Land acquisition faces several hurdles

Thu, 11 Apr Pre-Open

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A common hurdle hurting the infrastructure and manufacturing sectors is land acquisition. To fast track investments and more importantly, to improve sentiments, reforms in this area are a must. A common example being given by the media is that of South Korean steel maker, POSCO, looking to invest a massive sum of US$ 12 billion in Orissa. But the project has been hindered due to local residents not willing to part with their land. Or for that matter, the situation being faced by the transportation sector - where in nearly 58 highways projects were stalled due to hurdles in land acquisition.

While the government had introduced the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill in September 2011, passing of the same is yet to happen. Despite more than 150 amendments being made to the bill, the government has not been able to come up with a decision. Political parties had a discussion on Tuesday - not their first - to discuss the matter. But it turns out they, failed to reach a consensus.

Given that land & land acquisition both are politically sensitive topics in India, political parties have shared their respective concerns. As per the Telegraph, some of the suggestions, concerns and stands of political parties are:

BJP - leasing is a better option than acquisition, as the land owner could get regular income, no land acquisition for manufacturing zones; Trinamul Congress - No forcible acquisitions, land should only be acquired with 100% consent; CPM - compensation, resettlement and rehabilitation measures are inadequate; Samajwadi Party - Multi crop land should not be acquired as it could affect the food security law if farm land is taken over.

The next meeting is scheduled for a week from now i.e. April 18, 2013. It is believed that all the concerns will be taken into consideration and a final decision is expected to be taken.

We would only believe it once it happens. Given that political parties have their own hidden agendas to meet, makes it difficult to predict the possible outcome.

If one thinks about it, meeting the requirements of all the concerns & demands of the political parties seems very difficult, if not impossible. While the amendments the parties seem to be 'genuinely' fighting for are some concerns that need to be dealt with in a proper manner - especially proper compensation and rehabilitation, a realistic and sensible way needs to be figured out. And that too at the earliest! While there are clear intentions to pass the bill, it is the 'when' part of it that remains uncertain. All eyes on the meeting next week!