With the Government aiming to table the new revised land Acquisition Bill in the coming Winter Session of Parliament, Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari plans to meet State officials in the coming week to discuss changes in the current Act.
Gadkari aims to bringing about a consensus of States in the suggested changes to The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill which was enacted last year by the Congress-led UPA Government. He wants the new Bill to increase compensation component for farmers after acquiring land so as to protect their interest besides doing away with the consent clause.
Soon after the new Government took charge this year, Gadkari who also holds the additional portfolio for Rural Development Minister sent in proposal in mid-July to the PMO suggesting sweeping changes to the Act calling it in the present form “complicated, impractical and time consuming.”
“The changes suggested to the PMO primarily included doing away with the consent clause for Public Private Partnership projects as a lot of projects particularly roads and rail were getting delayed, removing the requirement for mandatory Social Impact Assessment study for all acquisitions and relaxing and tweaking the retrospective clause,” said the official.
“The Minister (Gadkari) wants to bring about a consensus among State heads on the removal of the consent clause as it is impractical and time taking. He was wants an agreement on doing away with the mandatory social impact study,” he said.
Currently, prior consent is required from 70 per cent of the affected families if land is being acquired for Public Private Partnership projects and from 80 per cent in case of private companies.
The Ministry has also suggested doing away with the mandatory Social Impact Assessment study, confining it to big projects or PPP projects, as the Government fears that it may delay the acquisition process. As it is, about 80 per cent of all stuck projects are because of land acquisition issues, mainly in road and highway construction. The UPA Act made the Social Impact Study absolutely mandatory for all project within a time frame of six months.
Modification has also been suggested to the controversial Retrospective Clause, as the government feels that it will leads to added burden on state treasury, and also increase litigations and complications. The report also suggests narrowing the scope of people eligible to receive the Rehabilitation and Resettlement benefits under the Act.
According to officials, some of the Congress-ruled States have favoured need for bringing about changes in the provisions in the existing Act as they blame the current Act for delays in infrastructure projects.
Removal of consent clause from PPP projects or alternatively, bringing it down 50 per cent, was pushed by both Haryana (Congress ruled) and Kerala (ruled by Congress-led UDF), besides some other States.