Land bill provision may compound red tape woes - " In a bid to envision all scenarios, the bill may defeat its own goals like fair compensation to those displaced as the process is too long drawn." New Delhi: The stellar role bestowed to social impact assessment (SIA) in the land acquisition bill mainstreams concerns over the ‘cost’ of development, but its ambit could spell severe overreach that can tie up projects in swathes of red tape. Ensuring land acquisition is resorted to only if necessary and providing adequate compensation to the displaced is both politically correct and socially desirable, but the devil may lie in the provisions’ fine print. The social impact of a project — within a prescribed timeframe — covers not only directly affected people, but also those residing nearby and takes into account factors like the likely fallout on burial and cremation grounds. Trying to reach a costbenefit analysis of a project, the SIA will look at public and community properties, infrastructure like roads, public transport, drainage, sanitation, drinking water for people and cattle, ponds, grazing land and plantations. It will also examine public utilities like post offices, fair price shops, food storage, electricity supply, healthcare, schools and training facilities, anganwadis, children parks, places of worship and land for tribal institutions. The list is not complete and an expert committee can frame its inquiry keeping in mind the bill’s intent that no significant aspect should be discounted. As there are no easy yardsticks for such assessment, carrying out the study can be a daunting task. In a bid to envision all scenarios, the bill could defeat its very objectives like providing fair compensation to displaced people or protecting them from unnecessary dislocation as the process seems too long drawn. Trying to write into law iron-clad protection for all displaced people, the bill seeks to frame an SIA that can end up duplicating or elaborating aspects of the environmental impact assessment most projects need. Public hearings or gram sabha consultations increase transparency, but can be time consuming while concluding whether a project serves public purpose, if its benefits can be judged in the immediate context or future deliverables is often a subjective decision. Source: TOI / Aug 30, 2013
Posted on: Fri, 30 Aug 2013 05:45:24 +0000
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