Rajasthan’s Nindar, where farmers launched a desperate protest against land acquisition

Rajasthan’s Nindar, where farmers launched a desperate protest against land acquisition

Context
To protest against land acquisition by the Jaipur Development Authority (JDA) for a housing project at Nindar, farmers performed an unusual demonstration by digging pits and trenches and buried themselves waist – deep in the earth.

Peasants’ plight.

• The unique protest generated immense public sympathy and forced the government to hold talks with the farmers.
  

What did landowners object?

• The Rajasthan government had acquired 1,350 bighas of land at Nindar in several stages since 2010 for a lavish housing project, despite the land owners refusing to accept compensation.
• The farmers are trying to save their land from forcible acquisition.
• Farmers are blaming JDA by saying that the JDA’s survey was faulty and the compensation was much below market prices.
• After some farmers lost court battle, they surrendered 283 bighas. Nearly 5,000 families would have been affected.
• However, the JDA insisted on getting possession of the entire 1,350 bighas, including 150 bighas of the mandir maafi (exempted for temples) land for which it deposited ₹60 crore in the court as compensation.
• The JDA’s project was touted as its biggest scheme with 6,000 houses and residential plots.

What is the Land Policy?

• Land acquisition in the State is governed by a policy framed in April 2016 under the Central law, the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.
• The policy’s emphasis is on conducting negotiations with landowners and reaching consensus on compensation and rehabilitation by the Collector, while taking into consideration the land’s existing market value.
• Separately, the State government has enacted a Land Pooling Schemes Act to consolidate small landholdings for the areas declared special investment regions.
• The land acquisition at Nindar was the first instance of forcible takeover of farmland with the payment of inadequate compensation, primarily because the land was acquired in several stages, while compensation was offered at the rates prevailing in 2010.
• Farmers have taken the matter to the High Court earlier in 2013, contending that the State Land Revenue Act entitled farmers to negotiations and the best price in lieu of the rights of agricultural land allotted for mining purposes.
  

Why did farmers bury themselves?

• To intensify their agitation when they did not get a response from the government and came up with the novel idea of Zameen Samadhi Satyagraha.
• On October 2, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, the farmers dug pits and buried themselves waist-deep in a “non-violent method” of showing their anger at the government.
• Forty-year-old Nagendra Singh Shekhawat led the agitation as convener of the Nindar Bachao Yuva Kisan Sangharsh Samiti.
  

What lies ahead?

• The State government and JDA officers did not respond initially, but with the protesters not budging despite dehydration and skin infection, sympathy among the residents of the nearby Vidyadhar Nagar increased and Congress leaders Sachin Pilot and C.P. Joshi visited them to express solidarity.
• As public pressure mounted, the BJP government invited the farmers for talks.
  After prolonged negotiations, the JDA agreed to a fresh survey, in which all structures, tubewells and fruit-bearing trees would be included.
• The Sangharsh Samiti called off the agitation on October 31.
• The farmers are hopeful that the new survey will reflect the ground situation and ensure better compensation, against the previous assessment which marked several agricultural fields as barren and showed hamlets as vacant land.
• The farmers are looking forward to the findings of the survey, for which new teams have been appointed by the JDA

The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.

• The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Bill, 2015 was introduced in the Lok Sabha by the Minister for Rural Development, Mr. Birender Singh on February 24, 2015.  The Bill amends the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (LARR Act, 2013).
• The Bill replaces the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Ordinance, 2014.

In addition,  the Bill permits the government to exempt projects in these five categories from the following provisions, through a notification:

• The LARR Act, 2013 requires that a Social Impact Assessment be conducted to identify affected families and calculate the social impact when land is acquired.
• The LARR Act, 2013 imposes certain restrictions on the acquisition of irrigated multi-cropped land and other agricultural land.  For example, irrigated multi-cropped land cannot be acquired beyond the limit specified by the appropriate government.
• Return of unutilised land: The LARR Act, 2013 required land acquired under it which remained unutilised for five years, to be returned to the original owners or the land bank.

The Bill states that the period after which unutilised land will need to be returned will be:

• five years, or
• any period specified at the time of setting up the project, whichever is later.
  

Time period for retrospective application:

• The LARR Act, 2013 states that the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 will continue to apply in certain cases, where an award has been made under the 1894 Act.  However, if such an award was made five years or more before the enactment of the LARR Act, 2013, and the physical possession of land has not been taken or compensation has not been paid, the LARR Act, 2013 will apply.
  

The Bill states that in calculating this time period, any period during which the proceedings of acquisition were held up:

• due to a stay order of a court, or
• a period specified in the award of a Tribunal for taking possession, or
• any period where possession has been taken but the compensation is lying deposited in a court or any account, will not be counted.
  

Other changes:

• The LARR Act, 2013 excluded the acquisition of land for private hospitals and private educational institutions from its purview.  The Bill removes this restriction.
• While the LARR Act, 2013 was applicable for the acquisition of land for private companies, the Bill changes this to acquisition for ‘private entities’.  A private entity is an entity other than a government entity, and could include a proprietorship, partnership, company, corporation, non-profit organisation, or other entity under any other law.
• The LARR Act, 2013 stated that if an offence is committed by the government, the head of the department would be deemed guilty unless he could show that the offence was committed without his knowledge, or that he had exercised due diligence to prevent the commission of the offence.  The Bill replaces this provision and states that if an offence is committed by a government official, he cannot be prosecuted without the prior sanction of the government.
  

What is Land Pooling?

• Land Pooling is a concept that where small chunks of land are owned by group of owners who assemble for the development of infrastructure.
• After the development of the land, the Land Pooling agency redistributed the land after deducting some portion as compensation towards infrastructure costs.
• This is done to develop and bring out the potential of housing and infrastructure to reduce the load on the existing congested and saturated areas.