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| Extension of New Land Acquisition Act to JK | | Will NC hamper it like RTI ACT, 73rd amendment? | | Early Times Report
Srinagar, Sept 15: The Land Acquisition Act has created ripples among the various political parties across India as UPA II is all set to get a definite political mileage out of it. With the passage of this historic law the Congress is all set to woo the farmers and rural voters across the country. Will the Jammu & Kashmir Government lead by Omar Abdullah allow extension of this new into J&K state is a matter of great importance.
As the National Conference has hampered implementation of the 73rdamendment of the Panchayati Raj Act or even extension of central RTI Act 2005 into Jammu & Kashmir, it is felt that the new legislation will meet the same fate.
But some observers feel that NC is under tremendous pressure from Congress high command to ratify this law in the upcoming session of the state legislature because if the New Land Acquisition Law is not made applicable to J&K it will be ultimately be the defeat of the congress in J&K, so keep these things into consideration NC will have to abide by the orders from Congress high command.
Background of New Land Acquisition Act:
Some years back a massive agitation erupted in West Bengal's Singur area where the TATA Motors had planned to construct a TATA Nano car manufacturing factory. That agitation gained lot of media attention when the Tata Motor company was given permission by the former Communist Government to construct the said factory . The TATA Motors has acquired hundreds of acres of land in the area against the will and wish of people and finally the agitation lead by Mamata Banerjee , Medha Patkar and others forced the company to stop the work and they moved out of West Bengal to construct the similar car factory . Under the previous Land Acquisition Act of 1894 the farmers were provided very less compensation for their land and property and this was the main reason that such agitations took place . The Congress lead UPA II in order to woo the voters for 2014 general elections decided to enact the new land acquisition Act which is known as "Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act " (LARR Act). The discussions on LARR Bill has been going on since 2011 when this bill was made public for an open debate . The passage of this historic bill by the Lok Sabha recently is seen as a political stunt by the Congress party to woo the rural vote bank.
The Land acquisition bill was introduced first time in Lok Sabha on September 7th 2011and was passed on August 29, 2013 by the it . As per the bill the much-awaited land acquisition and rehabilitation aims to provide better compensation to the people whose land is taken away, brings transparency to the process of acquisition of land to set up companies , factories or buildings and assures rehabilitation of the affected people . Out of the 235 members who voted on the bill, 216 backed it while 19 voted against it. The bill aims to replace the 120-year-old law enacted during British India in the year 1894. The Bill has 107 clauses. It was in public domain and India's parliament for review, as Bill number 77 of 2011.
Important aspects of the bill:
Payment of compensations that is up to 4 times the market value in rural areas and 2 times the market value in urban areas.
F To address historical injustice the Bill applies retrospectively to cases where no land acquisition award has been made.
F No law can be acquired in Scheduled Areas without the consent of the local panchayat / Gram Sabhas
F No one shall be dispossessed of the land until and unless all payments are made and alternative sites for the resettlement and rehabilitation have been prepared.
F Compensation to those who are dependent on the land being acquired for their livelihood.
F In cases where Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects are involved or acquisition is taking place for private companies, the Bill requires the consent of no less than 70 per cent and 80 per cent respectively (in both cases) of those whose land is sought to be acquired.
F To safeguard food security and to prevent arbitrary acquisition, the Bill directs States to impose limits on the area under agricultural cultivation that can be acquired.
F In case land remains un utilised after acquisition, the new Bill empowers states to return the land either to the owner or to the State Land Bank.
F No income tax shall be levied and no stamp duty shall be charged on any amount that accrues to an individual as a result of the provisions of the new law.
This law has very great importance viz a viz J&K state as scores of centrally sponsored developmental projects are under construction in the state. The Government has acquired land after 2011 for such projects and in future also land would be acquired for the same and it would be sheer injustice with people of J&K if they don't get the compensation as per new Land Acquisition Act ie 4 times in rural areas and 2 times in urban areas . So the NC will be under tremendous pressure from public also if it fails to extend the New Land Acquisition Act into J&K. |
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