Land Acquisition

We do like to invest for our future benefits. Investment in House or Plot is consider to be one of the best investment. But now we have encountered few cases where Lands were forcefully or inappropriately acquired. There were few Laws and agreement on Land regulations which needs to be imposed.

Land acquisition means legal acquisition of land by the government (central or state) or government agency for some public purpose (like educational institute, hospitals etc.) from the individual landowner by paying a fixed compensation. Be it Mayawati's invocation of 'emergency powers' to acquire land in Greater Noida or Tata-Singur land issue, or the latest, POSCO's project halted at Jagatsinghpur demanding enhanced compensation to land losers. Land acquisition are disturbing not only policymakers and industry but also the civil society and the citizens.

who defines the market value of land? This is especially relevant in a scenario where land is not routinely bought and sold. As a result, the market price of land becomes a nebulous concept. The buyer has to negotiate the price of land with each seller who may have a different perception of the market price.
While we should learn from the states that have managed to acquire land successfully, it is necessary to adopt new innovations. We need complete digitisation of land records throughout the country to ensure that the rightful owner benefits from the compensation measures.

The apex realty body CREDAI said that purchase of private land should not be covered under the proposed land acquisition bill else housing prices would rise sharply and the township development would be difficult.

The Ministry of Rural Development has posted 'The Draft National Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation and Resettlement (R&R) Bill, 2011' on its website for public comments. According to the draft, R&R provisions will apply only when private firms buy land, equal to or more than 100 acres, on their own and if they approach the government for partial acquisition for public purpose. No private land acquisition should be covered under the proposed Act. If this is covered, housing prices will go up.

In case of urban areas, the compensation amount would be not less than twice that of the market value determined, whereas in rural areas it would be multiple times the original market value."In R&R benefits, the stipulation regarding giving 20 per cent of the developed land back to owner will make township project which are out of reach for middle-class buyer," CREDAI said.