Lakshmi Narasimhan C.R. lives in Nanganallur. His father’s property is one of the several properties earmarked for acquisition for the Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) expansion.
Many land-owners who were offered a “paltry sum” as compensation for the city’s developmental projects are fighting legal battles in the city’s courts and hope that the new law will give them “fair” compensation.
In fact, the law is one year old. The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act of 2013, came into force on January 1, 2014. But the rules are yet to be in place.
The case of P. Vijayakumar, a farmer of Kannankottai village, about 50 km north of Chennai, is also similar to that of Mr. Narasimhan. His five acres are part of about 600 acres to be acquired for the proposed Thervoy Kandigai-Kannankottai reservoir project. The land acquisition process in both the cases is under litigation.
The Nanganallur resident and the Kannankottai farmer are among several hundreds of people who are anxiously waiting for the notification of rules so that he will be paid a fair compensation.
Until the rules are in place, the process of land acquisition will not be complete even if it may have been initiated under the now-defunct Land Acquisition Act of 1894, according to affected persons.
“Land-owners or legal heirs of the owners like me have been offered a paltry sum under the old law, which many of us do not accept,” says Mr. Narasimhan, who is also the secretary of the Thillai Ganga Nagar and Jeevan Nagar Residents Welfare Association. The residents may not mind parting with their properties if they are provided “proper and fair” compensation, which should be as per the new law, he emphasises.
Jayaram Venkatesan, State committee member of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which staged a protest about 10 days ago against the Central government’s move to promulgate ordinance to amend the new law, says his party is for the early notification of the rules.
Pointing out that the authorities passed an award for “interim compensation” last September for the Thillai Ganga Nagar and Jeeven Nagar residents, a revenue official concerned says that a clarification has been sought from the State government so that claims of the land-owners can be settled comprehensively.
The Lok Sabha elections and uncertainty over the law in the wake of regime change at the Centre were initially cited for the delay in the finalisation of the rules. Consultations with various departments have been held and the matter is pending with the government, says another official.
Asked when the rules would be published, Revenue Minister R.B. Udhaya Kumar’s merely said: “Steps are on.”
Meanwhile, the Presidential assent has been obtained for the State’s amendment to the 2013 law, by which exemption from the provisions of the 2013 Act was sought for land acquisition under three State laws – Acquisition of Land for Harijan Welfare Schemes Act, Acquisition of Land for Industrial Purposes Act and Highways Act.
However, compensation and rehabilitation and resettlement, as envisaged in the new law, would be provided. This has been done so that infrastructure projects are carried out expeditiously, Mr. Udhaya Kumar says.
