AIADMK govt defends support to land Bill, says it is for public good

Tamil Nadu supported the amendments to the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, in Parliament because it was for public good, Chief Minister O Panneerselvam said in the Assembly today.

According to an official statement, the amendments address the concerns of the state government. These include allowing the states to decide on issues relating to assessing social impact, public good and provisions relating to food security in land acquisition; limiting land acquisition for industrial parks to one kilometre on either side of existing roads and minimising acquisition; and providing for detailed data on uncultivated land; and giving one job to a member of the family that has lost the land, he said. The amendments have also done away with concessions for private educational institutions and hospitals to acquire land, he said.

Justifying the government’s stand and responding to opposition DMK’s criticism, the AIADMK said it had previously opposed the Bill as it infringed on the rights of the states.

The Land Acquisition Act exempts a dozen Central Acts from its provisions except for compensation, rehabilitation and resettlement. But all State laws are covered by the Land Acquisition Act without exemption.

The previous Government had used this exemption which included the Petroleum and Minerals Pipelines (Acquisition of Right of User in land) Act, 1962, to allow GAIL (Gas Authority of India Ltd) to lay the natural gas pipelines under farm lands. But the Tamil Nadu Government had ordered that the pipeline should be aligned along highways as it threatened the livelihood of farmers. The issue is now being heard by the National Green Tribunal.

The Amendments allow the State Governments to have a say on granting exemptions from provisions relating to assessment of social impact, public good and food security for land acquisition for national security, rural infrastructure, affordable housing and housing for poor and infrastructure for industrial parks. General exemptions are not granted, he said.

The Chief Minister also clarified that land acquired by State-run industry promotion bodies such as the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation and State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu cannot be equated with land acquisition for private sector. Land acquired by such state-run agencies are not acquired for specific projects, the land is only leased to private companies. On the contrary it was the DMK that had passed government orders for land acquisition for private projects.

For example, in 2007 the then government had created a SEZ in Perambalur District as a joint venture between Tidco and the GVK Group, a private partner which held most of the shares. The private partner had acquired 2,900 acres and fully owns the land.

Similarly, in 1998 the DMK Government then had passed an order for acquisition of 827 acres land for Mahindra Industrial Park. The Mahindra Group had acquired a total of 1,530 acres through negotiations. Subsequently, the private partner had got the Centre’s permission to set up a 240-acre residential project with two co-developers, including Mahindra Gesco, the real estate development arm of the group. While the SEZ rules do not allow lease of SEZ property to anybody other than the co developer, Mahindra Gesco which completed a 21-acre residential development in 2007 had given the developed project on perpetual lease to 103 individuals. This has even been questioned by the CAG, the Chief Minister said.