How to dilute your state's land acquisition laws in easy steps, with examples

QUICK PILL

What\'s happening

• Centre is expected to withdraw the Land Acquisition Bill in the monsoon session
• As per the constitution, a state can amend a Central government act if the President approves it

More in the story

• How the states are changing the Bill
• Who are the ones gaining from this?

Land grabs will be legit very soon. Let us explain.

The government is expected to withdraw The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Bill, 2015 during the Monsoon Session of Parliament starting next week.

Under the Constitution, land acquisition is mentioned in the Concurrent List, although Article 254 (2) allows a state to amend a central government Act on the list, provided that the President approves it.

However, states are not willing to wait for the amendments in the Central legislation of 2013 - touted as the biggest hindrance in acquiring land for developmental purposes - anymore.

States such as Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu have started acquiring land successfully by either amending the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act (RFCTLARR), 2013, or tweaking the rules accompanying it.

This has given rise to a set of land acquisition models which ensure easier acquisition of land.

Clauses, counter clauses

The social impact assessment clause and the consent clause are at the heart of the 2013 Act. But the Centre argues that while the clauses are necessary in order to protect the interest of the landowners, one needs to remember that 13 million Indians are entering the workforce every year. And jobs need to be created for these individuals, which can only happen by setting up industries. And that requires land.

So "rural infrastructure" is broadened to include things like shopping malls. And acquiring land for a sabzi mandi and turning its top floors turned into multiplexes is seen as a reasonable use of acquired land.

The NDA government had re-promulgated ordinances thrice in order to amend the Act, citing the need for a less time-consuming alternative for private or PPP projects in areas such as rural roads, affordable housing, infrastructure and building cities.

The stiff opposition only meant the Centre would not to re-promulgate the ordinance to amend the land legislation. Instead, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley advised states to frame their own Act with the Centre's approval.

The view of having separate land laws across different states was reinforced after a meeting of the governing council of the NITI Aayog with chief ministers last July.

As per the 2013 Act, for rural areas the minimum compensation promised is anywhere between two to four times the market value of land along with the value of the assets on that land.

For urban areas the minimum compensation promised is two times the market value of land along with the value of the assets on that land.

Ideally, the compensation offered by the 2013 Act should become a floor price for the compensation that states will offer under their own Acts. But few respect these guidelines anymore.

Here is how some states have amended their laws:

Gujarat

In April this year, the Gujarat assembly passed the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Gujarat Amendment) Bill, 2016, diluting the 2013 Act by discarding the provisions for social impact assessment and consent clauses for acquisition of land for "public purposes" and "industrial corridors".

The Bill has done away with social impact assessment for projects related to defence and social infrastructure like electrification projects, building public roads, railway, canals and schools and affordable houses and also for acquisition of land for industrial corridors under public-private partnerships.

The earlier Bill demanded the government to acquire consent of 80 per cent of affected parties. No so, anymore.

In short, the state Bill has all the provisions that the NDA government had incorporated in the ordinance, promulgated by the Modi administration, to amend the UPA act.

Shaktisinh Gohil, a Congress legislator, slammed the state government for bringing in the law which is "anti-democratic" and "anti-farmers".

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu was the first and the only state to seek and receive Presidential assent to exempt three major categories from the purview of the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act 2013:

- The land acquisition done under the Tamil Nadu Highways Act, 2001

- The Tamil Nadu Acquisition of Land for Industrial Purposes Act, 1997

- The Tamil Nadu Acquisition of Land for Harijan Welfare Schemes Act, 1978

These three are now outside the binding purview of the consent clause and Social Impact Assessment clause.

Around four-fifths of the land acquired in Tamil Nadu is acquired under the three acts mentioned above.

Tamil Nadu amended the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 by inserting a new section - Section 105 - that exempts land acquisition for industrial purposes and highways from the provisions of the Centre's land Act.

Andhra Pradesh

According to media reports, Andhra Pradesh government made amendments to pool land speedily and handle the legal issues to make Amaravathi a grand city. Their main hurdle is Section 107 of central act The four amendments being pushed for are:

1) While Central Act fixed six months as the time period for Social Impact Assessment, AP government wants to reduce it much further.

2) In Central Act, there is no provision for advance possession of the land. Only lands for defence projects and natural calamity relief measures needn't follow mandatory procedure. Whereas, AP government is keen to include a provision which permits acquisition even before the completion of the legal process.

3) It plans to introduce an 'Urgency Clause' for acquiring land for infrastructure projects.

4) AP government wishes to introduce 'Consent Award' under which landowners can't challenge the land acquisition in the court once after issuing the consent letter.

Telangana

The government, which needs land for a slew of projects, plans to replace the term "land acquisition" with "land procurement" to avoid confrontation with farmers, landowners and other stakeholders.

Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, who reviewed the issue with ministers and officials in June stated hat the term "land acquisition" sends out a wrong message to farmers and landowners that the government would resort to "forcible acquisition".

The new legislation will be named "Land Procurement Act" and land acquisition officers, who are special deputy collectors, will be renamed "land procuring officers".

But things haven't been so rosy after the noble intentions.

In a major embarrassment to the Telangana government, the Hyderabad High Court directed the government not to disturb the farmers who are not willing to give their lands for Palamuru-Ranga Reddy lift irrigation scheme.

"Why is the government resorting to coercion in obtaining consent of the farmers under GOMs No.123 issued to procure lands for its projects?" the court asked Telangana government.

Sources say at least a couple of other states have also proposed changes to the 2013 Act already - Maharashtra, Assam and Karnataka too are keen to push through changes in the 2013 Act of the central government or bring new legislation specifically for infrastructure to get around the difficult provisions of consent and social impact assessment.

While state heads are busy trying to tame the land acquisition system it is the farmers and landowners who have acquired the least.

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