Land to be returned if project does not take off for 5 years

years since the acquisition. This provision is going to be part of the amendments to the Land Acquisition Act,which the government has promised to introduce in the monsoon session of Parliament.

The land acquired by the government under public purpose clause may be returned to the original owners in case the project for which it was acquired does not take off in five years since the acquisition.

This provision is going to be part of the amendments to the Land Acquisition Act,which the government has promised to introduce in the monsoon session of Parliament. If the (public purpose) project is cancelled or does not take off within five years after the land acquisition,the land will revert to the original owners, Rural Development Minister Vilas Rao Deshmukh told The Indian Express on Thursday. He added that his ministry had sent the proposed amendments to the Law Ministry,and hoped to take them to the Cabinet thereafter.

Deshmukh,however,said the original owners would have to return the compensation and the exact procedure to return the land would be framed by the respective state governments. The land will revert to the original owners or their heirs,provided they return the compensation for land acquisition to the government. As for the situations where only few land owners want to reclaim their land,state governments will have to frame rules as how to distribute the land back, he added.

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This major change being proposed in the amendments to the Land Acquisition Act was not part of the original amendments approved by the last Lok Sabha in 2009,and appears to be an attempt by the government to get the Trinamool Congress,a UPA ally,on board. Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee had resisted introduction of the 2009 amendments during the UPA-II.

As West Bengal Chief Minister,Banerjee,on her part,got a legislation enacted in the Assembly recently to return the Singur land acquired for Tatas Nano car project to the farmers.

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Land Acquisition Act

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