MAY 2015

POINT
OUT
COVER STORY
land will need to be returned will be the
later of: (i) five years, or (ii) any period
specified at the time of setting up the
project.
Acquisition of land for private entities:
Under the 2013 Act, as mentioned
above, land can be acquired for
the government, a public-private
partnership, or a private company, if
the acquisition serves a public purpose.
The third major change the Bill seeks
to make is that it changes the term
‘private company’ to ‘private entity’. This
implies that land may now be acquired
for a proprietorship, partnership,
corporation, non-profit organisation,
or other entity, in addition to a private
company, if the project serves a public
purpose.
Offences by the government: Fourthly,
under the 2013 Act, if an offence
is committed by a government
department, the head of the department
will be held guilty unless he can show
that he had exercised due diligence to
prevent the commission of the offence.
The Bill removes this section. It adds a
provision to state that if an offence is
acquisition of land for
private entities: under the
2013 act, as mentioned
above, land can be acquired
for the government, a
public-private partnership,
or a private company, if the
acquisition serves a public
purpose.
committed by a government employee,
he can be prosecuted only with the prior
sanction of the government.
Acquisition of land for private hospitals
and educational institutions: While
the 2013 Act excluded acquisition of
land for private hospitals and private
educational institutions, the Bill sought
to include these two within its scope.
However, the Lok Sabha removed this
provision of the Bill. Thus, in its present
form, the Bill does not include the
acquisition of land for private hospitals
and private educational institutions.
Other changes proposed in Lok
Sabha: In addition to removing social
infrastructure from one of the five
exempted categories of projects,
clarifying the definition of industrial
corridors, and removing the provision
related to acquisition for private
hospitals and private educational
institutions, the Lok Sabha made a
few other changes to the Bill, prior
to passing it. These include: (i)
employment must be provided to ‘one
member of an affected family of farm
labour’ as a part of the R&R award, in
addition to the current provision which
specifies that one member of an affected
family must be provided employment
as a part of R&R; (ii) hearings of the
Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and
Resettlement Authority to address
grievances related to compensation be
held in the district where land is being
acquired; and (iii) a survey of wasteland
must be conducted and records of these
land must be maintained.
20
maY 2015