Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011

Puskar Pande | September 1, 2013 | News, Policies & Legislations | 1 Comment

The Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011 has now been passed by the Lok Sabha.

The aim of the bill is to provide fair compensation to people and to bring in more transparency to the process of land acquisition.

Primary Features of the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011-

Replaces the century-old India’s Land Acquisition Act of 1894.

New rules and regulations for compensation of the land acquired for industry as well as infrastructure projects.

Compensation of around 4 times the market value of the land in rural areas as well as two times the value in the urban areas.

Mandatory consent of minimum 70 percent for acquisition of land for the Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects, as well as 80 percent for acquisition of land for the private companies.

The Bill will apply when Government will acquire the land for its own control, hold or use; or when the Government will acquire the land for transferring it to use of private companies for stated public purpose.	Will also apply in case the Government acquires the land for the purpose of immediate and declared use by private companies for public purpose.	Bill also directs all the states for imposing the limits on those areas which are under the agricultural cultivation and can still be acquired.	In case where the land is not utilised even after acquisition, the Bill empowers all the states to return such a land either to the State Land Bank or to the owner.
No land can be acquired in the Scheduled Areas without Gram Sabhas consent.	No person shall be dispossessed unless all the payments have been made as well as alternative sites for purpose of rehabilitation and resettlement have been prepared.	The Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011 proposed several benefits such as land for employment, land, housing as well as annuities, which will accrue apart from one-time cash payments to people whose land has been acquired.	Exempts the land acquisition for the linear projects like ports, railways, irrigation canals as well as highways.