To ensure food security in the coming years, a parliamentary panel on Thursday recommended that the government refrain from acquiring agricultural land for industrial purpose. It also said the government should not acquire land for private businesses and stressed on a clearer definition of ?public purpose? in the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill (LARR), 2011.
As reported by FE earlier, the standing committee on rural development in its report also said land acquisition for various purposes including infrastructure projects should be brought under the purview of this legislation, which currently excludes land acquired under 16 Acts listed in the Fourth Schedule from its ambit.
The report said that ?multi-cropped irrigated land to be acquired only as a last resort, food security cannot only be limited to rice and wheat.?
The committee chaired by BJP leader Sumitra Mahajan stated that ?public purpose? in bill should be limited to linear infrastructure and irrigation, including multi-purpose dams and social sector infrastructure such as schools, hospitals and drinking water or sanitation projects constructed at state expense.
?All cases of land acquisition must entail obligations for adequate compensation, rehabilitation and resettlement to all land losers and other affected persons,? the panel said.
After introducing the bill in the parliament in September 2011, rural development minister Jairam Ramesh had said the cost of acquiring land for industrial projects would increase after the implementation of the new law.
?Though the economic cost of land purchase for industrial and infrastructure projects would increase significantly after the new law is implemented, the benefits given to the projects affected people would far outweigh the actual cost of land purchase,? Ramesh had stated.
On the compensation for land acquisition, the parliamentary committee has suggested that the government constitute a multi-member land pricing commission to finalise the cost of acquisition of land. It also recommended that land should be returned after five years from date of possession if it is not used for the purpose for which it was acquired.
The proposed law seeks to replace the 117-year-old Land Acquisition bill of 1894 and for the first time integrates both land acquisition and Resettlement & Rehabilitation package.
Ramesh had stated the proposed piece of legislation would set a benchmark for the state governments to follow as far as land acquisition and rehabilitation goes as the country needs to create close to 10 million jobs annually during the next decade in the non-agricultural sector.