Rehabilitation and Resettlement (R&R) provisions of the 2013 law on land acquisition will not be applicable to affected land owners if private companies, through private negotiations, purchase land, measuring below 1,250 acres in urban areas or 2,500 acres in rural areas.
This is one of the salient features of the rules recently notified by the State government under the law, which is called Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Resettlement and Rehabilitation Act (RFCTLARRA), 2013. This rule of exemption has been extended to transactions of land purchase by private persons too. However, in the event of acquisition by departments or undertakings of the State government, no such exemption has been provided for.
[Under the RFCTLARRA, State governments too can acquire land for private companies for public purpose. In respect of industrial projects, the State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu (SIPCOT) has been acquiring land and in future, R&R provisions will be applicable].
The rule has been framed as State governments are permitted through Section 46 of the Act to prescribe limits for the implementation of R&R schemes.
According to a paper presented by the National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM) in 2016, the limit prescribed by the Andhra Pradesh government is 5,000 acres of dry land or equivalent extent of irrigated dry or wet lands in rural areas. But, the R&R provisions will apply wherever any habitation is part of such land. In the case of Karnataka, the provisions cover transactions involving over 500 acres of dry land and/or 50 acres of irrigated land in rural areas and 100 acres of dry land and 10 acres of irrigated land in urban areas for industrial and infrastructure projects. If the land is meant for housing or education, the minimum extent is 100 acres of dry land in rural or urban areas.
Asked whether the Tamil Nadu government is very liberal in favour of the private companies in view of the prescription of the minimum extent of land for the application of R&R provisions, Mohan Pyare, Additional Chief Secretary and Commissioner for Land Administration, says “it (the stipulation) appears to be reasonable.” He also indicates that urban areas of the State may not have that much land available for purchase through a single transaction.
Explaining why land purchase transactions by the private companies are distinguished from land acquisition by the State, he says that in respect of the latter, there exists a “sense of compulsion” whereas land owners are not bound to share land in the case of purchase through private negotiations.
‘Rules dynamic’
Mr. Pyare, who clarifies that he was not involved in the drafting of the rules, adds that if any exigency arises, changes can be made. “Rules are dynamic,” he adds.
