The State Cabinet approved on Wednesday a draft policy on land acquisition and released it for public discussion.
The policy provides for shares to evictees in selected projects, construction of marketing complex for rehabilitation of evicted shopkeepers, and provision of land for rehabilitation. The policy envisages issue of redeemable infrastructure bonds to evictees against the value of land at the choice of the evictees in lieu of compensation.
The basic framework of the policy specifies that the objective of land acquisition should be clearly defined and the area, type of land, and alignment should be approved by a committee headed by the Chief Secretary. The social impact of the project should be studied and the evictees should be convinced of the rationality of the acquisition of land before issuing notification. Emergency clauses should be used only sparingly.
The notification should be issued only after depositing at least 25 per cent of the cost of acquisition in the account of the land acquisition officer. Compensation for buildings should be calculated without taking depreciation into account. Low-income families, if evicted, should be provided with at least three cents of residential property with power and water supply and road connectivity. Employment of at least one member each of the evicted families in the proposed project should be considered.
Evictees who lose their houses should be given rent till they could build alternative accommodation or at least for six months. A one-time compensation should be given to persons who are in possession of land for at least three years (with ‘kudikidappu' rights) including small traders and street vendors.
If the acquired land could not be used in three years for the specified purpose, it should be diverted for other public purposes. However, if acquisition proceedings have lapsed, de nova proceedings should be initiated only if the delay is justifiable.
The policy suggests that up to two per cent of the equity in projects could be set apart for allotment to the evictees. When commercial establishments are evicted, the local self-government institution concerned should build alternative business complex and allot the same to the evictees at half the rent at least for five years. This benefit will not be available to companies, banks, and financial agencies.
If half of the land belonging to a person has been acquired, he would have the option to offer the remaining land also for takeover by the government. Those who lose their land in full could be given compensation. However, a provision could be made for allotment of 25 per cent of the acquired area within the project area. Up to 10 per cent of the acquired land could be set apart for rehabilitation. In case of land acquired for irrigation projects in the command area, up to 50 cents could be given to each of the evictees.
When land is acquired for purposes other than roads, the price of the land would be fixed through negotiations between the evictees and the District Collector concerned. When infrastructure bonds are issued, annual appreciation of the bonds would be ensured. The appreciation of land values in the neighbourhood would reflect on the redemption price of the bonds. The bonds could either be sold in the market or redeemed. Premium would be calculated for agriculture land based on the potential for industrial or real estate development. A special purpose vehicle, Kerala Land Utilisation Bank, would be formed as the legal entity to oversee the issue of bonds. The land in question would be treated as on lease to the bank.
The market value of land for issue of bonds will be determined based on the previous 10 land transactions in the area. Irreversibility premium on bonds for repurchase would be calculated based on the potential loss of capital appreciation against the development under way in the area.
