Land Bill deferred as ministers? views differ

An empowered group of ministers (EGoM) on Thursday deferred a decision on the land acquisition Bill, confirming sharp divisions within the government over some of its key provisions.

Sources said the EGoM meeting remained inconclusive as several ministers failed to give their opinion on the Bill and wanted to register their concerns before it got the final nod. The next meeting is scheduled for October 3.

The panel could not decide on rural development minister Jairam Ramesh?s proposal to allow acquisition of land by the government for projects involving private money in cases where public interest is involved. There were also differences over how to fix the compensation for the families that the acquisition would displace.

It is understood that during the meeting, not all ministers could speak. While urban development minister Kamal Nath, finance minister P Chidambaran and commerce minister Anand Sharma could give their views on the Bill, others like Kumari Selja and Jaipal Reddy could not get their turn.

Nath told reporters after the meeting that differences remained within the panel over the valuation of land. He said that determining compensation for affected families on the basis of circle rates (which is usually lower than market rates) is not the right method and instead, panchayats should be given the right to determine the amount on the basis of the need for agricultural land. Sharma is learnt to have favoured circle rates.

He also said the procedure for land acquisition should not delay the process and should be done in a time-bound manner.

The meeting, however, unanimously adopted that any land acquisition proposal should get the consent of only two-third of land owners and affected families. The Bill in its original form had proposed that land acquisition could proceed only if 80% of the affected parties agreed to it.

The Bill, now called The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill 2011, was referred to EGoM last month. 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.

The Bill in its current form tries to strike a compromise between the interests of the industry and the civil society.