The Land Acquisition Ordinance

Land acquisition continues to be a political hot potato. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government’s attempt to tinker with the Land Acquisition Act of 2013 through the ordinance route has met with vigorous resistance. Anna Hazare, whose thunder was stolen by Arvind Kejriwal on the corruption issue, has found a new cause to help revive his own brand of agitprop. Opposition parties, who were demoralised by a drubbing in the Lok Sabha elections, have found fresh energy to stir up trouble. Of course farmer interest groups have been vocal, including the ruling party’s own affiliate, the BJP Kisan Morcha. Although stung by the sharp reactions and amidst the usual outbreak of dharnas and walkouts, the government has gone ahead and placed the ordinance before the Lok Sabha for approval during the budget session. While improving the investment climate is a pressing need, an anti-farmer tag is the political kiss of death in a country where two-thirds of the electorate is still rural. The government seems nervous and conciliatory even while it stays its course. The 2013 Act raised compensation amounts to four times the market price in rural areas and twice in urban areas, topped up by a Relief and Rehabilitation (R&R) package for affected families. It also made the acquisition process more arduous by requiring a social impact assessment as well as consent of 80 per cent of the affected families (70 per cent for PPP projects) whenever land is acquired for private companies. The ordinance leaves compensation amounts and R&R obligations untouched. It tries, instead, to ease the burden of acquisition by doing away with social impact assessment as well as the consent requirement for projects involving defence, housing, infrastructure and industrial corridors. It also tries to shield government officials from prosecution on account of any violations of the Act.