Mamata’s pre-poll campaign and post winning actions over land acquisitions are poles apart
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is reluctant to recompense those losing land at rates set by a central law. The irony is that her agitation over land acquisition for industries had catapulted her to the power. The Singur Tata Nano project agitation is still fresh in our minds.
West Bengal is yet to implement the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013. This law replaced the Land Acquisition Act of 1894, on January 1 this year.
The new law requires the state governments to offer four and two times the market value of the land being acquired in the countryside and around towns, respectively.
The state government has said it will pay four times the market value only if the land is least 120 km away from a town. At a less distance, the compensation should be at the rate set for towns. A West Bengal government official who did not wish to be named mentioned that the price of land in rural areas adjacent to cities is already quite high. He feels that it will be fair only if the rural areas are graded on distance and the compensation is fixed accordingly.
Chandrima Bhattacharya the law minister of West Bengal recently wrote to New Delhi, saying compensation was a reason for not implementing the new law. However the good news is that the West Bengal government is seeking a meeting with the Union law minister before giving its consent to the law.
Source- Business Standard
Land Acquisition Act of 1894, Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Rehabilitation, Singur Tata Nano project
