The Land Acquisition Act is a progressive legislation
Commonly called as the land acquisition Act (LAA) the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act 2013, which recently received the presidential assent has received a fair share of criticism.
Numerous growth enthusiasts have been obstreperously been strident about how seditious and incendiary the Act is. Further it is also claimed that the Act would severely hamper the workings of industries and eventually be the cause of the downfall of the country’s industrialization.
However, the LAA is a very comprehensive and well-meaning legislation that seeks to achieve quite the opposite.
Shortfalls of the Land Acquisition Act of 1894:
The Land Acquisition Act of 1894 being constituted during the notorious colonial era has always been thoroughly misused. As per the Act’s catch-all “public purpose” window, the state government is the biggest culprit.
After Independence, the government acquired land across India. However even after fifty years of acquisition the bulk of land still remains underutilized.
The worst defaulters have been Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs), in terms of their poor record of rehabilitation and resettlement.
Over the past few decades, more than 4 crore tribals have been displaced without any sort of compensation or rehabilitation.
Reasons for positively considering the LAA:
Comparing the Land Acquisition Act of 1894 with the new LAA it is quite clear that the new law’s predominant purpose is to actually resurrect the Indian real estate as well as benefit the country’s citizens, rather than prohibiting the growth of the private sector.
The LAA is applicable only to acquisitions made by the Government and does not regulate land purchases in general. It is not applicable to the purchase of private land, which has been acquired for private purposes and wherein the deals are handled privately.
It is a facultative legislation for the land that is being sought for acquisition by either the Central or State governments for any “public purpose” as well as for projects undertaken in the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) concept. It also regulates those cases wherein the government is being explicitly requested by the private sector to acquire numerous hectares for huge private projects.
The LAA is commonly misunderstood as affecting general land purchases. The LAA ensures acceptable behavior by the private sector as well as both the governments be it Central or the State.
Furthermore, as long as the guidelines lay down by the LAA are followed, it doesn’t debar or prohibit the private sector from pursuing government assistance, or the government providing the same.
