Professional Documents
Culture Documents
The partition of West Bengal was The decision to effect the Partition
the most important event during of Bengal was announced on 19
the rule of Lord Curzon. It was July 1905 by the Viceroy of India,
carried out mainly for the Curzon. The partition took place on
convenience of administration. 16 October 1905 and separated the
Bengal in those days was the largely Muslim eastern areas from
biggest province of India extending the largely Hindu western areas.
over 1,89,000 SQ. Miles with a Hindus were outraged at what they
population of 80 million. It was saw as a "divide and rule" policy,
comprising of Bengal, Bihar and even though Curzon stressed it
Orissa and was under the central of would produce administrative
one lieutenant Governor. efficiency.
MAP: Bengal in 1905-1911
SCHOOL OF PLANNING AND SIGN NORTH
SUBJECT: LAND MANGEMENT
ARCHITECTURE DELHI (SPA D) LAND MANAGEMENT: WEST BENGAL SUBMITTED BY: Debanjali Saha
Environmental Planning Studio
INTRODUCTION OF WEST BENGAL:
• West Bengal is an Indian state, located in Eastern India on
the Bay of Bengal.
• With over 9 crore inhabitants (as of 2011), it is India's
fourth-most populous state.
• It has an area of 88,752 km2 (34,267 sq mi).
• A part of the ethno-linguistic Bengal region of the Indian
subcontinent, it borders Bangladesh in the east, and Nepal
and Bhutan in the north.
• It also borders the Indian states of Odisha, Jharkhand,
Bihar, Sikkim, and Assam.
• The state capital is Kolkata (Calcutta), the seventh-largest
city in India, and center of the third-largest metropolitan
area in the country.
MAP: India • As for geography, West Bengal includes the Darjeeling
Himalayan hill region, the Ganges delta, the Rarh region,
and the coastal Sundarbans.
• NATIONAL LEVEL
1894 - Land Acquisition Act
1976 - Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act
2013 - Right to Fair Compensation and Rehabilitation Act
2015 - Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill
adjoining Raiyat (to the person sharing the longest common boundary with the land
transferred).
They apply to the Munsif having territorial jurisdiction, for transfer of the said portion of
the land. Along with a deposit of a sum total of 10% of the purchasing amount.
If he wants to sell his land to a person not belonging to any Schedule Tribe, permission shall
be granted by the Revenue officer until he is willing to pay the fair market price of the plot
of land that the proposed sale is intended to for the following purposes:
a. For the improvement of any other part of the plot of land
b. For investment
• Act Act to provide for the acquisition of certain lands held by the Howrah-Amta
Light Railway Company Limited for providing better facilities for transport and
communication to the members of the public by construction of broad-gauge
railway line in Howrah-Amta-Bargachia-Champadanga and Dankuni-Sheakhala areas
within the districts of Howrah and Hooghly and for matters connected with it.
• ACQUISITION OF LAND:
Any land acquired should be notified in the official Gazette, objections are
welcomed and then the state government should entitled to transfer any land
acquired under this section.
• PAYMENT OF AMOUNT:
The State Government should deposit in cash in Court to the credit of the company
an amount which shall be determined by the Collector, where the land is situated
within the limits of Howrah Municipality, at the rate of rupees seventy-four
thousand and seven hundred fifty per hectare and,
where the land is situated outside the Howrah Municipality, at the rate of rupees
four thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight per hectare in case of firm land and
rupees one thousand three hundred and forty-five per hectare in case of any
other land.
SCHOOL OF PLANNING AND SIGN NORTH
SUBJECT: LAND MANGEMENT
ARCHITECTURE DELHI (SPA D) LAND MANAGEMENT: WEST BENGAL SUBMITTED BY: Debanjali Saha
Environmental Planning Studio
SINGUR LAND REHABILITATION AND DEVELOPMENT ACT, 2011
• “An Act to provide for taking over of the land covered by the lease granted to Tata
Motors Limited for the sole purpose of Small Car Manufacturing project and letters of
allotment issued to the Vendors as recommended by Tata Motors Limited in view of
non-commissioning and abandoning Small Car Project and ancillary factories with a view
to returning such portion of the land to the unwilling owners thereof, who have not
accepted compensation and to utilize the balance portion in public interest and for the
benefit of the State.”
• PAYMENT OF AMOUNT:
For the transfer to and vesting of the land leased to the Tata Motors Limited, the
amount of compensation would be adjudged and determined by the District Judge,
Hooghly on an application being made by the Tata Motors Limited in due compliance
with the principles of natural justice and by reasoned order.
The amount determined in accordance with the provisions is a simple interest at the
rate of 6% per annum from the period of application made by the claimant and ending
on the date offender of the amount which is determined and payable by the State
Government
• Ceiling Area
The ceiling area should be according to the following:
a. In the case of raiyat, who is an adult person, 2.50 standard hectare. (i.e.2.5x 1Ha for
irrigated Land and 2.5x1.4Ha for other area).
b. In case of a raiyat, who is the sole surviving member of a family, 2.50 standard hectares
c. In the case of a raiyat having a family consisting of >2 member but <5 members, 5.00
standard hectare
d. In the case of a raiyat having a family consisting of >5 members, 5.00 standard hectare,
plus 0.50 standard hectare for each member in excess of five, however the aggregate of
the ceiling for such raiyat should not exceed 7.00 standard hectare. (i.e. for example if 7
members, then (5+0.5+0.5)= 6ha he can hold)
e. In the case of any other raiyat, 7.00 standard hectares. (i.e. 7x 1.4 (unirrigated land) =
9.8 ha maximum limit a person can hold)
f. In the case of a family consisting of more raiyats than one, the ceiling area of
all the other raiyats in the family shall not, in any case, exceed:
Where the number of members of such family does not exceed five
members, 5.00 standard hectare.
Where the number of members of such family exceed five members, 5.00
standard hectare, plus 0.50 standard hectare for each member in excess of
five, however the aggregate of the ceiling should not exceed 7.00 standard
hectare.
• EXEMPTIONS:
The provisions shall not be applied to the following:
a. To any land owned as a raiyat by a local authority or any wholly
Government company or any authority constituted.
b. To any land in hilly portion of the district of Darjeeling
Thus, from the early 2000s, the Left Front realized the need to expand non-agricultural
employment
So it bent over backwards to invite private industry
Tried to lure Tata away from tax concessions offered in HP and Uttaranchal
Tata picked a site in Singur, 90 km from Kolkata, located on the Durgapur Expressway
WB state government used its powers of eminent domain using the 1894 Land
Acquisition Act, acquired 997 acres of (mostly) prime agricultural land
Small marginal landowners – 12,000 cheques issued for owners, 3000 for registered
sharecroppers
• The RFCT LAR&R 2013 had introduced some significant changes to India’s land
acquisition law.
• The primary among them is the vastly increased compensation for the land
owners, who were also recognised as urban and rural land owners.
• The law therefore distinguished the operation of differential forces of land
markets operating in urban and rural setting while determining land value.
Therefore, the cash award required was raised to be at least four times the
estimated local market value of land in rural areas, and at least twice in urban
areas.
The act also mandates that all affected parties be paid a Rehabilitation and
Resettlement (R&R) package in addition to the cash compensation for lost assets
so that the displacement costs are met by projects.
The RFCT LAR&R Act 2013 requires that a Social Impact Assessment (SIA) be
conducted to identify the affected families and calculate the social impact when
land is acquired.
The RFCT LAR&R Bill 2015 is still under the process of becoming a law and it seeks to make some
amendments to the earlier act of 2013. It has been passed by the Lok Sabha but yet discussion of its
controversies is going in Rajya Sabha to get passed. It has same lines as that of RFCT LAR&R 2013 Act
but with some major modifications.
• The RFCT LAR&R Act 2013 exempted 13 laws (such as the National Highways Act, 1956 and the
Railways Act, 1989) from its purview. However, the RFCT LAR&R Act 2015 required that the
compensation, rehabilitation, and resettlement provisions of these 13 laws be brought in
consonance with the RFCT LAR&R Act 2015, within a year of its enactment, through a notification.
• The RFCT LAR&R 2015 Ordinance creates five special categories of land use to be exempt from
the provision of public consent: (i) defence, (ii) rural infrastructure, (iii) affordable housing, (iv)
industrial corridors, and (v) infrastructure projects including Public Private Partnership (PPP)
projects where the central government owns the land. (The RFCT LAR&R Act 2013 requires that
the consent of 80% of land owners is obtained for private projects and that the consent of 70% of
land owners be obtained for PPP projects).
• The RFCT LAR&R Act 2013 excluded the acquisition of land for private hospitals and private
educational institutions from its purview. The new Ordinance removes this restriction.
• While the RFCT LAR&R Act 2013 was applicable for the acquisition of land for private companies,
the new Ordinance changes this to acquisition for 'private entities'. A private entity is defined any
entity other than government entity, and could include a proprietorship, partnership, company,
corporation, non-profit organisation, or other entity under any other law.
7. Rehabilitation R&R necessary for all affected R&R award for each
and families. Minimum R&R affected family includes
Resettlement entitlements to be provided to mandatory employment to
each family. With employment to at least one member of
the members of the affected family such an affected family of a
farm labourer.
• In the second half of 2006, the West Bengal government acquired 997 acres of prime
agricultural land in order to enable Tata, a leading industry house in India, to build a
factory for Nano, its new model for a small and cheap car.
• In order to do so, the state government used its power of eminent domain under the
aegis of the 1894 Land Acquisition Act, which was inherited from colonial times.
• It was hoping the new car factory and the expected boost it would provide to small
firms producing ancillary car parts would jumpstart a new phase of industrial
development in the state, promoting much needed job growth in the non-agricultural
sector.
• In order to woo Tata away from other Indian states offering favourable tax concessions,
the West Bengal government allowed Tata to specify the location of its factory, and
offered it a long lease on favourable terms.
Tata chose an area called Singur located on the Durgapur Expressway about 90 Km from
Kolkata, the neighbouring urban metropolis and transport hub in Eastern India.
The West Bengal government subsequently decided to acquire the area required for
the factory and offer compensation to those whose lands were being acquired as
required by the 1894 Act.