Rs 15 crore short: CAG exposes tribal land compensation gap in Bengal
The CAG has flagged the West Bengal government's "failure" in safeguarding tribals' interests while land was being acquired for mining projects, leading to inadequate compensation payment in five fiscals between 2017-18 and 2021-22 when the Trinamool Congress was in power.
In an audit of land management in tribal areas, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) said that "inaction and non-involvement of district level functionaries" such as revenue officers, district collectors and others led to the rehabilitative shortfall.
The audit covered 66 land acquisition cases between 2017-18 and 2021-22 involving Eastern Coalfields Limited's (ECL's) Salanpur, Sripur, Kunustoria and Parbelia areas and Bharat Coking Coal Limited's (BCCL's) Barakar area.
The CAG report stated that against the assessed market value of Rs 17.79 crore, ECL and BCCL paid only Rs 2.55 crore to tribal people for their land through negotiated purchases, resulting in a short payment of Rs 15.25 crore, or 85.68 per cent of the market value.
Besides, the companies also failed to pay the mandatory 100 per cent solatium prescribed under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, depriving the tribals of another Rs 17.80 crore.
It further observed that the additional compensation at 12 per cent per annum on the market value, mandated under the legislation, was not paid in any of the test-checked cases.
The report also highlighted wide disparities in land prices paid by ECL.
"For an acre of land, tribals were compensated at much lower rates ranging between Rs 2.50 lakh and Rs 12.63 lakh vis-à-vis the compensation allowed to the government ranging between Rs 19.77 lakh and Rs 125 lakh," the CAG said.
According to the auditor, district authorities failed to ensure that tribal landowners received fair market value despite provisions under the Coal India Rehabilitation and Resettlement Policy, 2012.
The state government "failed to protect interests of the tribal people" in land acquisition by ECL and BCCL because of the "inaction and non-involvement of district level functionaries", resulting in deficiencies in compensation and rehabilitation for Scheduled Tribe families, the CAG report said.
According to ECL officials familiar with the land acquisition process, said land for coal mining projects in West Bengal is predominantly acquired through direct purchase by executing registered sale deeds with landowners, including tribals, rather than through compulsory acquisition.
They said purchase of tribal land requires permission under the West Bengal Land Reforms Act, 1955, and the permission of a revenue officer is mandatory to purchase such lands from tribal landowners. The project officer-cum-district welfare officer determines the land transfer value based on the market value assessed by the Directorate of Registration and Stamp Revenue of the state government, they said.
Such permissions are time-bound, and ECL is required to submit proof of the registered transaction to the district authorities, the officials said.
Besides paying the approved land transfer value, the company also provides employment against every two acres of land purchased to compensate affected landowners for the loss of livelihood, they added.
The CAG also found serious shortcomings in rehabilitation measures.
It said no socio-economic or social impact assessment surveys were conducted before acquisition in ECL's Kunustoria and Parbelia areas, although these were mandatory for identifying project-affected persons and preparing Rehabilitation Action Plans (RAPs).
The report said RAPs were either not prepared or district authorities were not involved, contrary to Coal India's rehabilitation and resettlement policy.
While ECL-Kunustoria maintained that involvement of the district collector was not applicable as land had been acquired through direct purchase, BCCL-Barakar said compensation was decided through negotiations with landowners.
The CAG rejected both explanations as being inconsistent with Coal India's rehabilitation and resettlement Policy and the 2013 land acquisition law.
No replies were received from ECL's Salanpur, Sripur and Parbelia areas.
The CAG recommended the state government ensure proactive involvement of district collectors in land acquisitions by ECL and BCCL and that Coal India constitute project groups to oversee rehabilitation and resettlement of tribals affected by mining projects.
