Highlights LARR Ordinance

Why ordinance needed

·         The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition and Resettlement & Rehabilitation Act, 2013 ( LARR Act)  may have had its heart in the right place, but is in reality too rigorous, making it difficult  for land acquiring bodies, land acquiring authorities, industrialists and farmers.

·         Under Section 105 of the Land Acquisition Act, clarity was needed on what provisions apply to the aforesaid 13 legislations and it had to be done before January 1, 2015.

·         It was necessary to give a message to investors that effort is made  to free up procedural bottlenecks which are almost a hallmark of any infrastructure investment in India.

Removal of consent clause and  Social Impact Assessment

·         The Ordinance seeks to amend Section 10(A) of the Act to expand sectors where assessment and consent will not be required. For five sectors, the consent clause has been removed. So the government or private individuals/companies will no longer need mandatory 80% consent for land acquisition in those five sectors.

·          the mandatory "consent" clause and Social Impact Assessment (SIA) will not be applicable if the land is acquired for national security, defence, rural infrastructure including electrification, industrial corridors and housing for the poor including PPP where ownership of land continues to be vested with the government.

·         Rehabilitation and resettlement packages will be available as per the new Land Acquisition Act.

'Pro-farmer step'

·         The ordinance seeks to  promote farmer’s interest  by including 13 so far excluded Acts under the new Land Acquisition Act. It is hailed as a pro-farmer move as with this decision, rehabilitation, resettlement and compensation provisions will be applicable for the 13 existing central pieces of legislations. Till now land could be acquired under these Acts and there was no uniform central policy of rehabilitation and resettlement. 

·         These Acts include the Coal Bearing Areas Acquisition and Development Act 1957, the National Highways Act 1956, Land Acquisition (Mines) Act 1885,  Atomic Energy Act 1962, the Indian Tramways Act 1886, the Railways Act 1989, the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act 1958, the Petroleum and Minerals Pipelines (Acquisition of Right of User in Land) Act 1962 and the Damodar Valley Corporation Act 1948. The Electricity Act 2003, Requisitioning and Acquisition of Immovable Property Act 1952, the Resettlement of Displaced Persons (Land Acquisition) Act 1948 and the Metro Railways (Construction of Works) Act 1978 are also brought under its purview to provide higher compensation, rehabilitation and resettlement benefits to farmers whose land is being acquired.

 Compensation remains the same

·         The compensation package remains the same i.e. as may be decided by state government not exceeding four times the market price for rural and and two times for urban land. Despite pressure from various groups the package has been kept intact.