A series of orders issued by the Telangana government over a period of six months have diluted the spirit of the Land Acquisition Act, 2013, by doing away with the required procedures and rehabilitation and resettlement clauses while procuring land for various projects.
The first order in the series in June 2015 enunciated the ‘Telangana State Policy for Acquisition of Land through Agreement’, formulated by a three-member official committee. It cited Section 108 of the Act, which allowed acquisition through agreement if the compensation was higher than that stipulated by the Act. As per the policy, the land for each project cannot exceed 75 acres in any case.
District-level negotiation committees were to be formed under the chairmanship of the district collector to negotiate for enhanced compensation.
However, another order issued in less than two months mentioned neither the Act nor the first GO nor the negotiation committees, but spoke about the district level land procurement committee in which registrar of the district too was included as a member.
The monetary consideration under the GO included the value of land and property, perceived loss of livelihood, and costs of rehabilitation and resettlement, in return for an affidavit by the land owner that he or she was forgoing rights on the land.
“As per a clause in the affidavit, the land owner cannot even approach the court of law challenging the acquisition,” says S. Jeevan Kumar, Chairperson of the Human Rights Forum.
The subsequent two orders with amendments came in October and November respectively, the first reducing the time frame for claims and objections to seven days from 15, and the latter doing away with payment of the rehabilitation and resettlement costs. Notable fact is that the Act mandates 30 days for objections.
Activists and social groups are accusing the government of sabotaging the provisions of the Act taking advantage of the change of the government at the Centre, and the ordinance passed for amendments to the Act.
Policy Watch Group, which has been closely monitoring the issue, calls the orders “illegal” and accuses the government of sabotaging the Act. It highlights that the government is bypassing all the mandatory procedures of social impact assessment, preliminary notification, rehabilitation and resettlement award and special provisions for SCs and STs. The group also mentions pressure from the ruling party members, and lower price than that stipulated by the Act. Besides, there is no mention of other dependents such as agricultural labourers.
“People are made to believe that it’s the best price, and if they refuse, the money will be deposited in court. They are also being promised jobs, but no such provision is mentioned in the order. The government has already acquired close to 10,000 acres of land through the order. Daily targets of acquisition are being set for officials and public representatives,” says Ch. Ravi Kumar, advocate and member of the group.
