four times the market value in case of rural areas and twice in case of urban areas.

The bill also defines “public purpose” to include: mining, infrastructure, defence, manufacturing zones, roads, railways, highways, and ports built by government and public sector enterprises, land for project-affected people, planned development and improvement of village or urban sites and residential purposes for the poor and landless and government-administered schemes or institutions, among others.

Introduced in 2011, the bill was scrutinised by parliamentary panel that submitted its report in May 2012.

-IANS