Land acquisition bill: be careful what you wish for; Stantard Chartered Bank

Abstract

Land has always been the central point of focus when it comes to the struggle among interest groups – the interests of the farmers, landless, tribals, pastoralists and industrialists. Since land is an essential input for majority of economic activities, it scarce nature intensifies the claims between different interest groups. Land acquisition, even today in India, continues to remain an issue of high interest given the trade-off between agriculture versus industrialization. Formany years, contentious issues like inadequate compensation andrehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) of the oustees have dominated thediscourse on the subject. The purpose of acquiring land has never been asseriously debated in the Indian context as it should have been. Things havechanged in the recent years with the need for land acquisition havingincreased, particularly after the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) andmining and large development projects started coming up in a big way. Inrecent times, a number of land acquisition attempts have led to protests bythose affected. Very often these protests have turned violent. The Land Acquisition Act of 1894 has become outdated in many a sense. Stated to be colonial, it is often considered to be harsh and barbaric on the landowners, who were not only devoid of their “livelihood” but also compensated poorly for in return. The new land acquisition bill – that is – “The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2013”, has in many a way tried to cover up for the flaws present in the old act. With the inclusion of “Rehabilitation and Resettlement” clause, it has combined two different bills to address the growing concerns of the land losers. But has it really stroked a balance between the interests of the landowners and the industry or it is just another futile take on the issue? Through this study, I have aimed to analyze the new land acquisition bill from the perspective of the industry. The key finding of the study indicates that industry as a whole will not benefit from this bill. Passing a bill of this nature would not only impact the investment climate in our country by adding to the costs and time of the industrialists, but will also prohibit growth of our country. Therefore we see a need for a law on land acquisition, which encompasses the concerns and needs of different stakeholders.Passing a bill, which is just an arrow thrown in the dark, will only add to the woes of the industrial sector, which is plagued with projects stalled for years due to issues in land acquisition.