On March 18, 2015, the whole country witnessed an unusual spectacle of a united opposition in the parliament – led by Congress President, Ms Sonia Gandhi – marching on Raisina Hills towards President’s House.
The parliamentarians were going to register their protest with the President, Mr Pranab Mukherjee against the amendments to the ‘Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act’ (herein after referred as Land Acquisition Act, 2013) being made by Modi – government which they allege is “pro-corporate” and “anti-farmer”.
This is a serious charge against Modi who was voted to power last year with an absolute majority on the strength of his unflinching commitment to 125 crores people of this country – including majority of the poor farmers – to extricate them from abject poverty and backwardness and improve their well-being.
He had pledged to deliver on this commitment by pushing for inclusive development at an accelerated pace, generating jobs especially for majority of un-skilled workforce and building infrastructure including social infrastructure viz., education, health etc to improve quality of life across all sections of the society.
During the last 9 months in office, all actions of the government including the proposed amendments to Land Acquisition Act (2013) (LAA) have been guided by this over-arching philosophy. Indeed, Modi is open to any changes in furtherance of this goal and serve the interest of the farmers. Then, where is the problem?
Congress has taken strong objection to proposed deletion of “prior consent” and “SIA” (social impact assessment) clauses for land acquisition in five project categories viz., (i) defence; (ii) rural infrastructure including electricity; (iii) affordable housing for the poor; (iv) industrial corridors and (v) infrastructure projects including PPP (public-private- partnership) projects wherein ownership continues to be vested with the government.
The aforementioned clauses were incorporated in the LAA (2013) ostensibly to take the land owners/farmers and all other affected persons in to confidence, in fact, take their consent (70% in case of PPP and 80% for private sector projects) and make a comprehensive assessment of socio-economic impact on persons living in the area. These exercises must be completed even before land acquisition proceedings are initiated.
The administrative requirements and procedures to comply with these conditions are necessarily elaborate, cumbersome and time consuming. These involve multiple authorities and navigating deliberations and approvals through the maze of bureaucracy and research institutions/NGOs (who usually conduct SIAs). Hence, delays are inevitable all the more so, when concurrence of tens of thousands of affected persons is needed.
Apart from being the most crucial asset, land has a lot of emotive value for farmers as this has been bestowed on them by their forefathers further cementing the bond. This by itself could prove to be a major stumbling bloc in their parting with land even when the compensation promised is hefty which was provided for in LAA (2013) and Modi – dispensation has retained.
Refusal by a handful of affected persons (in a complex system where vested interests – including political opponents – hold sway, chances of this happening are even greater) can bring the process to a grinding halt. Things can get completely out of control if any one of them takes the matter to the court. In such a scenario, land acquisition may get delayed by several years or even decades!
People at large want development so that their kith and kin get jobs to increase their earnings for a better quality life. A farmer getting meager income from cultivating land (that too un-reliable due to unpredictability of weather) desperately looks for a job for his son/daughter for a good and reliable income source. Even for increasing income from farming, he needs irrigation and better connectivity through rural roads and rail network.
Land is a fundamental requirement for building infrastructure including irrigation, rural roads, power stations, affordable housing, industrial corridors apart from catering to vital defense needs. Now, if acquisition of land itself gets delayed (indefinitely in some cases), the entire process of development will be jammed. Millions of Indians will be deprived of an opportunity to improve their living.
Farmers in particular, will continue to live in their present state of deprivation and abject poverty. According to a survey by Lokniti, about 62% of farmers are keen to leave agriculture as they find it un-remunerative. Every day, thousands of them move out looking for alternate avenues. Their chances will be stultified if land is not allowed to be released for development.
The amendments to LAA therefore respond to the dire need for ensuring smooth and speedy acquisition of land for meeting development aspirations of people and giving them jobs. This will be a win-win for all stakeholders including farmers.
The strident opposition by Congress and others is sheer political opportunism aimed at embarrassing Modi – dispensation. It is aimed at obstructing Modi from taking his development agenda forward and then, turn around to castigate him for not redeeming his promises thereby denting his image further in the eyes of public.
The true colors of opposition brigade get exposed when one takes cognizance of the fact that the government brought in these amendments after consulting over 30 states and UTs and some Congress-ruled chief ministers & an ex-union minister strongly pitching for dropping ‘consent’ & ‘SIA’ clauses as these were rendering land acquisition ‘impossible’!
Even as Congress is in a totally un-compromising and un-relenting mode and given that BJP is in minority in Rajya Sabha, Team Modi will need to make extra efforts using all available tactics and strategies at its command to persuade other opposition parties to extend support like it has done in getting the Mines and Minerals (Development & Regulation) Act passed.
If the above does not work out, the government should pursue the option of convening a joint sitting of both the houses (Lok Sabha & Rajya Sabha) to get the amendments through and pave the way for putting India on a fast growth trajectory.