Telangana Assembly have passed ‘The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Telangana Amend) Act 2016‘ Bill.
This Act wrests the right to acquire land for public good and in the “national interest”.
This Act brings in amendments to the Central Act passed during the UPA regime to remove certain provisions that, the government feels, obstructing its developmental plans.
It brings in Chapter III-A in the principal act, giving the State government power to acquire land for projects of national importance, infrastructure projects (electrification and irrigation), affordable housing and housing for the poor, industrial corridors and for infrastructure projects taken up by the government and through public-private partnerships.
The state wants to complete the projects by speeding up land acquisition under the new Act.
The state government which was of the opinion that the central government’s Act “The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013’’ would delay the land acquisition process and execution of various projects, had earlier issued two separate GOs.
But following strong opposition from all quarters and the legal hurdles facing in implementation of the GO 123 issued for quick land procurement from land owners, it has decided to enact a new law.
The opposition parties moved the court against the implementation of GO 123 alleging that the order deprived the displaced persons at the proposed Mallanna Sagar reservoir of their right to get good compensation.
The Central Government Act, 2013 introduced processes like Social Impact Assessment (SIA), development plan etc. At each and every step, the Act has introduced mandatory time gaps before which the next step cannot start.
It was decided to enact a state legislation for the state of Telangana for procurement of lands for public purposes in a speedy manner with higher compensation and rehabilitation and resettlement entitlements, duly amending the RFCTLARR Act, 2013 for its application to the state of Telangana.
The Telangana Bill was aimed at ensuring expeditious procurement of land for public purposes by participation of land owners in the development process by willingly selling their lands and properties on the basis of agreement. It involves negotiations with the land owners for finalisation of compensation for their lands being procured, based on the prevailing market value of the land in that area.
In the new bill, the TRS government tried to tweak the Central Land Acquisition Act 2013 after facing stiff opposition in acquiring land for several irrigation projects.