Tis Labour then which puts the greatest part of value upon land, without which it would scarcely

be worth anything . . . .. . . .. though the things of nature are given in common, yet man (by being Master of himself, and proprietor of his own person, and the actions or labour of it) had still in himself the great Foundation of Property; -John Locke, Two Treatises of Government, The Second Treatise, 1690. Three hundred and twenty one years later for eight-year-old Rakesh Bardhan, it is protest time. Decked out in a black T-shirt and a matching handkerchief wrapped around his head, he is off to join hundreds of farmers, laborers and fishermen standing between a generations-old way of life and India's biggest single foreign direct investment. He joins the local people who are protesting against the planned construction of a $12 billion (7.5 billion pounds) steel mill by South Korea's POSCO in the eastern state of Odisha.1Available reports indicate that more than 21 million people are internally displaced due to development projects in India.2 The 116 year old colonial Land Acquisition Act 1894 (LA 1894) has provided an impasse for this kind of development induced land acquisitions3 across the nation. But recently, large tracts of land have been acquired in rural parts of the country in the name of development and transferred to private entrepreneurs, who have utilized the same for the construction of multi-storied complexes, commercial centers and for setting up industrial units.4 The peasant struggle in Singur and Nandigram and the agitation centered around the village of Bhatta Parsaul at Uttar Pradesh last year have marred the land acquisition scene in India.
1

Matthias Williams, Welcome to POSCO country: India's fight for investors, 24th June 2011, REUTERS, U.K edition, available at: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/06/24/uk-india-poscoidUKTRE75N0YO20110624, as seen on 17th January 2011. 2 The report on India by Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre of U.N. Office of High Commissioner on Human Rights, available at: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cescr/docs/info-ngos/IDMC2India40.pdf, as seen on 17th January 2012. 3 Development-induced displacement can be defined as the forcing of communities and individuals out of their homes, often also their homelands, for the purposes of economic development. Pablo Bose, Development Induced Displacement and Participation, available at: http://www.yorku.ca/crs/EDID/EDID%20Documents/EDID%20WP%202.pdf as seen on 17th January 2012. 4 Sri Radhy Shyam (Dead) through L.Rs. and Ors. V. State of U.P. and Ors.; (2011) 5 SCC 553.

Thus on 7th September 2011, was introduced in the Lok Sabha the 70-page new Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill 2011. It is in the political context of Rahul Gandhis padyatra (in UP) this Bill has been brought. It is a political response to a political problem, asserted the Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh addressing a press conference after introducing the Bill in the Lok Sabha.5 Closely based on the recommendations of the working group of the National Advisory Council (NAC 2011), the LARR Bill visualizes a perfect land market for unrestrained urbanization and industrialization. It takes into account land acquisition as well as provides for rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) for all domain acquisitions as well as private purchases of over 100 acres in rural areas and 50 acres in urban areas along with some other benefits. Now, the standing committee is into the time taking process of taking views of the state governments after the government failed to pass the bill at the end of the winter session. But unfortunately, this effort of the government to resolve some of these policy loopholes in the old act has some infirmities. In the succeeding paragraphs an attempt has been made to point out two of the major defects of the bill. PUBLIC PURPOSE: Each person possesses an inviolability founded on justice that even the welfare of society as a whole cannot override. - John Rawls Clause 2 of the bill mandates that land acquisition under this Act shall not be undertaken to any other purpose except for governmental use and public

Ravish Tiwari Jairam tables new land Bill, credits it to Rahuls padyatra, The Indian Express, 8th September 2011, available at: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/jairam-tables-new-land-bill-credits-itto-r/843302/, as seen on 17th January 2011.

purpose.6 This act provides for acquisition of land for companies7, for which at least 80 per cent8 of the project affected people have given their consent through a prior informed process; provided that where a private company after having purchased part of the land needed for a project, for public purpose, seeks the intervention of the appropriate government to acquire the balance of the land it shall be bound by rehabilitation and resettlement provisions of this Act for the land already acquired through private negotiations and it shall be bound by all provisions of this Act for the balance area sought to be acquired.9 Thus it appears that the provision for acquisition of land for private companies for public purpose can be really misused. The draft bill fails to clarify as to how and what kind of public purposes private companies could serve. If a government acquires a piece of land for public purpose, the project on such a land is meant for the society. In no case can these kinds of units be considered as capital gatherers. Private companies, on the other hand invest only with the only incentive of accumulating capital. The proposal also makes it mandatory to obtain consent from 80 per cent of the affected people before any acquisition notice is issued; thus significantly reducing the chances of forcible acquisitions.10 In spite of this provision the new bill fails to answer what makes a purpose useful to general public welfare. Let us take the example of a group of 100 people. If 90 of the 100 people want to eat icecream, does eating ice-cream become a public purpose? On the other hand, if 10 out of the 100 people live far from civilization and do not have any access to toilets, though it is a very private matter for a small number of population, this would make a good case of a public purpose. Perhaps we need a thicker definition of a public purpose which looks at a purpose to be public not solely in terms of the number of people affected but in the larger context of
6 7 8 9

Clause 2 (1) LARR Bill, 2011 Section 3 (za) (vii) of LARR Bill, 2011 Section 3 (za) of LARR Bill, 2011. Section 2, LARR bill. 10 Section 3 (za) of LARR Bill, 2011.

morality and socio-political situations.11 Moreover, the consent of the project affected families doesn't count when Government acquires land for its own use, hold and control. The Vallarpadam and the KINFRA land acquisition destroyed large wetlands, paddy fields, river and backwater in the name of public purpose. Thus, the pursuit of exploiting the states natural resources to attain the zenith of urban development incurs a cognitive and ecological cost along with intergenerational inequity. Unfortunately, the Social Impact Assessment12 report as detailed in the policy is limited only to socio-economic and institutional impacts. What is missing is a multi-impact assessment, including environmental impacts. Recently, in Dev Sharan and Ors. V. State of U.P. and Ors, (2011) 4 SCC 769 the apex court clarified that public purpose in land acquisition has to be viewed from an angle which is consistent with the concept of a welfare State and for benefit to the largest number of people. It has to be consistent with the constitutional ethos and especially the chapter under Fundamental Rights and also the Directive Principles. COMPENSATION, REHABILITATION AND RESETTLEMENT: In the words of the famous Ralph Waldo Emerson, the first farmer was the first man, and all historic nobility rests on possession and use of land. The LARR Bill doesnt provide for land for land compensation instead it lays down a one-time compensation amount. The case of SC/ST land losers is an exception as the bill proposes 2.5 acres of land or extent of land lost to each family in every project and in case of irrigation project 1 acre in the

Kelly A Dhru Acquisition of land for development projects in India: The Road Ahead, Research Foundation for Governance in India, available at: http://www.rfgindia.org/publications/LandAcquisition.pdf, as seen on 17th January 2012. 12 Clause 4, 5. 6 of LARR Bill 2011.

11

command area.13 The average market value linked compensation14 is also unsuitable in a country like India where most parts of rural India, a land market is non-existent. Very few land transactions happen at the scale of villages, even in the supposedly active land market of Bengal (Bardhan, et al 2011). Of the transactions that happen, significant proportions are in the form of common trend of lowering the transaction price in order to avoid high stamp duty.15Moreover, the owner will receive only 20% of the increase in value on any subsequent transfer, and that too only if no development is done on the land at all. In the case of temporary occupation, this will be settled through a process of negotiation without even any floor value specified and then the land can be permanently acquired if it is not fit for its original use.16 Lastly, the bill doesnt protect those affected by the project but only those affected by the acquisition17. Thus, people affected by transfer of government or common property or forest land for any project will receive no R&R. All attempts at acquiring land for manufacturing, real estate and infrastructure development will also have to encounter enormous litigation as the LARR bill has some irksome features like paying annual payments to original owners for the next 20 years; identifying and paying all those who are affected by the acquisition that would include landless workers; paying 10 per cent of capital gains to the original owners for the next 10 years; and ensuring the development of basic facilities in the acquired areas which may not obtain in even the most developed rural regions of the country.

13

Schedule I of the bill deals with "compensation for land owners", Schedule II deals with the "list of rehabilitation and resettlement entitlements for all the affected families (both land owners and the families whose livelihood is primarily dependent on land acquired) in addition to those provided in Schedule I and Schedule III deal with "provision of infrastructural amenities" for resettlement of populations "to minimize the trauma involved in displacement. 14 Clause 27 of LARR Bill, 2011. 15 Niranjan Sahoo, In Search of a Model Land Legislation The New Land Acquisition Bill and its Challenges, Observer Research Foundation New Delhi; available at: http://www.observerindia.com/cms/export/orfonline/modules/occasionalpaper/attachments/OC _1325503381189.pdf as seen on 18th January 2012. 16 Sec 76 (2), LARR Bill, 2011. 17 Second Schedule, LARR Bill, 2011.

There are times in the history of a nation when its destiny turns a page. This is that defining moment. Indians are transcending the traditional hurdles of poverty and underdevelopment and are embracing the new world of development and prosperity. What is required at this point of time is a metamorphosis in the way the state undertakes land acquisition in the light of a socialistic pro-people governance .It is time to break the logjam in the ongoing land acquisition impasse.