Larr
Larr
Larr
2020
Designed and Printed at
Apna Janmat, Printers and Publishers
Dehradun (India)
Concept of the Wokshop
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vital, in the interest of the sustainable land procurement
framework for manufacturing and infrastructural projects.
Objectives
Session 1
The RFCTLARR Act, 2013: Provisions, legal framework,
implementation – Issues and Challenges
Session 2
Other Acts on Land Acquisition and R&R policies: Lessons to be
learnt from best practices at the state level on R&R. – Divergence
and Convergence.
Session 3
Social- Economic Appraisal under RFCTLARR: From plan to
practice
Session 4
Rehabilitation and livelihood restoration: Challenges, Solutions
and future prospects.
Session 5
Group Discussion and framing of Recommendations
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Contents
, IAS (Retd.)
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Land Acquisition, Governance and the State: Some Issues and
Complications around the LARR 2013 - Ajit Chaudhuri
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1
Welcome Address –Shri N.K. Sudhansu, IAS
Addressing everyone he
welcomed the participants to
Mussoorie as well as the Academy
hoping their journey to Mussoorie
was pleasant. He said for the next
two days they would deliberate on
a very important topic of land
acquisition and the related aspects
of compensation, SIA, rehabilitation, etc.
This being a very new Act, not many full-fledged research and
studies are conducted in the area. In fact, not many cases related to
LA are taken up by the State also. However, things are now
picking up and one thing has happened that issues that are new to
this Act, as compared to the old Act, a lot of discussion has started
to take place and this Workshop is supposed to be a part of that
discussion. For example, issues of consent, rehabilitation,
compensation, SIA have all become the hot talks of this
discussion.
01
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Address – Dr. Sanjeev Chopra, IAS
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Director, LBSNAA, Mussoorie
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point out that there are more than 50 shades of anything and it is
about understanding the different perceptions and understanding
different points of view that actually make an administrative
responsible and careful, which is very important.
03
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Inaugural Address –Dr. Nivedita P. Haran, IAS (Retd.)
She welcomed everyone to the
Academy and complemented the
respective Directors of LBSNAA
and BNYCRS for gathering all the
possible stakeholders, related to
the LA and R&R, under one roof.
She said that the 1894 Act was the
Act invoked in the earlier days of
her service and she remembers it to be a truly traumatic one.
Acquisition, she said, is a process which demands not only
balance on the part of the officer, but it also demands
understanding and empathy which no training can really teach, it
is the time spent at the Academy that gives them some kind of an
understanding of it, who after leaving here may directly have to
manage land related issues. With the 1894 Act things were truly
traumatic, so the new Act was called for and the reasons were fair
compensation, sustainable rehabilitation – the old Act had nothing
on rehabilitation leave alone sustainable, improved quality of life
– the person who was being rehabilitated should have a better
quality of life where he goes than he had where he was staying,
ensure that the trauma is reduced – which is not just socio-
economic but also the psychological part, counseling needed in
some cases, make the process more humane, reduced litigation –
the earlierAct actually forced people to go in for litigation, etc.
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pauperized. And that is the kind of case the Academy needs to
study. Also cases from Kerala where the acquisition started for an
irrigation process before 1977 and the process is still not complete.
The PAFs were asked to go in for litigation and that was all that
could be done at the time. Unfortunately, it was also a system
which in some ways encouraged back door dealings, which
certainly is not a good thing, why should such a thing come into
place.
The 1894 Act, was a very one sided Act. It was always a tussle
between the un-equals, the party whose land is being acquired and
the Govt., they cannot be put on the same level and therefore the
need came for the new Act. It’s just not enough to give the
financial compensation, there has to be more to do with it. To
make the compensation fair we had to ensure that the alternate
dwelling is given to the party or the capacity to construct a new
dwelling unit. There is also a livelihood loss. Do we ensure that
wherever they go, do they get a livelihood? We have to understand
that many of the farmers whose lands we are taking are 50 years
plus. Can we think of a livelihood, if so, what kind? Skill training
of the new generation, is it happening? The place where they are
being rehabilitated, are basic civil service requirements, such as
power, road, sewerage, schools, healthcare centres, PDS, etc.,
available? These basic requirements that are needed to ensure the
movement less traumatic for the party.
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convincing after seeing the case of Greater Noida where 3 crores,
God knows where it had gone.
For LAOs it’s a tight rope walk as they have to maintain the perfect
balance between Public interest and Govt. interest. They have to
be very practical as these are lands required for projects, time
bound projects, they can’t go around indefinitely negotiating,
arguing, trying to bring them around because there is a time limit.
Therefore there is a need for SIA. She said that it is a wonderful
idea but unfortunately we’re going in the right direction, SIA
should be done by agencies or persons who understand both sides,
but that is not happening. SIA study needs to take care of the facts
that the new generation children are going to school, there is a
school nearby, the women in the family are being given some
amount of training or skill development training to go into some
kind of employment, livelihood
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about building back better, and not only the houses but these
societies and they would benefit from the LA and the projects that
are coming up if we ensure that these societies are hand-held to
move in a direction that would improve the profile of the society,
rather than letting them remain where they were.
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Technical Session – I
(The RFCTLARR Act, 2013: provision, legal framework,
implementation- issues and challenges)
Chairperson: Shri Hukum Singh Meena, IAS
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for policy makers. A comparison of the definition of ‘public
purpose’ in 1894 Act and 2013 Act was discussed. The
presentation was concluded by outlining the major differences in
the 1894 Act and RFCTLARRAct, 2013.
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Speaker 2: Dr. Namita Wahi
Land is not only an economic
resource and source of livelihood it
is also a central element to
community identity, history and
culture. In that way, it makes for a
very different kind of resource.
The rule of law says that all land
acquisitions must only be pursuant
to valid enactive law, for a public purpose and upon payment of
just compensation. The Land Acquisition Act of 1984 itself was a
Law which was enacted following a series of colonial laws that the
British tried; outstating with the Bengal Regulation Act of 1894.
Issues associated with the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 were the
following. The Act only recognized title holders of land and not
livelihood holders who depended on land but had no title. The
definition of public purpose was broad and inclusive which in turn
resulted in not having a clear definition of public purpose. The
procedure for acquisition for land was completely non
participatory, there was widespread misuse of the urgency clause
and there wewre multiple Laws of Land Acquisition in different
states with differential procedures. This led to the enactment of
Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land
Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act 2013 and
RFCTLARR Rules, 2015. The Act came about to redress the
issues associated with 120 years of the functioning of the 1894 Act
which have led to widespread public outrage and to create culture
of justification. Essentially the Land Acquisition Act of 1984 was
a colonial Law and there are many colonial Laws which are
applicable to us because the constitution has actually
grandfathered the colonial Laws. The philosophy behind the
introduction of RFCTLARR Act, 2013 and the important changes
brought about by the Act were discussed in detail. The
RFCTLARR Act recognised a legal right to rehabilitation and
resettlement as opposed to ad hoc policies. Contentious issues
5
Director, Centre for Policy Research, land Rights Initiative, Dharma Marg,
Chanakyapuri, New Delhi.
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associated with the Land Acquisition Act of 1894 were discussed
in detail by reviewing the Supreme Court cases form 1950-2016.
Similarly, litigations under the RFCTLARR Act, especially
Section 24 of the Act, were discussed in detail. Comparing these
two it was concluded that RFCTLARR Act only partially
redresses the imbalance of power between the state and private
individuals.
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Speaker 3: Shri Charanjit Singh6, IFS
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Joint Secretary, Rural Skills Division, Ministry of Rural Development, New
Delhi
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Speaker 4: Shri Jaideep Singh Kochher7
The presentation was regarding the
issues related to RFCTLARR Act,
2013, specific to the Scheduled
Tribes. The scheduled tribes, as per
2011 census, are 8.6% of total
population and are present as over
700 communities, the highest in
Madhya Pradesh. The North east
accounts for 10% of ST population. 82 % of population is within
10 states. They are the most marginalized, isolated and deprived
population. They have suffered land tenure insecurity right from
the centuries and this is sought to be rectified by the government.
Forest is an important source of livelihood and means of survival
for forest dwelling scheduled tribes. The report shows 40% of the
total displaced people in the country are tribals. Only 25% of the
displaced tribal people are provided resettlement avenues. The
other studies points to lesser percentage. Basically it leads to loss
of rights, displacement leads to loss of livelihood, identity and
resources and this in turn leads to unrest and conflicts in forest
areas. To take care of the historical injustice to the forest dwelling
communities of tribal communities the Forest Rights Act, 2006
was enacted. and basically the tribal communities have been
living in the forests for lot many years but they have faced
insecurity of forcible evictions to give recognition to their state,
their habitat this important legislation was enacted in 2006. Rights
of forest dwelling communities could not be recognized in
colonial period and in the first half in the 50 years of after
independence so then this legislation was brought into. The
sustainable use of biodiversity this is important objective of the
Act also. Section 2, Section 3, Section 4 (5) and Section 16 (4) of
the FRA, 2006 were discussed in detail. Then PESAAct, 1996 was
also discussed in detail. Section 31 of the Act, Section 41 which
deals with special provisions to SCs and STs and Section 42 of the
Act were discussed in detail.
7
EconomicAdvisor, Ministry of TribalAffairs, Shastri bhawan, New Delhi
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Speaker 5: Dr. C. Ashokvardhan , IAS (Retd.)
The presentation was about the
salient features of the Bihar Land
Lease Policy. This policy was
formed in the year 2014 and this
policy is with reference to public
purposes only. Instead of going
i n t o l a nd ac q ui s i t i o n, t h e
government is now going into
perpetual land leasing. For lease of land also there is a need for
public purpose. This is the first condition and the second is that
there needs to have a registered agreement and the land users will
be paid four times the market value in the rural areas and two times
in urban areas plus the value of assets. Departments of the
government, PSUs, private companies etc. can avail the benefits
of these policies and it is seen that they are availing these policies.
They will be following transparent procedures because while the
drafting of the policy was carried out, it was made sure that
transparency is not sacrificed, quality is not sacrificed and
grievance redressal procedure is not sacrificed. The policy was
formulated by keeping intact these three pillars of public policy.
The competent authority is the collector of the district and he will
prepare a proposal for land lease. The proposal will include all the
details of the land like the name of the village, how many people
are going to affected, what lands are going to affected and the
public purpose which is going to be served, what is the possible
value/approximate value of land which is going to acquired and
the collector will form the site selection committee which will be
headed by the next man in the hierarchy. Since the entire process
of land lease is done after following a transparent and accountable
process, the Bihar Land Lease Policy can be considered as a model
policy which can be replicated by other states in India.
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Member, Bihar Land Tribunal, II off. Polo Road, Patna, Bihar
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Session – II
(Other Acts and Land Acquisition and R&R policies: Lessons
to be learnt from best practices at the state level on R&R
–Divergence and convergence)
Chairperson: Shri Yudhvir Singh Malik, IAS (Retd.)
He cited the example of ECL for going beyond the provisions for
providing low-cost housing to poor Tribal PAPs even after the
compensation was paid, also since 2011 they have practiced
transparency in processing employment proposals against land
and uploaded relevant details on the company’s website of each
9
Chief Manager (Min.), Coal India Limited, Coal Bhawan, New Town,
Kolkata, West Bengal
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claim. Similarly, WCL has undertaken different programmes, like
Chaupals, Sampark, Nishkarsh and Utsav to build a strong
relationship with the local villagers, all these helped in addressing
the complaints and taking suggestions which in return helped in
maximizing the impact of resettlements and smoothening the
process of acquisition. He said Geospatial technology is also
being used to resolve disputes related to R&R.
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Speaker 2: Shri Aibanshngain Swer
He started his presentation stating
that the Meghalaya Institute of
Governance (MIG), one of the
institutional support mechanisms
of the Integrated Basin
Development and Livelihood
Promotion Programme (IBDLP),
has a vision to explore, share and
promote good governance in Meghalaya by assisting the
government, the private sector, the voluntary sector and the
communities in putting good governance into practice for the
well-being of citizens and society with special emphasis on
traditional institutions, cultural organizations and village-heads.
The focus areas of MIG are in the field of management of human
resource, finance, performance and change. The process
interventions are by simplifying procedure of service delivery and
creating new core competencies in government service by
improving governance environment in administration and
designing governance mechanisms to match the needs and
aspirations of the public.
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LARR authority for dispute settlement and all this has given
confidence for implementation of SIA in the state. With the
implementation of the Act and the transparency that is brought
about through the SIA, many issues could be addressed locally
and resolved within the village and community level. This has
earned the Government enormous goodwill and even NGOs and
pressure groups have acknowledged and toned down their dissent.
The active participation of the indigenous traditional institutions
across the state has paved the way for ease in implementing the
various components of the Act though the challenges faced by the
Project Affected Families and Project Implementing Agency for
R&R is how to move from the policy provisions to actual
implementation. This will require a better understanding of the
dynamics of R&R options, taking into account the social, cultural
and economic constraints and the opportunities in the new micro
economic situation and political environment in which the
affected persons are living.
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Speaker 3: Dr. Reshmy Nair
After giving and overview of the
progressive provisions of
RFCTLARR Act, 2013 she said
that there are mandatory R&R in
statute but the implementation
practices are varied in different
projects and states throughout the
country. Similarly, there are
uniform applicability standards for Central legislation but the
interpretations and the practices involved are varied. Many
provisions of the law are yet to be implemented in spirit and
require effective monitoring & capacity building.Amendments
are also required for typos and errors in the Act. There are certain
terms, applicability of some sections and legality of certain
actions which are needed to be interpreted unambiguously by the
judiciary.
She said there are other alternatives to land acquisition like Land
Lease, Land Pooling, Land Purchase and Negotiated Settlement
could be used for various Infrastructure Projects in India. And that
we could learn from the experiences of some states where these
alternatives were implemented. She also discussed the advantages
and the challenges while implementing these methods and that the
improvement of the policies through effective planning is required
for sustainability.
11
Professor and Director,Administrative Staff College of India, Bella Vista, Raj
Bhavan Road, Khairatabad, Hyderabad, Telangana
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Speaker 4: Shri Gaurav Kumar
He mentioned that the
hydroelectric power plants in our
country, by and large, are situated
in remote areas where people are
living marginally and deprived of
b as i c ci vi c am en i t i es and
infrastructure facilities, and
hydropower projects for such
areas act as vehicles of development. For these projects mainly
Government, Forest and Private lands are acquired, sometimes
Defence, Panchayat and Community land may be involved and
proper clearances and permissions are taken accordingly. Private
land is acquired through negotiation or RFCTLARR Act, 2013 but
it is found that for some people it is not easy to part with their land.
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Speaker 5: Shri Avaya Kumar Nayak
He presented the salient features of
RFCTLARR Act, 2013 and the
differences between the old land
acquisition Act of 1894 and this
new Act and then the timelines for
different activities which come
under different sections of
different provisions.
13
PAdditional Secretary, Revenue & Disaster Management, Department,
Government of Odisha, Odisha Secretariat, Bhubaneswar, Odissa
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Session – III
(Social – Economic appraisal under RFCTLAAR Act: from
plan to practice)
Chairperson: Shri V.K.Agrawal, IAS (Retd.)14
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pollution, travel time, fuel consumption, road accidents and
improved aesthetics and image of the city. Social mitigation
measures were taken keeping in mind the following: Adequate
compensation for loss of property and R&R Assistance,
Resettlement by Social Relationship, Provision of Income &
Livelihood Restoration Assistance, addressing gender issues,
Provision for Schedule Caste and Scheduled Tribe, Provision for
mobility of Disabled people, Provision of training for skill
development, Provision for institutional strengthening and
capacity building and a robust Monitoring and Evaluation
Programme.
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Speaker 3: Dr. Sandip Mitra
The presentation was based on the
Land Acquisition for Singur
project. Land is owned by
governments. Initially, a few
issues related to land acquisition
was discussed. In Singur the large
corporate TATA was resisted by a
political party even though the
leading party in power supported land acquisition for
industrialisation. The study tried to figure out the nature of Singur
uprising: whether it is a less compensation story or it is a political
movement. The large scale sample survey had six villages where
land was acquired and six villages where land was not acquired.
The objective was to find out who are primarily affected;
agricultural households or non – agricultural households. Also
attempt was made to compare the compensation status. In 5,056
households 90 % were landless and marginal landowners. It shows
that 72 % of land acquired are plots and those unwilling to accept
compensation the average proportion of land acquired was higher
and proportion was somewhat higher for household and we also
taken the occupational characteristics of the people who have
directly or indirectly from the land acquisition. The majority of
plots acquired were non-negligible in size, compared to the
average in Singur. Most of the land was acquired from marginal
landowners, and from those engaged in cultivation on the acquired
plots. For most affected owners, more than half the land they
owned in 2005 was acquired.Did the government offer
compensations at the market value of the lands acquired? While
the government offered compensations at the market value of the
lands acquired on average, a signicant fraction of landowners
were under-compensated owing to mis-classication of their plots
as sali rather than sona in the ofcial land records, besides inability
of the latter to incorporate other sources of plot heterogeneity.
Owners with under-compensated types of plot were signicantly
16
Associate Professor, Indian Statistical Institute, C.D. Deshmukh Bhaban, 203
Barrackpore Trunk Road, Kolkata
more likely to reject the compensation offer. Those whose
livelihoods were more tied up with cultivation and those with
possible speculative motives (absentee landlords or those who
purchased the plots rather than inheriting them) were more
inclined to reject.Acquisition of land resulted in 40% lower
income growth for owners and half that for tenants. Consumer
durables grew more slowly for undercompensated affected
owners, compared to others in the same village. Agricultural
workers that were directly affected experienced signicant
reductions in employment earnings compared with unaffected
agricultural workers, who in turn, experienced smaller earnings
growth compared with non-agricultural workers. Hence, land
acquisition in Singur imposed signicant economic hardships on a
large fraction of affected owners, tenants and workers. A large
fraction of owners were undercompensated relative to market
values. Tenants were undercompensated and agricultural workers
were not compensated at all. While it is difcult for us to say how
much local reactions were politically motivated, these economic
hardships provide a plausible explanation for some of the
observed refusals and protests.
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Speaker 4: Dr. Shashi Ratnaker Singh
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households have ‘diversified livelihood portfolio’ who is
‘affected’and who is NOT?
• Identification of share croppers and dependents
• Land records updation and determining eligibility- Social
reality vs Tehsil Land Records (GIS & Super imposing data,
assessing the deviations
• Challenges in Land records Updation; Geo spatial data vs
Actual Tehsil Records; Super imposing data sets- possible
option ?; Establishing Parameters for Entitlements; Land
Claims and Rights Recognition Framework
• Utility of SIAin designing successful RAP
• SIA: Timing, Process and Obtaining Consent
• International Standards & Framework- World Bank, ADB, IFC
• Capacity of Institutions Conducting SIA’s
• Approach towards Collecting Qualitative and Quantitative
Data
• Data Collation and Making ‘Sense’ of Data before Presenting
Reports
• Utility of SIAin Designing Compensation Framework
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Session – IV
(Rehabilitation and livelihood restoration: challenges,
solutions and future prospects)
Chairperson: Dr. Nivedita P. Haran, IAS (Retd.)
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1) Should there be an R&R in such a case?
2) The court has control over the lake, so does the state
government has no responsibility for conservation of the lake?
3) Is this the fate of other water bodies in India? She said that
most water bodies are suffering the same fate and the time has
come to find out some solutions in order to protect them.
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Speaker 2: Dr. Preeti Jain Das
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schedule and explained it’s various components, she stated that in
2012, 25% of the compensation was paid in cash, 25% was placed
in fix deposits of 555 days and the remaining 50% was dispersed
in 2014-15. She also mentioned that may people were not able to
encash the FDs because they had to obtain court orders and
theyare not able to do that, some of the respondants added that they
did not get the second portion of the enhanced compensation. She
mentioned that an annuity of Rs 15,000 per acre was agreed upon
for a period of thirty years and that it would go up by Rs 500 per
year but many respondants did not receive the annuity, some said
that they only received it for couple of years. She then showed the
utilization of the money that was compensation in that she pointed
out 19% was spent on marriages, 17% was spent on
reconstruction, she stated that about 50% of the amount was spent
in productive activities. She then said that the recipients wanted to
receive the cash of the compensation in one go and that the amount
should be credited directly to their bank account and none of them
were interested in payment by installments, because the small
amount of money which came was spent in household expenses
but if entire money comes then they can invest it in land. She also
said that some people agreed to get land in place of land on some
conditions like the land that they get should not have a value less
than they lost and it should be close to where they live and it should
come as a single plot, she said that the people wanted that the
project affected families should be placed in the same locality and
not distributed over different districts and villages. The findings of
the study were that they preferred one time compensation which
should be credited directly to their bank accounts, they were fine
with the compensation being dispersed in the joint accounts of
husband and wife only if their wives did not go to offices and
courts as they were not allowed to go out in public, they did not
want the intervention of the government body but financial
counseling can be provided to them so that they can decide how to
spend their money, all people were satisfied by the compensation
and said that it enhanced their lives and improved their status. She
mentioned that she has worked with Gujjar community and Yadav
community and both communities have a distinctive approach
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which needs to be understood, this information can be useful for
R&R projects in improving outcomes.
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Speaker 3: Shri Tapas Roy19
He started his presentation by
saying that the implementation of
reforms and also the interpretation
that leads to land disputes. He said
that averaging of land for
compensation is a problem, he also
mentioned that the state
government and the supreme court
has also identified the averaging problem of the land. “The
concept of averaging of the sale price of the similar lands unless
they fall in a narrow bandwidth is not acceptable”. This clearly
stated the inadequacy of the process in Indian conditions. He
mentioned that it is argued that the amount of compensation
should be in consonance with the degree of public interest to make
it just. In cases there were lower public interest, the compensation
should be higher (Epstein, 1985). He mentioned that land prices,
like any other commodity are determined by their qualitative and
quantitative attributes. In the Western world with the large plots,
many of the attributes get averaged. In Indian condition such
holdings are few. Plots here are generally small and attributes
vary. Unless suitable adjustments in the sale value of the small
plots (in India) are made for the attributes, averaging does not
meet the statistical rigor. Compensation based on such averages
fails to meet the robustness demands and conflicts arise. He also
highlighted how LARR 2013 has tried to address the inadequacy.
He mentioned that he act has tried to make the landowners
‘willing’ by increasing the compensation through more solatium.
This ignores the fact that land prices are determined more by
comparison, not typically on absolute terms. Use of same solatium
as multiplier makes the landowners feel cheated even more,
especially when her land can fetch higher price in the open market.
He mentioned that LARR 2013 has further compounded
confusion by introducing sliding rule for rural lands. It has
19
Professor & HOD, Department of Management and Mechanical Science, ST.
Thomas College of Engineering and Technology, 4 DH Road, Kolkata, West
Bengal
34
assumed that people in remote rural areas are less prepared for
non-agricultural livelihood. He also mentioned that distance from
the urban centers does affect land prices, but not alone. Urban
influence varies depending on population, affluence and growth
of the nearby urban center/s, apart from its distance and
connectivity. Sliding rule considers only one of the many to derive
the computational basis. This has made the assumption weak.
Stuck in this inadequacy, many of the States and Central
Government agencies have switched over to flat 4 times the
average market value for compensation, thereby defeating the
spirit and rationality of the Act to pay compensation based on a
sliding rule. As a result agricultural lands bordering urban centers
have become gainers by twice as high as on the urban side. “This is
not only absurd but also violates a basic principle of land markets-
that land closer to urban centers is more expensive than land
further away” (Chakravorty S. , The Price of Land- Acquisition,
Conflict, Consequence, Page 181, 2013).
35
He then showed a Land Valuation Model and explained regression
equation and price change per year as percentage. He then came to
a conclusion that in India the plot sizes are small and the attributes
vary. This makes the price also to vary even in adjacent lands.
Hence averaging should not be a straight average of the sale
figures. It should be rather for ‘comparable’ land sales to keep
them in “narrow bandwidth”. To make the plots ‘comparable’ it is
necessary to adjust the local sale prices for the differences in their
attributes with the acquired land. In the conclusion it is argued that
an arbitrary addition of ‘solatium’ is not logical. The present
system of multiplying with solatium only multiplies the inequity.
This adds discontent. What is needed is a computation basis to
convert the local area land sales data into comparable land sales
data, which then can be used for averaging to get the fair value of
the acquired land. The value so derived can be rationally defended
to arrive at a ‘just’compensation metric with or without solatium.
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Speaker 4: Shri Sujit Kumar Mishra
He started his presentation by
acknowledging two people Mr.
Thibu and Mr. Thakur who were
affected by Ultra Mega Power
Plant in Odisha located in the
district of Sundargarh which
provided him motivation for his
field work. He mentioned that the
potential of the mining sector to generate huge revenue has been
linked with a large number of negative externalities. He then
mentioned that Sundargarh is the district with highest mineral
deposit in Odisha and also the poorest district in Odisha. He said
that the argument of his present work was distributed into two
aspects, “push for mining” and “push against it’s impact”, during
his study he came across a lot of problems at the community level.
He mentioned that he took the Mahanadi Coal Field as his case
study, concerning the issue of livelihood he highlighted three
issues, firstly the land loser who got a job, secondly this job
allocation to one member reduces the others to dependents since
they do not possess agricultural land and nor do they have a job
and the third category of people were the ones whose patches of
land were taken and they were indulged into illegal mining. He
mentioned that on 10 August 2013, at least 14 labourers were
killed and some others injured when a portion of the coal
overburden suddenly collapsed at the Kulda Opencast coal mine
in the Basundhara-Garjanbahal area of Sundargarh district,
Odisha. This area comes under the Mahanadi Coalfields Limited
(MCL).The victims were locals from the nearby villages. For the
residents of the area, scavenging coal is a source of livelihood. The
management claimed that they had been warning people about not
getting closer to the dump. He mentioned that the people used to
scavenge coal and take the less productive coal for about 8-10 km
in their bicycles and sell them as this was the only source of their
livelihood. He mentioned that the women working in the coal
20
Processor, Council for Social Development (An Institute of ICSSR), 5-6-151,
Rajendranager, Hyderabad, Telangana
37
fields were affected if their workplace was at a distant place, as she
could not efficiently contribute in her work and her household. He
also highlighted the impact of health hazards on water sources,
diseases like eye Allergy, skin diseases, malaria, GSI, arthritis,
fever, asthma affected 61.04% of the people.
38
21
Speaker 5: Dr. Renu Modi
She started her presentation by
saying that she was a social
development consultant with the
information panel of the World
Bank on issues of accountability
and other issues. She said that they
were focusing on the issues of
resettlement and rehabilitation and
livelihood restoration project. She said that the project was a
builder driven and rehousing project, the focus of the project was
technical and it had two components a rail component and a road
component, she said that it happened in 2001-2010 and things
have changed considerably over the last decade. She mentioned
that in this project they saw joblessness, marginalization and
social discontent; she showed some photos of the people who
came out and protested as their grievances were not addressed by
the government. She said that the PAD of the World Bank 1995
made with the government of Maharashtra told that 99% of the
people affected were squatters, which was not the case and there
was heterogeneity in the people who were to be displaced and
there was no transparency, disclosure or public information centre
and the MMRDA website only displayed some random
information. She mentioned that when she went to the field to find
out why that why people were not aware, she realised that the two
NGOs that had been working had employed young girls and boys
of 18-21 years of age who were graduate and could speak Marathi,
so they were unable to read the documents which were made
before 1960 as they were in Gujarati and they had put the people
with the Gujarati documents in the list of squatters. She mentioned
about the problems of the padgi land holders that they were not
accounted for in the rehabilitation scheme. She mentioned that
when people travel in rail in Mumbai, a lot of poor people live
beside the rail track and when they got a free housing worth Rs 4
21
Professor, Centre for African Studies, Behind Marathi Bhasha Bhawan,
University of Mumbai, vidyanagai, Santacruz (E), Mumbai, Maharashtra
39
lakh they were very happy, she said that the rail component project
was a success.
40
Technical Session –V
(Group Discussion and Framing of Recommendation)
Chairperson: Dr. C.Ashokvardhan, IAS (Retd.)
42
The Multiplication factor for rural areas has to be 1 to 2 as
notified by the appropriate government. It has to be on a
graded scale like 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, etc. linked with the distance
of the project from the urban area:
There is no confusion about the definition of urban area as
is being made out. Urban area means the notified
municipal limit. The distance measurement in a
linear/aerial fashion can always be prescribed/specified.
Fourth schedule Acts have their own respective provisions
regarding competent authority. The RFCTLARR Act
2013 needs to recognize the same :
Applicability of section 96 of the RFCTLARR Act,
including the fourth schedule Acts – to all forms of
Acquisition, including consent procurement
The central rules notified under the Act do not cover all
aspects covered under the parent Act. There is need for
exhaustive rules to be notified covering all provisions of
theAct.
The STs and OTFDs who have lost any of their forest
rights under the Forest Rights Act 2006 due to acquisition
of land are the Affected families as defined under the Act.
There should be clarificatory Rules/ Guidelines on the
compensation for the rights taken away as a result of
acquisition/displacement.
PESA need consultation where as RFCTLARR Act needs
consent for acquisition of land in scheduled area – needs
clarification.
43
There should be room to incorporate SIA mitigation
measures in project designs.
Cut-off date should be from the date of notification of
Section(4).
Videography and GIS recording of year marked land
should be conducted immediately after notification of
Section(4).
A standing SIA expert committee should be formed with
provision to induct project specific personnel
SIA agency after preparation of draft SIA report should be
shared through district collector to the people and
community.
Preparation of broad Terms of Reference (ToRs) for key
sectors.
Capacity building of SIA Units, SIA agencies, district
administration.
R&R plan should be linked to the national skill
development mission for new sets of livelihood options.
Updation of land records.
Section 13 of the RFCTLARR rules, 2014 regarding
dedicated website for SIA related reporting should be
strictly adhered to.
Empirical research to assess the validity of SIA report
must be supported.
Social audit should be conducted after implementation of
SIMP.
Establishment of dedicated R&R Department in every
District Head Quarter
Due dilgence should be done before empanelment of SIA
agency
Entitlement Matrix & Categorization (Title & Non Title
Holders)
Challenges in Land records Updation; Geo spatial data vs
Actual Tehsil Records;
Super imposing data sets- possible option ?; Establishing
Parameters for Entitlements;
44
Land Claims and Rights Recognition Framework
Entitlements & Eligibility (Inclusion & Exclusion)
1. Overarching principles
• Social license to operate
• Go beyond compliance
• Making better what they were before – Social lives,
livelihood, future.
• Data needs to validate the impact by a third party.
2. Suggestions
- Consultation with the host community
- There should be no gap b/w acquiring body and affected
people. Direct interactions.
- Institutionalization of created infrastructure. The government
bodies- local or district/ state level.
- Task force – Groups of PAPs hamlet-wise (with local
community) for negotiations including political
representatives
- Rehab - moholla-wise/hamlet-wise – giving them the option /
choices of their groupings
- Open public meeting for transparency
- Women – Child Care, Signatory literacy
- Financial literacy (before compensation is released)- a must
(Kudumbashi Kerala – Banking Sakhi in Bihar)
- Maintenance of the infrastructure, should remain with the
acquiring body for sustainability
45
3. Safety and security
- Proper demarcation and fencing of project area, e.g mining.
- The activity which involve displacement should start after an
infrastructure for rehabilitation is established
4. Skilling
- Market based
- Multiple categories – age, gender, education level
- Site specific/ local context specific gainful employment
options
- Mandatory task force to take care of skilling – counselling
- Evaluation (M& E) framework- R&R
- Evaluation done by third party
- Positive reinforcement, e.g., scholarships, mid days meal
schemes for children, group health insurance for the senior
citizens
- All the award should be disbursed in one instalment and not
staggered.
46
Valedictory: Dr. Nivedita P. Haran, IAS (Retd.)
47
and then have an empanel group of these agencies who are doing
SIAs, because otherwise what had happened, and to some extent it
is better now, for EIAs will happen for SIAs, they will be agencies,
fly-by-night operators who will come and do these EIAs and SIAs,
and nobody would know what is contained in it but it would be
totally vacuous. We don't want that to happen to SIAs, SIAs are
much too important to us, for our society to be left, if we do not do
our SIAs truthfully, we're actually destroying the society and
therefore we just cannot take chances and therefore BNYCRS will
have to take the responsibility. This is one of the reasons why
BNYCRS was set up, they'd be a lead in this, they'll be able to take
forward the entire country and build a set of organizations that
would understand the meaning of SIAs and ensure that the SIAs
that are done are genuine, honest and really help in the LA process.
She said that she learnt a lot from here and that they all have a lot to
learn from each other.
48
LANDACQUISITION, GOVERNANCEAND THE STATE:
Some Issues and Complications around the LARR 2013
Ajit Chaudhuri
I. Introduction
49
underpinnings and relating it to the Indian situation, specifically to
the LARR and its differences with its predecessor, the Land
Acquisition Act of 1894. It expounds on the state's power to
acquire private land, the source of this power, and the justice of its
use of this power. It examines the matter of public purpose around
land acquisition, and the issue of just and fair compensation.
Section III describes the shifts in thinking from government to
governance and asks whether the change from the Land
Acquisition Act to LARR epitomises these shifts. It also addresses
broad questions such as whether the LARR could be an enabler
towards better governance, whether it requires the state to
relinquish or devolve some of its powers, and whether the
administration retains the ability to manipulate land acquisition
outcomes under LARR. In the process, this essay seeks to discuss
the complications around land acquisition and the complex
interdependencies within them.
The paper does not go into a description of the LARR– the author
prefers to assume, in the interest of brevity, that the reader is
already familiar with it. For those who are not, and in order to
preclude a reading of the Act itself, a brief description has been
included in Appendix I. Appendix II contains a list of the 16 other
laws by which land is acquired in India.
The basis for the LARR, its predecessor the Land Acquisition Act
of 1894, and for land acquisition by the state in most parts of the
world, lies in a concept called 'eminent domain' or the power of the
state to acquire private property for a public purpose with
reasonable compensation. This is a controversial and politically
sensitive instrument of state power because it can enable
economic and technical progress and inclusive growth, and it can
also trample on property rights, the economic interests of
vulnerable groups of citizens, and fundamental principles of
23
While the US Constitution rejects confiscation without compensation as a
measure of justice, it contains no rules and standards regarding compensation –
these are left to the courts.
50
justice (Ghatak and Ghosh, 2011). The right to private property is,
after all, basic to liberal democracy, market principles, and
economic growth. This section of the paper examines the origins
and philosophical underpinnings of eminent domain, questions it
from a justice and fairness viewpoint, and explores whether a law
based upon it, such as the LARR, has a place in modern society.
At the outset, and especially for those who believe that a state
taking away the property of its citizens is an act of robbery and
also treachery and therefore the act of a weak, kleptocratic or less
evolved state because the state exists to protect property rights, let
me clarify that the state can acquire, confiscate and appropriate
private property with or without compensation and frequently
does so, even in advanced countries with sophisticated legal
systems. Eminent domain is as old as political society itself and is
deemed necessary because 'public projects cannot be blocked by
the recalcitrance of persons who happen to own property in the
path of improvement' (Kratovil and Harrison, 1954). When it is
exercised, a corresponding right to compensation arises. A
civilised society tends to believe that the losses inflicted as a result
of the state's acquisition of private property should be imposed, as
far as is practical, on the community rather than on adversely
affected individual property owners, and tends to place
limitations, therefore, on the state's power to evade the payment of
compensation. In the US, for example, the 5th Amendment
prohibits the government from taking private property without
compensation, and the 14thAmendment says that no person shall
be deprived of life, liberty or property 'without due process of law',
which has come to mean 'without just compensation' in cases of
23
eminent domain .
51
most importantly 'my right to exclude others from interference
with my enjoyment of that which the law recognises as mine'
(Cohen, 1927). This right is not a relationship between an owner
and a thing, it is one between an owner and other individuals with
reference to things. The distinction between property and
sovereignty goes back in history to Roman law and its
discrimination between dominium or the rule over things by the
individual, and imperium, or the rule over individuals by the king
or state. Yet, most other earlier laws did not make this distinction
and feudal law, which was widely prevalent in much of the world
until relatively recently, saw ownership of land and political
sovereignty as one. Dominium over things was also imperium over
fellow human beings; land was power and the landlord was, to the
tenant, an agent of the state. The modern world changed this by
seeing land as a mere factor of production and seeking to simplify
and modernise laws in order to commoditise it, make it
marketable, and take it out of the hands of the landed aristocracy
signalling, thereby, the end of their political power and control.
Today's laws around property and the rights to it have a basis in this
modernisation process.
52
authority from His sanction, and the second being might, because
might is right and the state is powerful and has the authority to
govern. It was left to the philosopher Hugo Grotius who, in his 'On
the Law of War and Peace' in the 17th century, set out a rational
foundation for state power in his recognition of the transferability
of rights. Rights, according to Grotius, are powers and faculties
that humans possess and are, therefore, commodities that may be
traded away like all other possessions. People may transfer rights
to a ruler and receive a peaceful and stable society in return. Rights
come to the state from private individuals through collective
agreement- innumerable, separate, and sequential decisions that
occur over a protracted period of time during which individuals
agree to form the institutions that govern society by imbuing them
with some of the power that they naturally possess (Miller, 2011).
These institutions gel into a single coherent entity, the state. The
state's power is thus the product of wilful transference of
individuals' powers or rights to it. Once a state has acquired this
power, and because its actions are not subject to the legal control
of another, it is praiseworthy but not imperative that it take the
needs of its subjects into account in its actions. It can, in fact,
override them if and when it so wishes. Grotius's willingness to
allow people to transfer their rights is not entirely uncontroversial.
Rousseau is quoted as saying that 'Grotius spares no pains to rob
the people of all their rights and invest kings with them' (in The
Social Contract, Book II, Chapter 2) while others contend that
certain basic rights should be inviolable and not subject to
political bargaining or the calculus of social interests (such as
John Rawls, 1971). However, Grotius's analysis does provide
adequate foundation for the existence of eminent domain.
53
right (along with freedom of speech, freedom of religion, the right
to equality, minority rights, and the right to constitutional
remedies). The 44th Constitutional Amendment of 1978 changed
this, reducing the right to acquire, hold and dispose of property
from a fundamental right under Article 19 to a constitutional one
under Article 300-A, for which legal remedies and protection
moved from the powerful Article 32 to Article 226.Even in the US
th th
(via the 5 and 14 Amendments) and the EU, the right to property
may be overridden by the state using due process of law and by
providing just compensation.
The move from the Land Acquisition Act of 1894 to the LARR
does not change the fundamentals of the power of the state to
acquire private land for a public purpose with reasonable
compensation, i.e. of eminent domain. The state continues to have
the power to acquire land from private owners if it so wishes. The
key changes with respect to eminent domain between the two laws
lie in the clearer definitions of public purpose and compensation
(both of which are delved into in subsequent sub-sections), in
restrictions around the acquisition of multi-cropped land (which,
according to several commentators including Ghatak and Ghosh,
reflect a concern for aggregate food production and prices and not
the property rights of land owners), in procedural safeguards (in
the form of adequate notification, social impact assessments, use
of Gram Sabhas in obtaining consent, etc.), and in narrowing the
urgency clause to national defence, security, and natural
calamities. Some of the inadequacies of the previous law around
eminent domain continue into the LARR, especially the
obfuscation around the scope of LARR when land has been
acquired under the 16 other laws that are also used to acquire land
(Appendix II). This issue is particularly pertinent because the state
acquires a bulk of its land using the Land Acquisition (Mines) Act
of 1885, the National Highways Act of 1956, the Coal Bearing
Areas Acquisition and Development Act of 1957, the Railways
Act of 1989 and, more recently, the Special Economic Zones Act
of 2005.
54
II.B. The Issue of Public Interest
55
public interest should be conceived as the genuine interest of the
whole community and not the camouflaged interest of an elite or
minority. Others suggest that public policy cannot be based upon
the sum of demands of organised special interests because public
interests are vital common interests that cannot be organised by
pressure groups. Appleby (1950:34-35)) says that 'public interest
is never merely the sum of all private interests, nor the sum
remaining after cancelling out their various pluses and minuses. It
is not wholly separate from private interests, and it derives from
citizens with many private interests, focusing in government some
of the most elevated aspiration and deepest devotion of which
human beings are capable.' Redford (1954) sees public interest
defined as 'the best response to a situation in terms of all the
interests and of the concepts of value which are generally accepted
in society'.
56
He terms the first group as 'administrative rationalism' wherein
the goals of the administration are given, the decision-making
process is value neutral, and the authority of the administrator is
the authority of expertise. Here, public interest is found in the
rationalisation of the decision-making process so that it will
automatically result in carrying out the public will. Human
discretion is minimised or eliminated by defining it out of the
decisional situation. This group of theories sees a robotic
'“administrative man” taking his place alongside the classical
(and equally mythical?) “economic man”'.
57
The third group constitutes the 'administrative realism' category
composed of sceptics and realists who dismiss notions of public
will and public interest as childish myths and who see the
administrator as a catalyst who transmits the conflict among
multiple special interests into public interest which, in turn, is
found in the satisfactory peaceful adjustment of these conflicting
interests. Public interest is served by the self-awareness of the
administrator who plays his/her role self-consciously and
recognises the full implications of his/her choices. A sub-category
in this group includes the process theorists who find public
interest in the proper structuring of the decision process but,
unlike the rationalists of the first group, do not exclude non-
rational elements from the process. Among the realists is Bentley
(1949), who considers public interest as a chimera because 'the
political interests and activities of a group are always directed
against other activities of men. Political life will always divide
society along lines that are real, though of varying degrees of
definiteness. Society itself is nothing except the complex of
composite groups.'
58
example, much of the recent conflict around land acquisition has
been centred on the issue of whether the government can forcibly
acquire land on behalf of private companies, corporate interests,
and other private profit-making entities while claiming that this
has a public purpose. It is worth delving into this debate.
59
subject of considerable debate in the formulation of the LARR.
Ms. Mamta Banerjee, Chief Minister of West Bengal and the force
behind the Singur and Nandigram agitations, was of the view that
the government should have no role in land transfers between
private parties, as was the head of India's largest private land
development company, the DLF Group. NC Saxena of the NAC
Advisory Group was of the opposite view, suggesting that reliance
on open markets would leave small farmers at the mercy of the
land mafia, prevent industry from locating in tribal areas, and
cause delays in acquisition due to incomplete land records. The
LARR ultimately takes the view that while the market works well
in bilateral transactions its effectiveness drops exponentially as
the number of parties to a transaction increase, especially where
property rights are poorly defined, land records are fuzzy and
courts work at a glacial pace, and the likely outcome of large-scale
land acquisition through the market would be a legal quagmire
(Ghatak and Ghosh, 2011). The LARR sees state participation as
necessary in such cases because of the reduced transaction costs
and expedited processes that occur, because of the value the state
attaches to equity and justice, and because the state has an interest
in enabling socially useful projects to succeed.
Ghatak and Ghosh (2011) raise the issue of whether the focus on
public purpose in land acquisition is misplaced. If land is acquired
for a golf course or a Formula One racetrack and the acquiring
entity pays the affected landowners sufficiently, why should
anyone object to such a transaction? Alternatively, if the state
cannot muster up sufficient tax revenue to adequately compensate
landowners where land is acquired for a proposed defence facility
or to resettle victims of an earthquake then, despite the clear-cut
case of public interest, can such an act be considered just?
Ultimately, they suggest that if the state is to violate property
rights, for whatever reason, it 'should put its money where its
mouth is'. Such a viewpoint effectively bypasses the controversy
around the public purpose element of eminent domain and shifts
the onus of justice on to the issue of just compensation.
60
II.C. The Issue of Compensation
In India, the old Land Acquisition Act of 1894 was aligned with
the second theory- it laid down the principle that compensation
should be equal to the local market price for land and that the
market price should be calculated based upon the average price of
all land transactions completed in the area in the previous three
years. This was grossly unfair to those whose land was being
acquired for various reasons (Ghatak and Ghosh 2011) including
that, in many regions, land transactions are few and not very well
documented and leave room for officials to manipulate figures
through selective sampling or fake deals, that the full value in land
deals is often concealed in order to evade stamp duties, and that
distress sales often constitute a bulk of previous transactions.
Moreover, given that land acquisition often leads to appreciation
in local land prices, the dispossessed landowner is usually unable
to buy back land with compensation money, leading to land
alienation.
The LARR changes this situation by aligning itself with the first
theory. It combines acquisition, compensation, rehabilitation and
resettlement into a singleAct, specifies the compensation amounts
and the basis for their calculation clearly (LARR Schedule I),
recognises the claim for compensation of those who have not lost
land but whose livelihoods have nevertheless been affected,
61
outlines rehabilitation and resettlement entitlements of land and
livelihood losers (LARR Schedules II to VI), and prescribes
mandatory procedures for these to mitigate the negative impact of
displacement. It also includes all private purchases of land above a
threshold level within its ambit while requiring prior consent and
evidence of public purpose in these transactions. In the process, it
aligns itself with the loser of the land. Involuntary land
transactions are now much more difficult, compensation is much
higher, and procedures around rehabilitation and resettlement are
clearer and cover more people within their ambit. By doing so, it
makes land acquisition much more expensive, burdening the
taxpayer and possibly placing a brake on the industrialisation
process. LARR's critics suggest that it has sought to make up for
historical injustices perpetrated through the weaknesses of its
predecessor by coming down too far on the side of the land owner.
They also cite weaknesses in the form of unclear rules and
multiplicity of laws (Appendix II lists these) and authorities in
land acquisition, and the continued scope for exploitation of the
land rights of tribal populations outside scheduled areas.
62
riddled with friction) all current owners value their asset more
than the prevailing market price, otherwise they would sell and not
hold. Market price is, thereby, a lower bound on valuation and not
a good estimate of compensation in case of assets that are forcibly
seized. At the other extreme, any system of compensation
involving a negotiated price provides incentives for landowners to
make exaggerated claims. Any acquisition process, therefore,
must feature a formula for determining compensation amounts
that reflect the dispossessed owner's own valuation of the asset in
the absence of well-functioning land markets. The stipulated
compensation formula in LARR is weak in this aspect because it
uses no inputs from landowners with respect to their own
valuations
.
There are merits to this argument from the perspective of market
failure in the form of inefficiencies from transaction costs, agency
problems, and informational asymmetries in incomplete markets.
Yet, alternatives to market price in some form or other as a basis
for just compensation are not clear. The LARR does reasonably
well in providing a set of transparent and fixed rules regarding
compensation (though this is based upon market price) and in
leaving less scope for the discretion of officials and experts in this
matter.
63
populations. It defines a set of activities as constituting public
purpose and has a narrow urgency clause in place. In the process,
it makes involuntary land transactions much more difficult and
the compensation for loss considerably higher. It also uses local
people's institutions in the acquisition process and brings more
people within its ambit.
Are the differences between the two Acts, and the changes that the
LARR is likely to bring about, reflective of the shift in thinking
within administrative circles from 'government' to 'governance'?
This section examines the question by outlining the theoretical
differences between 'government' and 'governance' and looking
again at the LARR and its changes from its predecessor that have
been described above using this lens.
64
According to Jessop (1998), governance has two (closely related
but nested) meanings. In the first, governance can refer to any
mode of co-ordination of interdependent activities, of which the
three most relevant modes are the anarchy of exchange (or
markets), the organisational hierarchy (in this context, traditional
government), and self-organising 'heterarchy'. The second
meaning is heterarchy itself, which involves the self-organised
steering of multiple agencies, institutions and systems, each of
which are operationally autonomous from one another (and
cannot rely on a single hierarchy as a mode of co-ordination) and
yet are structurally coupled due to their mutual inter-dependence
(and are, therefore, ill-suited to simple co-evolution based on the
invisible hand of the market).
65
The rise of heterarchic governance points to fundamental shifts in
state-market-society relations and the emergence of new
economic and social conditions and attendant problems that
cannot be managed or resolved through top-down state planning
or market-mediated anarchy. These shifts reflect the
intensification of societal complexity, which in turn flows from
growing functional differentiation of institutional orders in a
globalising society, which leads to greater systemic
interdependencies across various social, spatial, and temporal
horizons of action. Heterarchic governance has an advantage as a
mode of co-ordination in its capacity to innovate and adapt in a
changing environment, especially in circumstances involving
multiple institutions and functions (each with operational
autonomy, but with reciprocal inter-dependence) with shared
interests and complex spacio-temporal horizons, and in its ability
to realise joint products (such as a city plan, a strategy for
collective action, or a problem solution in public policy).
66
seen as failures of both market mechanisms and hierarchical
command and control structures - failures that multiple
amendments to the Act were unable to address. A new Act, as
opposed to further amendments to the existing Act, was seen as
necessary because the fundamental principles underlying the law
on land acquisition needed to change in keeping with the
requirements of the times. The objectives of the LARR reflect
these changed requirements; in addition to providing just and fair
compensation to affected families and making adequate
provisions for rehabilitation and resettlement, the LARR also
looks to enabling, in consultation with institutions of local self-
government, a humane, participative, informed and transparent
process for land acquisition and to ensuring that the cumulative
outcome of compulsory acquisition is for affected persons to
become partners in the development process. These objectives are
in keeping with heterarchic governance rather than anarchic
exchange or hierarchic government.
67
Table 1:Actors, Institutions and Processes under LARR
Actors/Institutions Processes
State SIA Unit Notification
Qualified SIA In local languages
Within outlined time frames
Independent Use of public places, Internet
practitioners and government offices
Social activists
Academics Collecting and analysing
Technical qualitative and quantitative
experts information
Public Undertaking field visits
functionaries Using participatory methods
Requiring body To ensure adherence to public
CBOs, CSOs and purpose as outlined in LARR
NGOs To do a detailed land
Media assessment
Political Area of impact
representatives at Land prices and recent
different tiers of changes in ownership
government Total land requirement
Environmental Is it minimum?
agencies Is it
Expert groups demonstrable
Panchayats and last resort?
equivalents No. of affected families
Gram Sabhas To ascertain consent
To assess nature, extent and
Government
intensity of positive and
State
negative social impacts
District
Sub-district To prepare an SIMP with
ameliorative measures to
Line
address identified social
departments
impacts
68
III. C. Three Questions
69
acts. The use of the political scientist Robert Dahl's (Dahl, 1957)
intuitive idea of 'A having power over B to the extent that A can get
B to do something B would not otherwise do', i.e. power as 'other'
oriented and related to a specific act, would lead to the possibility
of the LARR devolving power on land acquisition from the state
to various decentralised forums and institutions. It is, however, the
author's considered opinion that the state's power under eminent
domain is of an 'ego' oriented and permanent nature and that this
has not been relinquished or decentralised in any way under the
LARR despite its provisions of transparency and participation.
This may be seen in the manner in which the LARR envisages the
participation of stakeholders and affected communities; in the use
of 'invited' participatory spaces wherein the preliminary agenda is
controlled by planners and policy-makers, which can preclude
alternate perspectives, re-enforce existing privileges, and lead to
the de-politicisation of participation and the possibility of co-
optation of the agenda. While the LARR legislates the use of
participatory spaces (and this is a positive step) it does not
guarantee the empowerment of affected communities at the cost
of the power of the state.
70
financial provisions. This ability is not necessarily negative-an
administration requires flexibility to function effectively and this
includes the ability to influence land acquisition outcomes where a
clear sense of public purpose is discernible.
IV. Conclusions
71
Acronyms:
Readings:
72
Journal, 50(155), pp 29-45; 1998
Kratovil, R and F.J Harrison Jr.; Eminent Domain: Policy and
Concept; California Law Review, 42(4), pp 596-652; 1954
Miller, J; Hugo Grotius; in ed. Edward N. Zaita 'The Stanford
En cycl op ae d ia of Phi l osop hy' F al l 2 0 11 e d it i on ;
URL=http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2011entries/Grotius/
Rawls, J;ATheory of Justice; Belknap Publishers; 1971
Redford, ES; The Protection of Public Interest with Special
Reference to Administrative Regulation; The American Political
Science Review, 48(4), pp 1103-1113; 1954
Schubert, Glendon A; “The Public Interest” in Administrative
Decision-Making: Theorem, Theosophy or Theory; The
American Political Science Review, 51(2), pp 346-368; 1957
Stoker, G; Governance as Theory: Five Propositions;
International Social Science Journal, 50(155), 17-28; 1998
73
The National Workshop on the RFCTLARR Act 2013:
Provisions, legal framework, implementation – Issues and
Challenges
Aibanshngain Swer
74
Garo belong to the Bodo family of the Tibeto-Burman race and are
said to have migrated from Tibet. The Khasis, the Jaintias and the
Garos have a matrilineal society where descent is traced through
the mother while the father plays an important role in the material
and mental life of the family.
75
The focus areas of MIG are in the field of human resource
management, financial management, performance management,
change management. The process interventions are by simplifying
procedure of service delivery and creating new core competencies
in government service by improving governance environment in
administration and designing governance mechanisms to match
the needs and aspirations of the public.
The issues and challenges that emerged during the SIA studies can
be summarised as follows:
76
Act, 2013, the first legislation that links Land Acquisition
with Resettlement and Rehabilitation in planning and
implementation for both land and livelihood losers,
appropriate changes in the process/implementation
mechanisms to improve the situation on equity and social
acceptability by providing greater transparency and benefits
for the affected families has emerged.
ii) The local land tenure system with multiple authorities in the
state makes land governance a complicated process.The
people of Meghalaya have their own traditional socio
political system since their earliest days. The self-governing
institution in a particular village at the grass roots, functions
in a democratic manner. All the three major tribes of
Meghalaya follow their own customary laws, traditions and
practices to govern their land resources.
77
The Garo Hills Autonomous District Council :- North Garo
Hills, East Garo Hills, WestGaro Hills, South West Garo
Hills and South Garo Hills Districts fall under their
jurisdiction. Its headquarters is at Tura. The Jaintia Hills
Autonomous District Council :- East Jaintia Hills and West
Jaintia Hills District fall under their jurisdiction. Its
headquarters is at Jowai. The three separate Autonomous
District Councils are responsible for framing the rules of
procedures to how these lands would be occupied or used.
District council is the authority to dispose of land on behalf of
people. It is on the above consideration that under the Sixth
Schedule, the District Council have been invested with the
powers of allotment, occupation, used or setting a part of land
for purposes of agriculture and certain other matters. It's still
remain true that the lands belong to the people as a whole, but
it is the District Council which is responsible for framing the
rules of procedures to how these lands would be occupied or
used, and not according to the individual wish or capacity.
78
society is shaken. The history and experience of tribal
society everywhere shows that if there is a free right of
transfer of land, the tribals gradually lose their lands and
shifts to more and more interior regions, and the fruits of
development are enjoyed by other people.
79
Meghalaya. As such there are cases of conflicts on claims of
ownership among family members. Another practice is most
of the land is a community land so cases over conflicts in
village administrative jurisdiction has frequently been
identified by the SIAteam.
Conclusion:
80
by the Project Affected Families and Project Implementing
Agency for R&R is how to move from the policy provisions
to actual implementation. This will require a better
understanding of the dynamics of R&R options, taking into
account the social, cultural and economic constraints and the
opportunities in the new micro economic situation and
political environment in which the affected persons are
living.
81
“The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in
Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013
and other Acquisition Acts: Issues in Implementation,
Divergence and Convergence”.
Abstract
27
Chief Manager (Min.), Coal India Limited, Coal Bhawan, New Town,
Kolkata, West Bengal
82
Sustainable Land Procurement
Abstract
Introduction
83
"... The property of subjects is under the eminent domain of the
state, so that the state or he who acts for it may use and even
alienate and destroy such property, not only in the case of extreme
necessity, in which even private persons have a right over the
property of others, but for ends of public utility, to which ends
those who founded civil society must be supposed to have
intended that private ends should give way. But it is to be added
that when this is done the state is bound to make good the loss to
those who lose their property."
Constitutional Provisions
84
The crucial provision related to concept of eminent domain can be
found in Article 31A. It states "Any land can be acquired by the
State by paying compensation at market rate". Another related
provision is in Article 300Awhich makes property a Legal right. It
states “No person shall be deprived of his property save by
authority of law”.There is interesting history behind the
development of these provisions. As the Constitution was
originally adopted in the year 1950, the right to property was
enshrined as a fundamental right. This was a threefold right.
Article 19 (1) (f) guaranteed citizens the right to “acquire, hold &
dispose of property”. Article 31(1) provided that no person shall
be deprived of his right to property save by the authority of law.
Article 31(2) provided that if the State wants to acquire the private
property of an individual or to requisition (that is to take over the
property for a temporary period), it could do so only if such
acquisition or requisition is for a public purpose and that
compensation would be payable to the owner.
85
Structure” which was strengthened by the decision of Minerva
Mills Ltd. and others vs Union of India and others (AIR 1980
SC1789)
86
are not enforceable by any court, but the principles therein laid
down are nevertheless fundamental in the governance of the
country and it shall be the duty of the State to apply these
principles in making laws. One such Article related to the topic
under discussion is Article 39. It states that "the State shall, in
particular, direct its policy towards securing— (a) that the
citizens, men and women equally, have the right to an adequate
means of livelihood; (b) that the ownership and control of the
material resources of the community are so distributed as best to
sub serve the common good (c) that the operation of the economic
system does not result in the concentration of wealth and means of
production to the common detriment". The land acquisition entails
taking land/property from one person and giving it to others. So, in
view of the aforesaid policy directive, it has to be ensured that the
Policy/law with regard to land acquisition lead to common good of
the society and the resources are not usurped by the powerful few.
87
(Construction of Works) Act, 1978, The National Highways Act,
1956, The Coal Bearing Areas (Acquisition and Development)
Act, 1957, and the Railways Act, 1989 etc.were promulgated by
various Ministries of the Union Government, on land acquisition
as per their specific requirements. Furthermore, various States
have put in place various State Acts, e.g., The Maharashtra
Regional and Town Planning Act, 1966, The Odisha Municipal
Corporation Act, 1954, The Tamil Nadu Acquisition of Land for
Industrial Purposes Act, 1997 and The West Bengal Estates
Acquisition Act, 1953 etc. to deal with specific land acquisition
issues in their States. There are a variety of provisions relating to
acquisition process and land compensation in these Acts.
However, the main provisions in these Acts are broadly in line
with provisions of the LAAct, 1894. For the sake of convenience
of this paper, various ramifications of land acquisition are
restricted with respect to the LA Act, 1894 only which may be
considered as the umbrella Act. One major lacuna to be observed
is that none of the aforesaid Acts has provisions for Rehabilitation
& Resettlement (R&R) of the affected families.
The issue has been occupying mind space of the Policy makers for
a long time. The first major initiative in this direction was the
88
National Policy on Resettlement & Rehabilitation for Project
Affected Families-2003 notified by the Ministry of Rural
Development (MoRD), Government of India. This Policy for the
first time recognized that the R & R were integral part of the land
acquisition process and the Requiring Body was required to
properly rehabilitate the land losers. This Policy was revised by
the MoRD in the year 2007 with the National Rehabilitation and
Resettlement Policy (NRRP), 2007. It was approved by Cabinet
th st
on 11 October, 2007 and notified in the official Gazette on 31
October, 2007. It covers cases of families affected due to land
acquisition or involuntary displacement due to any other reason. It
provides for the basic minimum requirements that all projects
leading to involuntary displacement must address. However,
Requiring Bodies are free to provide benefits higher than those
prescribed under this Policy.
89
However, landmark milestone was the enactment of “The Right to
Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition,
Rehabilitation & Resettlement (RFCTLARR) Act, 2013”. It was
published in the Gazette of India on 27th September, 2013. The
notification for commencement of the Act was published in the
Gazette on 19th December, 2013 and it has come into force from 1st
January, 2014. In the LA Act, 1894, R & R was not part of the
compensation, public purpose was not defined properly, there was
no provision of Social Impact Assessment (SIA) and consent of
the affected families. The RFCTLARR Act, 2013 has addressed
all the aforesaid issues to a considerable degree.
90
Purpose and Payment of Compensation. The lacunae concerning
these core issues in the LA Act, 1894 were addressed to a large
extent in “RFCTLARR Act, 2013” which replaced the LA Act,
1894. However, the recent controversy over the amendments to
the RFCTLARR Act, 2013 has reopened the debate on the
fundamental issues of eminent domain. The basic objective of the
usage of principle of eminent domain has to be acquisition of land
in such a way that it leads to a win-win situation for both the land
owners & the agency for whom the land is being acquired. The
solution to this intricate & delicate problem of land acquisition lies
in the concept of eminent domain itself. Accordingly, the above
mentioned three fundamental issues of eminent domain are
discussed below in detail.
Right ofAcquisition
91
The other pertinent issue in the land acquisition process is that the
Government is deciding that “A” is not competent to utilize his
properly, so it should be taken away from him and given to a more
competent person “B”. In a free market, the market forces should
decide, who is the right person to own and use a particular piece of
property? In a developing economy, such government
interventions are alright in the beginning, so that economy is
given a push and moves in the desired direction. However, as
India overtakes China in growth rate, such policies appear to be
anachronistic. It is prudent that the market forces are given full
freedom to play out. This will ensure that the valuable resource of
land is put to its most efficient use by the most competent person.
Further, the related corollary is that only the "minimum quantity
of land" required for establishing the project will be used. The
emphasis on 'minimum land' in recent times has started showing
results. A panel set up by the Ministry of Human Resource
Development, Government of India, to determine the area of land
required to set up centrally funded institutes has concluded that an
IIT could be set up within 260 acre of land, which is 50 per cent
less than the existing requirement. Likewise, the land required to
set up a central university could be brought down to 250 acre as
against the present requirement of 500 acre and the optimum land
required for setting up an NIT would be 150 acre as against the
present requirement of 300 acre. In case of IIMs, the committee
has proposed that such institutes could be set up in five to 10 acres
in urban areas and within 60 acres in non-urban areas instead of
present requirement of about 200 acres. This discourse will
certainly give a push to vertical expansion instead of the
horizontal as is being already seen in most of the metro cities. In an
era of competing demands with value of lands shooting up, it is
prudent that the right to acquire land is used judiciously &
cautiously by the government.
92
completely omitted it from the Fundamental Rights. Paradox is
that even Constitution of China and USSR have provisions in this
regard. In a burgeoning economy, it is very important that
individuals invest in land/property and exchange it frequently.
This will certainly contribute significantly to the economy. If this
right is not enshrined properly in the statute and the sword of land
acquisition is left hanging, the message to the investors in the
global market is indeed confusing.
Public Purpose
93
encourage vertical expansion instead of horizontal expansion,
standard limits may be prescribed for various types of projects
after thorough studies. There are concerns that these interventions
may delay the land acquisition process. To address these concerns,
strict time lines should be prescribed and be adhered to strictly.
Further, to ensure faster & smother implementation, training &
capacity building of all the stakeholders should be taken up.
Appropriate Institutes may be strengthened & leveraged in this
regard. Further, India being an Information Technology (IT)
powerhouse, use of IT in various aspects, e.g., mapping of
wastelands, water availability, agricultural productivity &
unutilized acquired land etc. will help facilitate decision makers in
taking appropriate decisions in various land acquisition cases.
Compensation
The last ingredient of “Eminent Domain”, i.e., Payment of
Compensation is critically important to the families who are
affected by land acquisition. Ideally, the compensation should be
such that it places the affected families effectively in the same
position in which they were before displacement or better. Further,
it should be kept in mind, it's tough for a person who is uprooted
from a locality to shift to a new place and start life afresh with a
new vocation and house to reside in. So, the community which gets
benefitted from a project has a moral duty to ensure that just
compensation is awarded to the affected families.
94
Territories (UTs) and the parties to a deal want to save on this, so
the deal is shown around circle/floor rates only. Rest of the money
is exchanged in black. This is a serious malaise and needs to be
addressed as it leads to loss of revenue to Government and
encourages illegal activities. India has progressed a great deal in
the IT sector. So, besides lowering the stamp duty rates, the IT
sector needs to be leveraged to capture the exact land/property
prices of the area.
95
Conclusion
The RFCTLARR Act, 2013 has been a major leap forward in the
settlement of the three core issues of “Eminent Domain”, i.e.,
Right to acquire private property, Acquisition for Public Purpose
and Payment of Compensation. However, there are still some
loopholes left to be plugged before finality is reached on these core
issues. As we mull over the changes in the amendment Bill to the
aforesaid Act, there should be thorough and unbiased public
discourse on the matter. In a vibrant democracy like ours, such
issues which touch lives of millions of people, not a single issue
can be left unresolved. Considering land is a limited resource, the
objective has to be most appropriate usage of land with the
transparent & active participation of all the stakeholders. This will
ensure sustainable land procurement with a win-win situation for
all. There is also a need to have a fresh look into the issue of
“Fundamental Right to Property” and providing it appropriate
place in the Constitution as per the aspirations of a young &
ambitious India. Further, the system to usher in up-to date & real
time land records database needs to be put in place on top priority.
In nutshell, as country moves into the higher growth trajectory, it is
our bounden duty to settle all the aforesaid issues amicably, so that
the economic growth story is not impacted in anyway.
References:
96
Displacement and Rehabilitation in Mahanadi
Coal Field of Odisha
Abstract
Introduction
28
Associate Professor, Council for Social Development, Rajendra Nagar,
Hyderabad. Email: sujitkumar72@gmail.com
29
Prajna Paramita Mishra, Assistant Professor, School of Economics,
Gachibowli, Hyderabad. Email: prajnasujit@gmail.com
97
1988). Against this backdrop, this paper describes the path taken
by these actors in different stages (described through different
issues) of the development process and points to the regulatory
mechanisms available to safeguard their interest.
Much has been said and written about the impact of so called
“development” on local communities in India. “Mining
communities” around the world – a subset of the
development–displaced–share several common characteristics.
The vulnerabilities of the communities given the externalities in
terms of displacement, loss of agriculture, ill-health, livelihood,
accident and closure are somewhat the same. The practice of
resettling the development communities “alone” continues to be a
reality in India despite strong institutional interventions to prevent
such measures. Figure 1 offers a diagrammatic presentation of the
inter-linkage different issues faced by mining communities.
98
mining closure and the concerned socio-economic impact.
Within this backdrop the research questions raised in this paper
are: (i) what went wrong in translating the resettlement policies of
Odisha into practice? And (ii) what are the key factors (policies,
institutions and information) that determine differences in
outcome of Rehabilitation?
The study has been carried out in Odisha (Map 1). The primary
motivation for the choice of geographical areas was that Odisha
exemplified the displacement scenario of the country. Therefore a
proper analysis of the situation and an effective consultation with
the affected communities as well as with project authorities may
provide a better understanding of good and adaptive rehabilitation
package, focussed on restoring the equity of the people.
99
production and sales. Ib Valley coal field (MCL, Jharsuguda) is
one of the two coalfields found in Odisha. As on 01.01.2004, coal
reserve of this valley amounted to 22.34 billion tons which
constitute 36.63 percent of the total coal reserve of the state. The
Ib Valley is an amalgamation of different areas such as, Ib valley
area, Orient area, Lakhanpur area, Basundhara area and
Garjanbahal area. This project, in this way, acquired a total of
1456.90 acres of private land (agriculture), 431.66 acres private
land (homestead), 671.23 acres of forest land and 2234.67 acres of
government land (other than forest). The sample households from
the present study have drawn from 07 villages affected by MCL,
Jharsuguda, namely (i) Charla, (ii) Ghanamal, (iii) Kairkuni, (iv)
Khunta Mahul, (v) Kudalai, (vi) Ladanga and (vii) Tingismal.
Finally 153 households were selected from these 07. The report
pointed at a set of multi-faceted issues through various methods,
which are lucidly discussed below:
Data Collection
Hence the data collected for this study consists of (i) household
for both displaced as well as affected; (ii) data on village profiles
of sample villages; (iii) secondary data; (iv) reports on FGDs on
30
Infraline Energy (2008)
31
MCL (2011)
100
different themes and issues. The interview aimed to capture the
effects of construction of the project on the studied community,
the strategies adopted by local displaced and the affected people to
deal with the situation as well as the direct and indirect effects of
the projects on their social economic lives. The qualitative data
were condensed and analyzed thematically.
Interview Schedule
101
this type of analysis is sensitive to the coding, results have to be
interpreted carefully. In this study, it is primarily used as a
complement to the qualitative data (Table 1).
102
3. Results and Discussions
Demographic Details
Occupational Pattern
104
Table 3: Primary Occupation of the Displaced Households
105
means a severe jolt for all these activities to take place. This is the
principal form of recapitalization and pauperization of displaced
people, through the loss of both physical and man-made capital
(Cernea, 1997). To analyze the nature of landholding in both pre-
and post-displacement stages, in terms of economic class and
caste, legal landholding has been taken as the sole variable. The
sample population of MCL, Jharsuguda has a mixed population,
so far as social composition is concerned, of which ST population
constitute more than 40 percent.
From Table 4, it can be seen that 20.9 percent of the total number of
households did not own any land before displacement. Out of the
total number of 32 landless households, 19 belonged to ST, 07 to
SC, 05 to OBC only one belonged to the General Category. These
people neither own a piece of land, nor make their living by selling
their labor. Of the total households surveyed, 12.4 percent
belonged to large farmers (5 ST, 5 OBC and 5 OC) category. The
large farmers usually cultivate their lands by employing
permanent and casual laborers who directly participate in the
production process. As if having signed a contract, they do not sell
their labor to other peasants. Before displacement, most of the ST,
SC households were landless and marginal farmers (except 5 large
farmers), while theOC households were economically better-off
in comparison to the former communities. Thus, it is apparent that
there was economic disparity between the OC and the other two
groups (SC and ST).
Rs. 20,000 per acre has been fixed as the market value of the lost
agricultural land. Apart from that, a shifting allowance worth Rs.
2000 has been given to each affected household. The survey
reveals that only 25 households (i. e. 16.3 percent) had the
knowledge of the valuation process and the rest were ignorant.
Just a 9.4 percent of the households questioned the concerned
authority, whereas 3.3 percent of the households were complacent
with the received compensation. This study tries to find out the
grievances of the people who were unhappy with the
compensation amount. All the three chief grievances found in the
present study are: (i) inadequate compensation; (ii) ignorance
about the land valuation process; and (iii) employment in MCL.
Apart from this, there was a gap noticed between the date of 4(1)
acquisition and the date of final payment. Basically, the data were
collected from seven villages namely, Charla, Ghanamal,
Kairkuni, Khunta Mahul, Kudalai, Ladanga and Tingismal. Most
of the respondents, however, belonged to the villages namely,
Charla, Ghanamal and Kairakuni. The details of land acquisition
procedure in the above three villages are presented in Table 4.
107
Table 5: Land Holding Pattern MCL Jharsuguda
108
such they have now taken to daily wage earnings. Their sudden
exposure to a monetary economy where the entire medium of
exchange was in-terms of money was the cause of their misery.
Furthermore, lack of experience in financial matters was another
reason for their failure.
It was not only the MCL, Jharsuguda victims who spent a major
portion of their compensation money to purchase daily
necessities, but also almost all the people across other
development projects did the same thing. The studies like
109
Economic and Political Weekly Report (1968), Gajarajan (1970),
Muthayya and Mathur (1975), and Reddy and Chattopadhyay
(1986) informed that the compensation amount was mostly spent
on domestic and living expenses, clearing of debts, performance
of religious and marriage ceremonies. About 28.1% of the people
invested the compensation money on their homestead land since
they did not like to live in the rehabilitation colonies. Apart from
that, compensation money was not enough for getting a piece of
homestead land on par with the previous land in terms of quality
and productivity and nearly 50 percent people spent a lot for the
construction of their houses. Mining pollution badly affected the
health of the people living in the surroundings. Hence, 24.2
percent people spent a large share of their compensation money on
health purposes.
Resettlement Issue
110
Table 6:Unequal Distribution of Homestead Land
111
associated with the MCL on behalf of the whole family. In this
way, the whole family becomes dependent on the member who is
employed. This is also to be noted that all the allied activities are
completely stopped in the new environment.
Employment:
a) One member from each family sustaining loss of
dwelling houses, homestead land and agricultural land
not less than 1/3rd of the total holding shall be provided
with employment on a priority basis.
b) One member of each family having sustained loss of 3
acres of non-irrigated land or 2 acres of irrigated land
shall be provided with employment on second priority.
c) In case of families having lost only homestead land or
the total agricultural holding, one member from each
family shall be provided with employment according to
availability.
d) In case of families who have lost 1/3rd of the total
agricultural holding, one member from each family
shall be provided with employment according to
availability.
e) Rehabilitation of other displaced families shall be made
through self-employment schemes.
Source: Government of Orissa (1988).
33
In the mining sector, uniform guidelines for rehabilitation of the displaced
persons/families due to SECL (South Eastern Coalfield Ltd.), presently
Mahanadi Coalfields Limited, 1989, popularly known as R&R Policy of MCL,
1989.
112
Out of the five conditions, the first four are applicable for those
people who lose their land during the process of acquisition.
However, only component (e) mentions about “self-employment
scheme”. And it is only the livelihood losers who can take benefits
under this category. Ironically, though MCL provided a job to one
of the family members, the other members were rendered jobless.
There is a discrimination observed against the landless laborers,
artisans, sharecroppers, and encroachers in the policy documents.
5. ImpactAssessment
113
more vulnerable. These people are gradually losing their social
position within the family since being financially weak and all
attention shift to the bread winner in the family thus leading to a
hegemonic change even within a family itself. Before
displacement, there was an equal right of all the family members
over the joint property of the family they inherited from their
forefathers. The study used the statistical tool coefficient of
variation to test the variability of income of different categories of
people.
114
Table 7: Income Differential of Different
Categories of Households
It can be clearly seen from Table 3.6 that CV of all the households
(irrespective of caste) has increased considerably. The OC people
have been the greatest beneficiaries of it followed by the OBC.
Since there was the provision in the rehabilitation policy of the
MCL to employ only one member of every family, the rest of the
members started exploring different earning sources, gradually
became financially independent and started living separate. This
issue of separation is more prominent in OC households than SC
and STs because the latter categories were largely nuclear by
nature since the beginning. But, OC households used to be more
joint family type. The financial stability of the family is the sole
responsibility of the employed person in the post-displacement
situation. There is a huge gap in income seen between the people
who have a permanent source of income and the people with no-
permanent income.
5.2 Joblessness
115
caused due to land acquisition which resulted in immense loss of
employment opportunities (Ota, 1996; Cernea, 1997). This
study has taken four indicators to assess to what extent
joblessness has been overcome and how much the displaced
people at the relocated sites have been benefited out of the
development schemes. Table 8 has the details.
116
5.3 Homelessness
A great change can be observed in the size of the homestead plot
after displacement, with more than 30 percent rise in homesteads
measuring over 1,500 sq.ft. The percentage of plots measuring less
than 500 sq.ft, 500-1000 sq. ft and 1001 to 1,500 sq.ft fell from
24.8 to 11.1 percent, 15.7 to none and 5.9 percent to none,
respectively.
118
In comparison to the pre-displacement situation, the housing
condition of all the ST, SC, OBC and OC have improved as they
have pucca houses and it containing more rooms. t indicates that
less number of people are rendered homeless. 83 percent
households have electricity in the new location. Housing
determines one's position in the society (Nath, 1998).
119
1.5 Structure of the Family
120
1.6 Loss ofAccess to Common Property Resources
For the poor people, particularly for the landless and otherwise
asset-less, loss of access to non-individual, common property
assets belonging to communities that are relocated represents a
cause of income and livelihood deterioration and usually
overlooked and not properly compensated in government projects
(Cernea, 1997). Table 3.12 is indicative of a substantial loss of
common property in the post-displacement situation in
comparison to the pre-displacement situation. In the pre-
displacement situation, every household had free access to the
common grazing land. But in the post displacement situation, the
access is limited having granted access to 14.2 percent of ST, 16.9
percent of SC, 34.0 percent of OBC families to grazing land. It is
noteworthy that OC families do not have any access to grazing
land. Before displacement, there were a specific places meant for
burial grounds, but, in the new colonies, there is no such specific
place. Cremation is now done in their own lands. Even more,
earlier forest was a free for the movements of people, but now it is
highly restricted in the relocated sites.
Table 13: Common Property Resources
Rainfall has been scanty during the last few years. Its cumulative
effect can be seen in the form of absence of grass and pasture and
failure of crop. That is why, paddy stalk, which is a staple food for
the cattle are no more available in the rehabilitated villages (Table
14).
121
Table 14: Fodder Sources and Terms of Access
122
The table shows that a huge percentage of households depend
upon the private doctors. It has two chief reasons, namely, (i) none
of the family members of the employee, except his/her parents, is
allowed medical facilities in the hospitals; (ii) most of the times,
the staffs are not efficient enough to diagnose the proper disease.
Therefore, people are highly dependent upon private hospitals
which incur a large amount of their spending. Moreover, the
sources of drinking water and the toilet habit are two other major
determinants of the health status of the people.
123
5.8 Food Insecurity
124
sad enough, none of the people involved in this study had
knowledge of it. While enquiring, they asserted that they were at
the receiving end. They simply accepted whatever was offered to
them by the authorities. “Negotiation” with the affected people
almost never existed throughout the process, and it can be
attributed to the asymmetry of information at various levels. How
surprising it sounds that the entire community was ignorant of the
rehabilitation policy and its various components, the socio-
economic survey and the various issues associated with it and
lastly the gram sabha.
125
Table 16: Factors influencing Resettlement Outcomes
8. Conclusion
126
predominantly featured in the discussion above and their status of
sustainability as well.
127
process. Therefore a need for creating a system arises which will
negotiate with the state after exploring how community
perception and concerns reflect in the development policy in India
and what mechanisms are required to be evolved to make the
current policies sustainable with special focus on social justice
and equity.
References:
129
REHABILITATION & RESETTLEMENT SCHEME OF
COAL MINING PROJECT – A CASE STUDY
34
G.Kumar
Abstract
130
economic considerations & (2) the project economics) must be
taken into consideration.
Introduction
The Tasra Coal Block was allocated to SAIL in Oct. 1995, and
mining lease of 4.5 Sq km area was transferred from BCCL to
ISP-SAIL (erstwhile IISCO), in 2002 for the development of
captive mine. The total proved geological reserve of this block is
estimated as 251.8 Million tones. In wake of the huge reserves, this
131
block has been proposed for the development of open cast mine of
4.0 Million Tones PerAnnum capacity.
Study Area:
2
It covers an area of 4.5 km . The area is roughly defined by
o ' ” o ' ” o '
latitudes 23 39 53.06 N to 23 40 7.33 N and logitudes 86 27
” o ' ”
00.74 E to 86 27 20.65 E. It is included in the survey of India
Topo sheet no.73 I/6 and in Sheet No.8 of the geological map of
Jharia Coal Field (JCF) . Similarly the Chasnala block, part of
which has been included in this Mining Plan also form part of
India Topo sheetNo 73I/6. Figure 1.1 shows the regional location
of the Study area..
Total area of these mouzas being 5442.90 acre while the area
falling under the project is 2066.43 acre. Nearly 3455 families
including 2959 private house holds while 496 Govt. / Semi Govt.
house holds along with infrastructure facilities such as Power
station, HT / LT cables and underground lines for water supply,
sewage telecommunications, etc. would be affected because of
mining activity.
132
Fig. 1.1: Location Map of the Area
133
based on the valuation of the property of the entire Project
Affected Persons ( PAPs). The main objective of this study is :
This scheme has been followed as per the Coal India Ltd. Policy
and therefore after examining several possibilities, the following
schemes have been considered:
134
grant in cash in lieu of employment against acquisition of
land. However, the quantum of grant would be on the basis
of pro – rata basis.
135
b. In addition to above, each landless tribal dependent on
forest produce would be given one time financial
assistance as per norm for loss of customary rights or
usage of forest produce.
Vulnerable People:
Community Facilities:
• Schools
• Roads with street lights
• Pucca Drains
• Tube Well for Drinking Water
• Community Centre
• Worship Place
• Dispensary
• Club
• Playground
136
CostAnalysis:
137
v) People perceive that the project would help in the
development of various social infrastructures.
vi) People also believe that the Project will have well planned
structure & infrastructure facilities along with community
care.
Conclusions:
138
Acknowledgement:
References:
[4] Crickmer, Douglas F., and Zegeer, David A., Ed. Elements of
Practical Coal Mining, 2d ed. New York, NY: Society of Mining
Engineers, American Inst. of Mining, Metallurgical, and
Petroleum Engineers, Inc., 1981.
139
140
141
142
Section 101
Return of Un-utilized land
2 options:
1. Return to original land owners
2. To land bank of Govt.
1. Return to original land owners/ legal heirs
143
Compensation paid to them excluding solatium shall be returned
to Govt. (Rule 20(3))-> Govt. will use it to develop waste lands.
Questions
In case of minor/major efflux of time, the
compensation money might have been consumed by
PAF
Whether there was a legal agreement to that effect (in
course of LA proceedings) that if collector opts to
return 'unutilised' acquired land, compensation money
paid/ payable to the landowners (minus solatium) will
have to be returned by land owners to the Govt.? The
quantum of efflux of time ought to have been made a
part of the agreement.
Any agreement, to that effect, ought to have been
provided for in the RFCTLARR Act itself.
What will happen if PAF refuses to refund
compensation amount to the Collector or to take back
land?
The RFCTLARR, 2013: Issues in Implementation,
Divergence and Convergence and other Acquisition Acts
Vikas Raj
145
CATEGORIES OF PAFS/ PDFS AND THEIR
ENTITLEMENTS
146
Politically motivated groups causing hindrance to progress
of works in the name of stake holder consultation.
Indefinite and unclear timelines in implementation of R&R
leading to PDFs being suspicious about the entire process.
Delayed R&R implementation leading to new claims from
PDFs with respect to cut off date and enhanced package
rates.
No clear cut procedure and entitlements for R&R, if the
PDFs chose to settle at a place of their choice.
147
agreement approved by the District Level Land Procurement
Committee (DLLPC) after negotiation with the land owners.
148
provision of consent award in RFCTLARR Act 2013. Hence
consent provisions are brought in through Section 23A.
Telangana has procured land through negotiations under
G.O.Ms.No.123. This provision has been incorporated in the
shape of Section 30Aof theAmendment Act 2016.
R&R entitlements as per the Schedule II and III, although
extremely generous, are time consuming and most displaced
families expressed their opinion to take lumpsum
compensation in cash and settle at a place of their choice as
per provisons of Section 31A.
149
Main Features:
150
TYPES OFAWARD
GeneralAward:
After PN, if the land owner/ other than land owners expresses their
willingness in Form EI &EII. The compensation can be finalised
in the DLLPC by negotiation and agreement in Form GIII & GIV
and orders issued. Such orders are published in the District Gazette
for vesting the title and ownership in the State. The prescribed
timelines of 60days & 30days need not be adhered to. No option
for the awardees to approach any civil forum/ court/Authority.
152
Voluntary Acquisition (Sale) of land under Sec 30A.
Lumpsum payment towards Rehabilitation and Resettlement
under Sec 31A.
ADDITIONAL GUIDELINES
153
As Form C and Form D are intended for calling the person
interested for settlement by negotiation, further process can
be taken up without the completion of mandatory 60 days.
3. R&R benefits to land owners and other than land owners
where there is no displacement.
As per R&R entitlements specified under Telangana
AmendmentAct, 2016.
4. Procedure for estimation of dwelling homes cattlesheds in
land under acquisition.
For land occupied by homestead, the compensation shall be
paid upto 10 Guntas land on yardage basis and balance on
acreage basis.
5. Payment of compensation to patta lands situated in tank
beds.
The compensations to the patta lands within the FTL shall be
paid on par with other patta lands.
1. Payment of compensation to non-tribals for Government
land encroached.
The exgratia to be paid to the maximum of 5 acres as
determined by the District Collector.
7. Payment of compensation for crop damage.
The compensation for crop damage shall be paid for 1 crop as
per the estimate prepaid by the Agriculture/Horticulture dept.,
as one time settlement to land owners.
8. Issue of Preliminary Notification under Act, 2013 and
TelanganaAmendmentAct, 2016.
Only one Preliminary Notification as per Sec-11(1) in
sufficient either in Form- VI (as per Act,2013) or in Form-C
(as per Telangana Amendment Act, 2016) for passing orders
for voluntary purchase, consent award and general award..
9. Modification of approved R&R Scheme.
After approval of Draft R&R Scheme by Comm. R&R, the
District Collector may modify the approved R&R Scheme
(except no.of PDFs) subject to conformity to the overall
approved scheme and availability of budget.
154
Comparative Per PDF cost of R&R under Act, 2013 and
Telanganan Amendment Act, 2016
155
POST LAACTIVITIES:
156
• Transparency in R&R process and to regulate the
disbursement of entitlements in a systematic manner.
SiteAddress: http://test.cgg.gov.in/randr
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
Application of Social Impact Assessment under
RFCTLARR Act, 2013 in Urban Transport Projects:
Insights from Metro Rail in India
Sanjay K.Pradhan62
Abstract
62
Senior Social Safeguard Specialist, Environment Division, RITES LTD, A
Govt. of India (Ministry of Railways) Enterprise, Gurgaon-122 001.E-
mail:dr.spradhan2010@gmail.com
183
Introduction
184
Industrial areas on the east of Ahmedabad. The stations shall be
accessible from both sides of the road in order to better serve the
catchment area.
The SIA has been prepared in accordance with the Right to Fair
Compensation and Transparency in land acquisition,
Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013(RFCTLARR
Act,2013), and JICA guidelines for Environmental and Social
Consideration 2011. A participatory approach was adopted for
establishing the social baseline and undertaking the SIA study. An
attempt was made to integrate local community perspectives into
the impact assessment process and identification of the mitigation
measures. The methodology used for SIA study was designed
based on objective and scope of the study. Accordingly, the
exercise was based on both use of secondary information and
primary data collection through door to door household surveys
and community level information gathering. For primary level
information gathering and data collection, pre-tested
questionnaires, focus group discussion, key informants interview,
stakeholder consultation and public hearing were used. The
primary data collection exercise was supported by careful
examining of project area map and project details, Government
census data, land records, district gazetteers and other
administrative records and other official documents to validate
the field findings.
185
The field visits and studies were conducted during
September–October 2014.The study team visited the sites to
verify the alignment drawings on the ground and identify the
affected areas. After identifying the affected areas the study team
consulted with different stakeholders at the project area and
organized meetings with them to generate awareness about the
project. The census and socio-economic survey of the probable
project affected persons (PAPs) within the proposed corridor of
impact (CoI) was carried out to provide requisite details on the
PAPs to further assess the magnitude of likely impacts and to
identify measures for mitigation of adverse impacts. The survey
included (i) full census of households, other physical units (shops,
community units, etc.);(ii)socio-economic survey of the
enumerated households;(iii) community based public
consultation. The survey identified the households, commercial
and business enterprises and common property resources within
the project corridor of impact (private and public), and other
facilities. The trained investigators collected a wide range of data,
for example, demography, age/sex distribution, education,
occupation, income/poverty data, types of businesses, types and
ownership status of affected structures and other assets,
ownership of the assets to be affected, choice of relocation,
assistance for rehabilitation, etc. through administering a pre-
tested questionnaire. The data were later shared with the
communities to cross-check if anyone has been left out due to
some reasons or if extra counting has been done. During social
survey stakeholder consultations were conducted at different
levels namely individual, group, community, and institutional
level. A public consultation was conducted at city level after one
month of submitting the draft SIA report to share the main
findings of the SIA Study and seek views on findings, additional
information and views of all stakeholders and affected families.
The entire field data collection was guided and supervised by the
Social Development Specialist of the project.
186
Results and Discussion
SIABackground and Instructions
187
that SIA was not integrated into the process of resettlement
planning in India.
188
critical provision for maintaining the credibility of the SIA. It
allows the SIA team to include independent practitioners,
academics, qualified social activists, and mandate the inclusion of
at least one woman member. There are several other important
provisions including the time period of SIA (six months),
recording the views of the affected families in writing, involving
local voluntary organizations and media in the public hearings,
recording and considering in the SIA every objection raised in the
public hearings, the SIA and public hearings to be in local
language and a web-based flow management information system
of the acquisition process. Where land is acquired, fair
compensation shall be paid promptly to all persons affected in
accordance with sections 28, 29 and 30 of the Act (GoI, 2014).
For the proposed metro rail project social impact assessment has
been conducted and mitigation measures have been developed in
accordance with the RFCTLARR, Act, 2013.
189
barest minimum by realigning the alignments away from
private property / human habitation. After planning, the land
requirement is kept at minimum and particularly, acquisition of
private land was avoided.
190
Impact on Properties
191
vulnerability among PAFs, there are 541 families consisting 2094
persons who belong to vulnerable category. Out of these three
families are women headed households, 174 families are
scheduled castes, 126 are scheduled tribes, 52 families are below
the line of poverty including women headed households, and 35
families having disability people.
Impact on Women
192
social relationships, adjustments in running a household in a
different setting with lesser earnings. All this can result in the
women opting for voluntary work to supplement income, which
could lead to vulnerabilities that may affect her social, economic,
physical and emotional health. It is, thus, imperative that women
are required to be involved as full-fledged participants taking part
at all the stages of the project starting from planning through
implementation and even at the post project stages
About 12 per cent of total project affected families are tribal and
they are found in the project area no longer live in forests/hills. The
tribal population has integrated with the main stream population.
Few of them fall within the category of below poverty line. If any
adverse impacts on tribal people are identified during
implementation, the project proponent will ensure that an
indigenous peoples plan is prepared in accordance with the Right
to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition,
Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 and JICA's Involuntary
Resettlement Policy and it will be approved by Government of
Gujarat and JICAbefore award of the related civil works contract.
193
structures(two public toilets, two educational institutions, two
health centers and five bus stops) and remaining 14 are other
structures(i.e., boundary walls). Out of the total religious
structures, five are fully affected and six are partially affected. Of
the total community structures, two toilets, two educational and
two health centers and five bus stops are fully affected.
Census data identifies a total of 139 PAPs who are wage earners
and likely to lose existing employment opportunities because of
project related impacts. Nearly 56 percent of the wage earner
PAPs report of earning less than Rs.10,000 per month. Only about
6 per cent of the PAPs (in wage earner category) have monthly
income above Rs.15,000.
194
Social Mitigation Measures
195
Measures to address gender issues
196
Provision for mobility of disabled people
197
for internal monitoring whereas mid and end term evaluation will
be conducted by independent evaluation consultant. The SMU of
MEGA is responsible for supervision and implementation of the
RAP and will prepare monthly progress reports on resettlement
activities. Independent Evaluation Agency/Consultant will
submit mid and end term evaluation report to MEGA and JICA
and determine whether resettlement goals have been achieved,
more importantly whether livelihoods and living standards have
been restored/ enhanced and suggest suitable recommendations
for improvement.
ResettlementAction Plan
198
influenced the final outcome of the process. The study concludes
that application of SIA is essentially needed for achieving success
in project management.
Conclusion
199
Management Unit, Ahmedabad Muncipal Corporation, NGO,
Independent Evaluation Agency, Implementation Support
Consultant, Grievance Redress Committee in different
levels),(iv) applying both international and national regulations
on compensation and resettlement of development projects.
Acknowledgement
References:
200
GoI(Government of India).2013. Press Note on Poverty
Estimates 2011-12 New Delhi: Planning Commission.
GoI(Government of India). 2013. The Right to Fair
Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition,
Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act 2013 New Delhi: Ministry of
Rural Development.
GoI(Government of India). 2014. The Right to Fair
Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition,
Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Social Impact Assessment and
Consent) Rules 2014 New Delhi: Ministry of Rural Development.
Jacob,S.(1998). World Bank Experience with Social Assessment:
Practice at a Turning Point. Paper presented at the April meeting
of the InternationalAssociation for Impact Assessment (IAIA).
Jacquet, J.B. (2014). A History of Social Impact Assessment.
Department of Sociology and Rural Studies, South Dakota State
University. http:// headwaterseconomics.org/.../Energy_
Monitoring_GarfieldCounty.pdf (accessed 18 September 2015).
Kaul, Inge.(1999). Introduction: Steps towards social progress in
the new millennium, International Social Sciences Journal
(Policy option for Social Development), L1(4):425-36.
Metro link Express for Gandhinagar and Ahmadabad (MEGA)
Company Ltd.2014. Social Impact Assessment for Ahmadabad
Metro Rail Project (Phase-1), Ahmadabad.
Mathur, H.M.(2016).' Assessing the Social Impact of
Development Projects: Experience in India and other Asian
Countries. Cham, Heidelberg, New York, Dordrecht, and
London: Springer.
Pradhan, S.(2014).Development Projects and Displacement of
Tribals', in Paul N.(Ed),Development, Displacement and
Marginalization, VSS Publication.
Pradhan,S.(2018).Gender Issues in Project Design :A case of
Metro Rail in India. Journal of Resources, Energy and
Development, 15(1&2):13-23.
Samanta,D. & Shireesh. (2015). Social Impact Assessment of
201
Projects involving Land acquisition in India: Implications of
RFCTLARR Act, 2013. Journal of Management & Public Policy,
7(1):27-35.
202
Land Acquisition: The Lessons from Singur
Sandip Mitra63
Abstract
Introduction:
203
The need to device an optimal compensation policy and address
the property rights related questions have been spelt out by the
Economists and the policy makers throughout the world. Several
Research papers (Theoretical and Empirical) have been
developed in the field. One may refer to Besley (1995), Ghatak,
Mookherjee (2014), Eswaran(1985) to understand the complexity
involved in the process of land acquisition and offering
compensations.
In the Singur study two opposing views have been dealt with. The
first view has been that the government had paid less
compensation than expected and the same generated discontent in
the area. The opposite view had been that the refusal to accept
compensations by some landowners and the uprisings in the local
community were politically motivated rather than justified by
adverse economic impact or under-compensation. A large scale
sample survey on households of the affected areas under the
Singur block were conducted.
Our main findings have been that most of the land was acquired
from marginal landowners and from those engaged in cultivation
on the acquired plots. While this was true on average, a significant
fraction of landowners were under-compensated owing to
misclassification of their plots in the official land records. Owners
with under-compensated types of plot were significantly more
204
likely to reject the compensation offer. Those whose livelihoods
were more tied up with cultivation and those with possible
speculative motives (absentee landlords or those who purchased
the plots rather than inheriting them) were more inclined to reject.
(Acquisition of land resulted in 40% lower income growth for
owners and half that for tenants.
205
in the six villages of Singur, where land had been acquired, and
included both types of households whose lands were and were not
acquired. Similar surveys were conducted in six neighbouring
villages not subject to any land acquisition for comparison
purposes. In addition tenant households and those whose primary
occupation is agricultural and non- agricultural work were also
included in the sample to understand the effect of the acquisition
on these groups. Impact of acquisition was estimated comparing
changes between 2005 (prior to the 2006 acquisition) and 2010
(after the departure of Tata Motors) in the relevant outcome
variables between affected and unaffected households within the
same village, and across affected and neighbouring unaffected
villages.
Table 1 provides aggregate statistics from the listing data for the
six affected villages. There were 5,056 households residing in
these villages. Over 90% of these households were either landless
or marginal landowners. One in three households were directly
affected in the sense that agricultural land they owned was
acquired (with the corresponding proportion of affected
households for all types of land acquired was 46%).
206
Panel B examines whether the acquisition affected poor or
wealthy landowners, with wealth measured by 2005
landholdings. 69% of affected owners owned less than an acre of
land (the mean landholding) in 2005. Nearly 40% owned less than
half an acre; within this group 62% of land owned was acquired.
The proportions were somewhat higher for households unwilling
to accept compensation. The majority of those affected were
marginal landowners. Within this group more than half the lands
owned were subject to acquisition.
207
Government's Stated Compensation Policy: Under the
provisions of the 1894 Land Acquisition Bill, compensations are
to be based on the market value of land at the time of acquisition.
The West Bengal Government's Order No 1705-LA-3M-07/06
dated 6 June 2006 gives “guidelines to be followed in the matter of
assessment of market value of land”. Paragraph 3 of this order
prescribes standard average prices of land classified according to
(1) whether land is irrigated or not; (2) whether it is single cropped
or double/triple cropped agricultural land; (3) whether it is
homestead land or fallow land or whether there are water bodies,
etc; (4) proximity to state/national highways or other strategic
locations. Using these principles the government approved a set of
market-based rates for different categories of land. These are
provided in Table 3. The two kinds of agricultural land are called
sali and sona, respectively. Sali denotes singlecropped low land
that does not receive assured irrigation from state canals. Sona is
multi-cropped land on a higher level receiving assured irrigation.
There are further gradations within sali and sona plots with regard
to elevation. These defi nitions of the type of land are not
watertight, in more senses than one. Sona plots tend only on
average to be more irrigated and multicropped than sali plots. The
type of plot can be changed over time with suitable investments in
water access and multi-cropping arrangements. The land records
describe whether any given plot is sali or sona, presumably based
on an inspection carried out by land assessors. The land records
could be out of date, as land that was previously sali may have
been converted to sona as a result of investments made by the
owner, after the last inspection. The owner is supposed to apply for
a redesignation of the plot from sali to sona in such cases. In
practice, this is often not done owing to the time and cost
associated with any such redesignation. In any case, the
government order stated rates payable on compensation of sali
and sona lands at different rates, with sona lands to be paid a
considerable premium. The order did not describe how these rates
were decided. The government order also mentioned a number of
possible modifi cations to these rates: (1) compensation for the
value of structures built on the land; (2) solatium of 30% on and
over the basic market value of the land and value of things
208
attached to land; (3) value of trees according to age and kind of
trees on the property; (4) damages for the standing crop at the time
the land was acquired; and (5) additional compensation at the rate
of 12 % pa for the period from the date of notifi cation till the
award was declared. These components were to be paid over and
above the land value. A subsequent governor's Order No 1703-
LA-3M-07/06 detailed procedures to be followed by those who
have ownership rights for the land acquired and fi le a claim for
compensation. It asked claimants to make claims about the market
value of their land, incorporating details such as distance,
irrigation, the solatium of 30% (plus interest at 12% pa for delayed
award payments), and allowed scope for bargaining across the
table. Hence, the government order allowed scope for variations
in the actual compensations based on claims made by affected
owners. But all such modifi cations would have served, if at all, to
raise actual compensations offered. An examination of the
detailed plot-wise records of the special land acquisition offi ce in
Hooghly district reveals that the majority of sali and sona plots
were paid as per the stated rates in Table 3. Approximately, one
quarter of all plots were not assessed a positive land value, so these
owners were offered zero compensation. However, handwritten
corrections were later inserted for some of these, perhaps as a
result of appeals made by the concerned owners. On the three
quarter of the plots that were assessed at a positive value, land rate
was paid at declared rate for sali. Solatiums were offered for the
vast majority of these at the stated 30% rate.
209
inflation in real estate values. Going by past transactions may then
understate the true market price at the time of acquisition.
210
Rs 7.8 lakh per acre. This suggests that sona land was
overcompensated, while sali was slightly under-compensated
relative to market values.
211
some past point of time, following inspection by land assessors. In
the meantime, farmers may have upgraded their lands from sali to
sona, but may not have succeeded in getting this change to be
noted in the official land records.
212
unaffected owner cultivators whose crop incomes grew by 18%.
Regression analysis conforms that acquisition of half an owner's
land was associated with a 40% lower rate of growth of crop
income. Affected tenants experienced 4.8% growth in crop
incomes, in contrast to unaffected tenants whose incomes grew by
20%. The effect on incomes of tenants was therefore
approximately half that for owner cultivators, implying that the
25% compensation rate for tenants resulted in under-
compensation. It was found that agricultural workers (i e, those
previously hired to work on plots that were acquired) experienced
a 22% decline in employment earnings, compared with a 14%
decline for unaffected agricultural workers. Non-agricultural
workers, on the other hand, experienced a growth of employment
earnings by over 30%, Hence, the acquisition had dramatically
different consequences for agricultural and non-agricultural
workers, a natural consequence of the shift away from agricultural
to non-agricultural employment as a result of construction related
to the Tata factory. Table 1 earlier showed that affected agricultural
workers constituted a large fraction of the population in the six
villages concerned, and were the single largest affected group.
Unlike owners and tenants, there was no compensation available
for those who lost employment.
213
compensation as an analogous measure of a wealth shock (market
value of land minus compensation offered): the only signifi cant
impact of this wealth shock was on acquisition of consumer
durables, the value of which decreased by 25% more following Rs
1 lakh under-compensation.
214
were non-negligible in size, compared to the average in Singur.
Most of the land was acquired from marginal landowners, and
from those engaged in cultivation on the acquired plots. For most
affected owners, more than half the land they owned in 2005 was
acquired. (b) Did the government offer compensations at the
market value of the lands acquired? While this was true on
average, a significant fraction of landowners were under-
compensated owing to mis-classifi cation of their plots as sali
rather than sona in the official land records, besides inability of the
latter to incorporate other sources of plot heterogeneity. (c) What
explains decisions of owners to accept the offered
compensations? Owners with under-compensated types of plot
were significantly more likely to reject the compensation offer.
Those whose livelihoods were more tied up with cultivation and
those with possible speculative motives (absentee landlords or
those who purchased the plots rather than inheriting them) were
more inclined to reject. (d) What was the impact of the acquisition
on incomes and assets of those affected? Acquisition of land
resulted in 40% lower income growth for owners and half that for
tenants. Consumer durables grew more slowly for
undercompensated affected owners, compared to others in the
same village. Agricultural workers that were directly affected
experienced significant reductions in employment earnings
compared with unaffected agricultural workers, who in turn,
experienced smaller earnings growth compared with non-
agricultural workers. Hence, land acquisition in Singur imposed
significant economic hardships on a large fraction of affected
owners, tenants and workers. A large fraction of owners were
undercompensated relative to market values. Tenants were
undercompensated and agricultural workers were not
compensated at all. While it is difficult for us to say how much
local reactions were politically motivated, these economic
hardships provide a plausible explanation for some of the
observed refusals and protests.
215
than is permitted by official land records. Getting the soil grade
right will reduce the incidence of under-compensation, chances of
rejection and subsequent protest significantly. Displaced tenants
and workers who constitute the poorer sections of these rural
communities also need to be compensated in some way to avoid
undesirable adverse impacts on their livelihoods, as well as to
minimise any political fallout. Another difficult issue concerns
the principle of basing compensations on market values. Many
owners value their land more than their market values on account
of other attributes of land, such as financial security,
complementarity with farming skills, locational factors, or
considerations of identity or social prestige. That is why long-
standing owners have not exercised the option to sell their land at
market prices. To ensure that such owners are adequately
compensated would require raising compensations above market
values. What makes this difficult to achieve in practice is that
valuations of land have an inherently subjective nature varying
from owner to owner. These problems could motivate the use of
more reliable means of assessing values imputed by their owners
such as auctions, as argued by Ghatak and Ghosh (2011).
References:
216
FAO (2009): “Land Grab or Development Opportunity?
Agricultural Investment and International Land Deals in Africa”,
FAO-IED-IFAD Report.
Maitreesh Ghatak, Sandip Mitra, Dilip Mookherjee, Anusha Nath
“Land Acquisition and Compensation What Really Happened in
Singur?”, May 25, 2013 vol xlviii no 21 EPW Economic &
Political Weekly32
Ghatak, Maitreesh and Parikshit Ghosh (2011): “The Land
Acquisition Bill: A Critique and a Proposal”, Economic &
Political Weekly, 8 October, Vol XLVI, No 41.
Ghatak, Maitreesh and Dilip Mookherjee (2012): “Land
Acquisition for Industrialisation and Compensation of Displaced
Farmers” forthcoming, Journal of Development Economics.
Ghosh, Buddhadeb (2012): “What Made the 'Unwilling Farmers'
Unwilling? A Note on Singur”, Economic & Political Weekly, 11
August, XLVII (32), 13-16
217
Updating of Land Records for Land Acquisition
Purposes in Bihar
64
Dr. C. Ashokvardhan, IAS (Retd.)
218
preliminary notification, without the prior permission of the
District Collector.
Village
Thana
219
Anchal
Area under acquisition
220
Nature and Class of Land
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award by the Collector, the aforesaid 6 – Member Committee shall
hold spot verification/ measurement of the land under acquisition.
Village-wise and plot-wise class of land will be determined and
kept on record. The Committee, in discretion, will determine land
classification against potential of the land under acquisition
keeping I view the value of neighbouring plots enhanced due to
some project coming up on the same. Thereafter, the market value
of the land will be determined by the aforesaid Committee and the
same will be recorded.
Provided that, if trees or any other structure are situated on the said
land, the District Collector shall, getting them evaluated by
District Forest Officer and Executive Engineer, Building
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Construction Department respectively, make payment of the
evaluated amount.
4 The departments of the government and the public sector
undertakings, companies may take land on perpetual lease by
adopting a transparent procedure, in view of the above facts.
5 There will be the following transparent procedure for taking
land on permanent lease by concerned departments/
government companies/ undertakings:
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(f) If structures or trees are situated on the land, their
valuation shall also be made in accordance with
paragraph-3 by the District Collector.
(g) Thereafter disposal of the lease and payment of the value
of the land will be made by the department.
(h) The government department/ government companies/
undertakings may delegate the powers to execute land
lease to their subordinate officers.
The general form of perpetual lease for raiyati land was circulated
vide Department of Revenue and Land Reforms, Government of
Bihar Letter No. 154 dated 22.01.2016.
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Summing Up
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land classification in a mechanical manner have to give way to a
re-classification, or else, there might be stiff resistance to land
acquisition. Apart from expediency, humane approach to land
acquisition will come about if land-losers get their dues at par with
current classification/ value of land.
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It is gratifying to note that Rule 23 (4) under chapter V of the Bihar
Land Acquisition Rules, 2014 provides for making necessary
entries regarding share-croppers subsisting on the lands under
acquisition.
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