Govt mulls least intervention in land acquisition

“The government wants less intervention of authorities in land acquisition negotiations and more powers and flexibility to relief and rehabilitation officials”, Principal Secretary

(Revenue) Balwinder Kumar said. The new rules will be finalised for Cabinet approval within a month.

The government is, meanwhile, studying the land acquisition and R&R policies of other states like Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab. UP Chief Secretary AK Gupta has held three meetings with senior officials of revenue, industry, irrigation and agriculture departments.

At present, the government applies the ‘Karar Niymavali’ to acquire land from farmers. Under the rules, investors and farmers should reach a consensus on land rates. But in actual practice, the rates are finalised either by district magistrates or by commissioners on the basis of circle area rates. Quite often, the farmers complain that the rates are not fair.

As for the R&R policy, the government feels that its existing rules are inadequate.

“By acquiring land, we take away farmers’ earnings. Therefore, the focus is to ensure a regular annual income to farmers whose lands are acquired,” the principal secretary said.

He added that if a developer buys land for residential purpose then farmers should be given residential plots. “In industrial area development projects, farmers should get industrial plots and in other sectors, the company’s shares can be given to them,” he said.

The need for these changes was felt after recent violence in Greater Noida in which five people were killed and several others were injured. Besides, the Singur fiasco in West Bengal has also served as an eye-opener for other states in land acquisition matters.

In UP, the fate of several projects is hanging in balance due to hurdles in land acquisition.

“The Central government has drafted a Bill for rehabilitation and resettlement of farmers, which is pending with a parliamentary standing committee headed by Kalyan Singh. Until it becomes law, the state government wants to have its own comprehensive policy,” a senior official said.