government's intention on land acqisition is under question

Akhilesh Suman

New Delhi

No government is implementing the existing Rehabilitation and Resettlement provisions contained in the Constitution in case of forcible land acquisition, even when the chief ministers shed tears that absence of proper law had prevented them in giving adequate compensation to the evicted farmers.

Former Union Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh is going to file a law suit in an appropriate court to force the executive to meet out the mismatch.

According to existing status, Union Government has adopted Rehabilitation and Resettlement policy 2007 and state governments may use this for the compensation package.

This fact was accepted by Railway Minister Mamata Bannerjee in the previous sessions of Lok Sabha.

Gazette of India, 2007, clause 7.13.1 mentions constitutional provision on page 51, that clearly say that the Policy

“In case of a project involving land acquisition on behalf of a requiring party, (a) shall give preference to the affected families, at least one person per nuclear family in providing employment in the project, (b) wherever necessary, the acquiring body arrange for training of the affected persons so as to enable such persons to take on a suitable job.”

But amazingly neither in Yamuna Expressway, nor anywhere else this policy is being utilized by the state governments specifically as in most of the cases acquiring party is the state government.

“Rehabilitation and Resettlement policy is as good as an act till a suitable law is enacted in by Parliament,” Singh told Central Chronicle.

He is going to file the case in context of eviction of families while acquisition of land in creating Hazipur, Sugauli, Chhapra, and Muzaffarpur rail lines. The request of providing job to the affected families should have gone through state government to Ministry of Railway, but state government did not initiate this process.

In case of Yamuna Express too, Uttar Pradesh Chief Ministry Mayawati did not initiate the process of employment to the affected families, even she was crying foul for Centre not preparing Law in this regard.