By TIOL News Service

NEW DELHI, AUG 29, 2015: WITH the New Land Bill stuck and the Ordinance about to expire, the Government has proposed to issue an order under the removal of difficulties section 113 (1) of the RFCTLARR Act, 2013 for extending the provisions of compensation, rehabilitation and resettlement as mentioned in First, Second and Third Schedules to the Acts mentioned in the Fourth Schedule of the RFCTLARR Act, 2013.

3. Background:

The Department of Land Resources (DoLR) is administering the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act (hereinafter referred to as Act), 2013. This Act came into force on 01.01.2014 by repealing the Land Acquisition Act, 1894. The Act inter-alia provided for compensation upto four times the market value in rural areas and twice the market value of land in urban areas; rehabilitation and resettlement benefits not only for land losers but also for livelihood losers.

Section 105 of the RFCTLARR Act, 2013 makes the provisions of the determination of the compensation, rehabilitation and resettlement in this Act applicable to cases of land acquisition under the enactments specified in the Fourth Schedule of the Act. However, the said Section mandated that this had to be initiated by a draft notification to be placed before each House of Parliament within one year from the date of commencement of this Act.  In other words, the deadline for this draft notification was 31.12.2014. For the provisions relating to compensation, rehabilitation and resettlement to become applicable to land acquisition under the thirteen Acts specified in the Fourth Schedule of the Act, it was necessary to go through the entire process outlined in various sub-sections of said Section 105.  It was felt that in the interests of families affected by land acquisition under the enactments specified in the Fourth Schedule, the provisions relating to compensation, rehabilitation and resettlement prescribed in this Act be made applicable. Hence, it was decided that an amendment should be brought to amend Section 105, forthwith to fulfil the mandated intention of the RFCTLARR Act, 2013 within the specified period of one year which was expiring on 31.12.2014.

Accordingly, the RFCTLARR (Amendment) Ordinance, 2014 was promulgated on 31 st December, 2014. Subsequently, the RFCTLARR (Amendment) Ordinance, 2015 (4 of 2015) was promulgated on 3 rd April, 2015 to give continuity to the provisions o f the RFCTLARR (Amendment) Ordinance, 2014 and the RFCTLARR (Amendment) Second Ordinance, 2015 (5 of 2015) was promulgated on 30 th May, 2015 to give continuity to the provisions of the RFCTLARR (Amendment) Ordinance, 2015 (4 of 2015). The replacement Bill relating to the RFCTLARR (Amendment) Ordinance, 2015 (4 of 2015) was referred to the Joint Committee of the Houses for examination and report and is pending with the Committee.   As per the provisions of article 123 of the Constitution, the RFCTLARR (Amendment) Second Ordinance, 2015 (5 of 2015) shall lapse on the 31 st August, 2015, thereby placing the land owners at the disadvantageous position, resulting in denial of benefits of enhanced compensation and rehabilitation and resettlement to the cases of land acquisition under the 13 Acts specified in the Fourth Schedule to the RFCTLARR Act as extended to the land owners under the said Ordinance. Therefore, since the Central Government considers it necessary to extend the benefits available to the land owners under the RFCTLARR Act to similarly placed land owners whose lands are acquired under the 13 Central enactments specified in the Fourth Schedule, the Government has decided to uniformly apply the beneficial provisions of Section 105 of the RFCTLARR Act relating to the determination of compensation, rehabilitation and resettlement as were made applicable to cases of land acquisition under the said enactments in the interest of the land owners.

The Act mentioned in the Fourth Schedule are as follows:-

(1)     The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958;

(2)     The Atomic Energy Act, 1962;

(3)     The Damodar Valley Corporation Act, 1948; 

(4)     The Indian Tramways Act, 1886;

(5)     The Land Acquisition (Mines) Act, 1885;

(6)     The Metro Railways (Construction of Works) Act, 1978;

(7)     The National Highways Act, 1956;

(8)     The Petroleum and Minerals Pipelines (Acquisition of Right of User in Land) Act, 1962;

(9)     The Requisitioning and Acquisition of Immovable Property Act, 1952;

(10)   The Resettlement of Displaced Persons (Land Acquisition) Act, 1948;

(11)   The Coal Bearing Areas Acquisition and Development Act, 1957;

(12)   The Electricity Act, 2003;

(13)   The Railways Act, 1989;

Therefore, now it is proposed to issue an order under section 113(1) of the RFCTLARR Act to extend the provisions relating to the determination of compensation in accordance with the First Schedule, rehabilitation and resettlement in accordance with the Second Schedule and infrastructure amenities in accordance with the Third Schedule shall apply to all cases of land acquisition under the enactments specified in the Fourth Schedule to the said Act.

4. Implementation strategy and targets:

Once approved, an order under section 113(1) of the RFCTLARR Act will be issued to extend the provisions relating to the determination of compensation in accordance with the First Schedule, rehabilitation and resettlement in accordance with the Second Schedule and infrastructure amenities in accordance with the Third Schedule shall apply to all cases of land acquisition under the enactments specified in the Fourth Schedule to the said Act.

5. Major Impact:

The provisions of the RFCTLARR Act, 2013 will become applicable on the enactments listed in Fourth Schedule of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.

6. Expenditure involved

 Nil

7. No. of beneficiaries:

Whole country

8. States/districts covered:

All the States (except Jammu & Kashmir) and UTs of the country.

9. Details and progress of scheme if already running:

The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act (hereinafter referred to as Act), 2013 came into force on 01.01.2014 by repealing the Land Acquisition Act, 1894.