The Social Impact of Fair Compensation to the Indigenous of the Tribal Land

Project Report

Submitted to-
Mr. Arindam Neeral
Assistant Professor of Law

Submitted by-
Anam Khan
Semester – VIII, Section – B, Roll No. 14
B. A. LL. B. (Hons.)

Hidayatullah National Law University

Uparwara Post, Atal Nagar – 492002 (C.G.)

 ABSTRACT

It has been well-established that “The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land
Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act or RFCTLARR Act, 2013” came as a silver
lining against the dark clouds of the colonial Land Acquisition Act, 1894. It has been successful
in its attempts of addressing the arbitrary state action in matters involving land acquisition. It has
made the required arrangements to strike a deal within the affected social groups. It has also been
engaging people to meet the required standards of land acquisition and its respective social
impact assessment (SIA). There had been various instances of unfair land acquisition and time
had become ripe to enact a provision that ensured fair and rightful practices of land acquisition.
In case if the Act is forced to the word, it is sure to wipe out any mala-fide acquisition. It would
help the landowners to regain strength and faith that they shall not be thrown out from their
rightful land, unlawfully. This Act has been a major step forward for their right to compensation
and rehabilitation.
 CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION AND RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

1.1 Introduction

“The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency In Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation And
Resettlement Act” was enacted in 2013. However, prior to the enactment, Article 21 of the
Constitution stated, “No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty, except,
according to procedure established by law.” There was also a landmark judgment in the case of
“Olega Tellis v. Bombay Municipal Corporation & Ors1” which established that the Right to life
was inclusive of right to livelihood. Although it is an agreed principal of law that there must
always be some reasonable restriction on these fundamental rights. These restrictions are
essential in order to necessitate the government agencies to disclose required information about
their intended action.

“The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and
Resettlement Act, or RFCTLARR Act, 2013” is rightfully regarded as a silver lining against the
dark cloud of the colonial Land Acquisition Act, 1894. The Act aims to ensure participation of
local self-government and Gram Sabhas in a humane, informed and open process for land
acquisition. This will further be useful in setting up of industries, and important infrastructural
facilities to speed up urbanization. For all this to function smoothly providing fair compensation
to the rightful owners of the land is of utmost importance.

This Act has put restrictions on the powers of the Government and granted more rights to the
landowners. The Act has 5 pillars of foundation:-

1. social impact assessment (SIA)

2. consent of the people
3. right amount of compensation
4. resettlement and rehabilitation (R&R)
5. narrows down the scope of any obvious domain i.e. the government’s power to
wrongfully take private property and bring it to public use.

1
1985 SCC (3) 545
1.2 Review of literature
 Naeesha Halai, “An Elaborative Study on “Social Impact Assessment” under The
Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation
and Resettlement, 2013(2021)”- As the title of the paper suggests, it talks about the
social impact of the fair compensation that was granted to the tribal land. It makes a
critical analysis of the criteria for assessment of the social impact. The author is of the
view that it is important to put reasonable restrictions on the powers of the government
and grant more surety to the owners in order to help build faith and confidence. This
would further speed up the process of urbanization in a healthy way.
 Surbhi Khanna, “Insights into the right to fair compensation and transparency in
Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation, and Resettlement Act, 2013”- This article discusses
the Act in detail. The author has discussed the merits and demerits of the Act elaborately.
It also talks about the role of private players in land acquisition.

1.3 Research Objectives

In purpose of this study and the broad objective is to analyze the “The Right to Fair
Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation, and Resettlement Act,
2013” and its social impact. The tribal population had been subject to a lot of unfair
acquisition and it had become extremely important to safeguard their interest as well. This
study deals with the social impact of fair compensation granted to the tribal land.

1.4 Research Questions

The following are the questions, which this study aims to answer:

 The need for a right to fair compensation to the tribal acquisition.

 What is the social impact of right to fair compensation given under tribal acquisition?

1.5 Research Methodology

In this kind of study, a descriptive approach has to be followed. While doing research on the
topic emphasis is made on the critical aspects of the topic of study. Being non-empirical in
nature the project follows a descriptive approach for explanation and interpretation. The
author has taken help of secondary data such as articles, journals, reviews and editorials, etc.

1.6 Organization of the study

The project has been divided into three chapters in order to facilitate a clear picture of the
study.

Chapter 1: Introduction and research methodology

This chapter briefly introduces the topic and structure of the study.

Chapter 2: Analyzing the Act along with its merits and demerits

This chapter discusses the need for RTFCTLARR in detail and cites relevant examples and
case laws.

Chapter 3: Social Impact

This chapter makes detailed discussion of the social impact and its assessment.

Chapter 4: Case Study of the farmers protest in Tiravallur

Chapter 2:Analyzing the Right To Fair Compensation and Transparency in
Land Acquisition Rehabilitation Resettlement Act along with its merits and
demerits

The Social Impact Assessment study enshrined in sub-section (1) of the Right to Fair
Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act shall
include all the following viz:

“(a)to assess whether the acquisition is in public interest;

(b) to estimate the number of families that are affected or likely to be displaced;

(c) to measure the extent of lands, public and private properties that are likely to be affected on
account of acquisition;

(d) to assess whether the extent of land meant for acquisition is the absolute minimum needed for
the project;

(e) to find out whether land acquisition at an alternate place has been found unfeasible;

(f) to study the social impacts and costs of the project, and the impact of these costs on the
overall costs of the project vis-a-vis the advantages of the project.”2

It is known that India is a agriculture driven country with a very high population density. People
in India do not regard their land as a mere resource or an asset, for them it is a legacy. The
emotional attachment that people associate with their land is what makes the topic of land
acquisition a sensitive issue. Owing to the absence of adequate provisions for redressal the old
colonial Land Acquisition Act 1894 is known to be very arbitrary in nature.

 Some of the special features of the RTFCTLARR Act include-

1. Requirement of a prior consent and applicability for private players.
2. The purpose of the acquisition should only be public and private-public projects.
3. Prior social impact assessment on the acquisition by a Government authority.

2
Section 4 of the RTFCTLARR Act.
4. Monetary compensation and employemnt alternative as rehabilitation and resettlemant
package.
5. Section 2 of the Provisions of Panchayat defines Scheduled areas and no acquisition can
be done in such areas.
 Merits and Demerits
 Merits
1. On comparing the present act with the previous one, it would be safe to say that the
approach has taken a complete U-turn.
2. Not only in terms of the compensation that is granted but the provision of consent that
has been added has proved to be very beneficial and revolutionary.
3. The new process of land acquisition has been converted into a strictly time-bound, and
quick decision making process with madatory active involvement of the party involved.
4. It has also transparent, wherein the government must notify decisions.
5. The Act makes provisions for taking suggestions from the party for a better, a more
smooth and transparent process balancing the interest.
 Demerits
1. Although the compensation given is quite high, however there are still some irregularities
that need to be retified.
2. The rehabilitation and resettlemet is given only to the landowners. There are instances
where there are dependents also. The Act completely overlooks the dependents.
3. All for types of land- rural or urban the same procedure is applied. This at time becomes
very time consuming and exhaustive.
4. There is no provision for any fast track mechanism other than the urgency clause where
there can be said to be an absence of any complications.
Chapter 3: Social Impact of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency
in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act.

The enactment of this particular Act lead to the formation of a set a questions framed by a non-
profit ‘Centre for Science and Environment’ (CSE) situated in Delhi filed Right To Information.
The following questions were asked in the RTI queries-

1. Which law permits the land being acquired?

2. Was the mandatory social impact assessment done?

3. Did the people consent to the particular acquisition?

4. What area of land has been acquired under RFCTLARR Act for further proposed projects?

While some of the states took months to give disappointing replies, many states like Bihar, Madhya
Pradesh etc did not reply at all. It was the work done by ‘Centre for Science and Environment’
which revealed that there were a total of seven states which completely overlooked the Act and
went on to implement it’s own set of laws through various ordinances. While the state of Andhra
Pradesh was carrying out the social impact assessments. They also made sure to take people’s
consent until July 23, 2018. Thereafter the President ultimately agreed to the amendment made to
the Act. “This Act has exempted certain categories like defense, cheap industrial projects from
social impact study. The Act allows voluntary acquisition. Private negotiations with landowners
is permitted thus reducing the role of Gram Sabha to advisory function Jharkhand’s” presented
the Amendment Bill to the President twice. “The five pillars of RFCTLARR Act were thrown to
the winds. lt was enacted with minor changes. Jharkhand, too, does not conduct social impact
assessment to acquire land for schools, hospitals and housing for the poor; the Gram” Sabha’s
only plays an advisory role.”

“ Government should avoid hasty Ad Hoc acquisition especially of farm and forest land on which
large inhabitation is dependant, instead it should have a proactive approach in identifying
potential areas well in advance and develop them to reduce the dependence on the land for
example, imparting technical training to farmers so that they can slowly divert from their
existing livelihood from farm to factories and become a direct part of the development process.   ”
 Acquisition in the private market
 Kedar Nath Yadav v. State of West Bengal3
The TATA-Singur case is a landmark case on acquisition for private players. It is often seen that
industralists and real estate owners seek government support in order to acquire land for
commercial purposes. It has become a common practise for government or political parties to
acquire land under the immunity of land laws and hand it over to the private players. In May
2006, the state of West Bengal forcefully acquired 700 acres of land and landed its possession to
TATA Motors. After receiving massive agitation, the said acquisition was challenged before the
High Court. The Court found out that 60% of the acquisition was done by the Government
without taking any consent from the owners. As a result of the case, TATA Motors had to
withdraw from the land.
 Chennai Metro case
This was yet another controversial case of land acquisition for Chennai Metro by the Tamil Nadu
governement taking unfair advantage. After enactment of the New Act, the Tamil Nadu
“

Government on December 05 2019 by using their statutory power under Article 254(2) passed

a State Law The Tamil Nadu Land Acquisition Laws (Revival of Operation, Amendment, and
Validation) Act, 2019 with the intent to exempt the applicability of LARR in three categories of
the project for Industrial and infrastructure purpose which constitutes the majority of land
acquisition. ”

“ Their enactment was challenged in the Supreme Court by way of the writ petition, to which
the Supreme Court held the enactment valid on the ground that subject to the consent of the
president a state can deviate from the Centre Law under Article 254(2) ”

 Tiruvallur case study

“ Kovalan Sillapadikaran, a farmer in Tiruvallur district of Tamil Nadu has been protesting along
with his ailing parents and children against the proposed 126.5km six-lane green-field
expressway from Thatchur in to Chitoor. The responsibility of developing this project lies with
the National Highways Authority of India, the project will entail the acquisition of 885.5 hectares
of land, 64 per cent of which is under cultivation. Kovalan and the farmers community in Tamil
3
(2017) 11 SCC 601
Nadu are unwilling to part with their fertile, irrigated land Agriculture is the means of livelihood
for most of the villagers. Government officials are reluctant to provide information about the
project and show their indifference for any kind of protests. ”

“ Although the RFCTLARR Act defines the public purpose, it exempts a list of areas as discussed
earlier. For instance, a tourist resort in the dense forests of Karnataka can be considered to serve
public purpose, irrespective of being privately or government owned. The term public purpose
has failed to find its true meaning while the farmers still protest to make both ends meet. The
provisions of RFCTLARR Act excludes 13 enactments specified within the Act. Social impact
assessment and consent are required in the smallest projects, but are not required for projects
under these13 enactments that takes away huge chunks of land. ”

Conclusion
The Act prohibits the government from indiscriminately acquiring land. It calls for consent from
“

80 per cent people in private projects and 70 per cent of the people in public-private partnership
projects. RFCTLARR Act leads to procedural delays. The acquisition process is a Herculean task
involving 4.5 years to complete with multiple steps. Various committees have to be set up to take
quick decisions. An independent body should be established to conduct social impact assessment
whose report should be appraised by another expert panel. Third, it is imperative to monitor
compliance at every step. A new land acquisition law that strikes a balance between direct and
indirect costs should be thought of. Land pooling is a model suggested by NITI Aayog for the
nation to emulate. However, the states’ methods of acquisition are certainly not in place. The
government ought to know where the law can be applied. Ironically social impact assessment
and consent are required only on the smallest projects and not for projects under 13 enactments
that take away huge chunks of land. The robust RFCTLARR, has to be amended so that
”

landowners and stakeholders can heave a sigh of relief.