Spooked by violence, government to bring
A please-all rehab package

The government is ready with sops to put a lid on the controversy raging across the country over acquisition of land for setting up infrastructure projects and
industrial hubs, including Special Economic Zones.

By Shahid Faridi

The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government has put together a new Bill, called the Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2007 which, if approved by Parliament, would be the most attractive piece of legislation for those affected by involuntary displacement resulting in loss of their land, livelihood and shelter, restricting their access to traditional resource base, and uprooting them from their socio-cultural environment.

The new National Rehabilitation and Resettlement Policy (NRRP-2007), which will be given a statutory basis by making it into an Act of Parliament, will replace the NRRP-2003.
Underlining the need for the NRRP-2007, the ministry of rural development, in a note prepared for the Union Cabinet, says that while the NRRP-2003 and the rehabilitation and resettlement policies of the state governments and public sector undertakings have successfully tackled many of the problems plaguing the displacement process, several issues are still perceived to be inadequately addressed.

These relate mainly to holistic appraisal of the desirability and justifiability of projects; exploring non-displacing or least-displacing alternatives so as to minimise displacement; assessment of social, economic, cultural and demographic impacts of projects; effective system of rehabilitation and resettlement for ensuring a better standard of living for the affected population; sensitivity to the concern of the vulnerable sections such as the SCs, STs, women, destitute, etc.; and the need for a more participatory and transparent process.

Also, the constitutional safeguards provided in the fifth schedule regarding transfer of land, provisions for consultations with Tribal Advisory Councils, and provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 for consultations with the gram sabhas in such matters do not figure in the NRRP-2003.

The NRRP-2003 also does not prescribe a timeframe for rehabilitation and resettlement, nor does it lay down a timeframe for utilising acquired land and disposal of excess land acquired. The NRRP-2003 doesn't provide for an external oversight mechanism for independent monitoring, nor does it have any enabling provision for setting up of mechanisms for speedy redress of grievances and disputes.

Moreover, the NRRP-2003 is not supported by a statutory basis to ensure effective implementation. As a result, in many recent instances of land acquisition for various projects, there have been protests, opposition and widespread debate on the manner in which decisions have been taken for acquiring land for public purpose and rehabilitating affected persons.

The violence in Nandigram and Singur in West Bengal and demonstrations in Haryana over land acquisition are cases in point. The new policy, therefore, has a brand new chapter on 'social impact assessment'. Social impact assessment is proposed for projects involving physical displacement of 400 or more families en masse in plain areas, or 200 or more families en masse in tribal hilly areas, Desert Development Programme Blocks or areas mentioned in Schedule V or Schedule VI to the Constitution. The social impact assessment is required to be carried out simultaneously with the environmental impact assessment where required. Public hearing in the affected area has been mandatory, and the report of this hearing is required to be examined by experts, including social science and rehabilitation experts. The social impact assessment clearance from the designated governmental authorities and following the conditions of the clearance by all concerned has been mandatory.

The vulnerable sections of the affected population such as disabled, orphans, unmarried girls, abandoned women, widows, destitute, and persons above 50 years of age, who are not provided or cannot immediately be provided with alternative livelihood and are not otherwise covered as part of a family have been offered life-time monthly pension.

Special provisions have been made for persons belonging to the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes. Special provisions for STs include a tribal development plan for projects displacing 200 or more families, restoration of rights in alienated lands, consultation with tribal development councils, and mandatory consultation with
the gram sabhas in Schedule V areas in all land acquisition cases. Also, it is proposed that one-third of the compensation amount for land for the tribal affected families will be paid at the outset as first instalment.
Though some of the provisions relating to STs in the proposed new policy were also part of the NRRP-2003, special provisions for the SCs are new features of the 2007 policy. These include preference of allotment of land-for-land (after STs), fishing rights and continuation of the reservation benefits at resettlement sites.

The new policy has laid more emphasis on people's participation at all stages of rehabilitation and resettlement process. Extensive public participation is proposed right from mandatory public hearings at the social impact assessment stage to wide publicity for the survey results and rehabilitation and resettlement plan, consultation with gram sabhas and public hearings on draft rehabilitation and resettlement plan in urban and rural areas not having gram sabhas, representation of the affected persons, including women, SCs, STs, NGOs, panchayats, MPs, MLAs etc on the rehabilitation and resettlement committees, and access for all to the grievance redressal mechanism.
Another new feature in the NRRP-2007 is the proposal to ensure at least one job for each affected family, subject to availability of vacancies and suitability of the affected persons for the employment; preference to groups and cooperatives of affected persons in outsourced contracts and other economic opportunities; and preference to willing landless labourers and unemployed affected persons while engaging labour in the project during the construction phase.

Provisions have also been made to ensure that the compensation is awarded taking into account the market value of the property being acquired. The government proposes to make the award of compensation time-bound. The compensation awards are proposed to be declared well in time, and full payment of compensation and adequate resettlement are proposed to be done in advance of displacement. For the details of the rehabilitation and resettlement benefits to the affected families see the box at the bottom half of these pages.

For effective implementation of the NRRP-2007, the Union government also plans to amend the Land Acquisition Act, 1894. Among the main amendments are:

a) To bring enabling provisions for making the rehabilitation and resettlement policy mandatory for all cases of land acquisition;
b) to provide that land compulsorily acquired for a public purpose cannot be transferred to any other purpose except for another public purpose, and with prior approval of the appropriate government;
c) to provide that if a piece of land acquired for a public purpose or part thereof, remains unutilized for that purpose for a period of five years from the date of taking over possession by the requiring body, the same shall revert to the possession and ownership of the appropriate government;
d) to provide that whenever land is acquired for a public purpose and is transferred to a "person" (which includes a body corporate or a company) for a consideration, eighty per cent (80%) of any net unearned income so accruing to the transferor shall be shared amongst the persons from whom the lands were acquired (or their legal heirs), in proportion to the value at
which the lands were acquired, and that the fund may be kept in a separate account which shall be administered as per prescribed procedure;
e) to provide that the rate of compensation for the land acquired shall not be less than the floor price per unit area fixed by the state government for that location or the average of the higher prices paid in 50% of land sale cases in the vicinity for similar type of land during the last three years, whichever is higher;
f) to provide that where market value of land being acquired is not available or ascertainable, the rate of compensation shall not be less than the floor price per unit area fixed or to be fixed by the state government for the concerned land or that location;
g) to provide that the intended land use category (for example, from agricultural to non-agricultural) of the land being acquired, shall be ascertained in advance of the acquisition, and the compensation amount shall be determined as per the intended category of use of the land;
h) to provide that a fast-track exercise for updating of land records shall be undertaken concurrently with the land acquisition proceedings and ahead of the finalization of the compensation award;
i) to define the timeframe for the various steps in the acquisition, process, so as to make the entire exercise time-bound;
j) to provide that the compensation award for the land being-acquired shall be declared well in time and full payment of compensation shall be made before displacement of the persons concerned;
k) to enhance the "solatium" amount from 30% of the value of land to 60% (and 75% for acquisition in cases of urgency);
l) to include the persons having tenancy rights under the relevant state laws in the definition of the "person interested" (but leaving to the states the apportionment of
the compensation amount between the land-owner and the tenants, as the land laws vary from State to State); and
m) to allow the option that up to 20% of the compensation amount due could be given in the form of shares or debentures, if the requiring body is a company authorised to issue shares
and debentures; with prior
approval of the appropriate Government, and the proportion could be raised up to 50% of the compensation amount..