New Delhi: Is Jairam Ramesh's elevation to the Cabinet rank as Union Minister for Rural Development meant to provide greater teeth to the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC)?
Is the move also designed to ensure that NAC has a decisive sway over the land acquisition amendment bill, a version of which has been drafted by the government. The Rural Development Ministry is entrusted with the task of accelerating the socio-economic development of rural India. It focuses on agricultural productivity, sanitation solutions, employment generation, food security among others.
Among the principal programmes of the Rural Development Ministry, the largest and the most important is inarguably the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS).
It is a brainchild of NAC and in particular of its member Jean Dreze, the noted development economist. NAC has also taken active interest in other programmes under the ministry like Bharat Nirman and Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) in the past.
NAC has suggested certain changes to the land acquisition amendment bill which have been disregarded by the Government of India on June 10, 2011.
Terming the NAC recommendations 'appropriate but difficult to implement', the Rural Development Ministry had decided to go ahead with the previous Land Acquisition Bill, which was supposed to be sent to the Union Law Ministry for preparation of the final draft.
Former Union Rural Development Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh had then said that the recommendations of NAC were "in principle correct but difficult to implement".
"Hundred per cent acquisitions would not have been accepted by people. So, we have decided to stick to the 70:30 formula," he had added. NAC has recommended 100 per cent acquisition by the government while government felt that 70 per cent of land should be acquired by a private company for its project.
As land is a state subject, state governments would have the liberty to amend the act as per their needs, the Centre said.
NAC had prescribed a seven-point test for a having a humane legislation on land acquisition and rehabilitation.
NAC sent a letter to the Centre, suggesting a check list of seven parameters which include provisions for a rehabilitation package that is sensitive to those affected.
The checklist is as mentioned below:
1) Does it discourage forced displacement?
2) Does it minimise adverse impacts on people, habitats, environment and biodiversity?
3) Does it minimise adverse impacts on food security by actively discouraging acquisition of agricultural land, and promoting local economies?
4) Does it comprehensively define project affected persons/families?
5) Does it provide for a just compensation and rehabilitation package, sensitive to the aspirations, culture, community, natural resource base and skill base of the affected people?
6) Does it ensure humane, participatory, informed, consultative and transparent process?
7) Does it provide for effective implementation?
"The test for any such legislation should be on these parameters," read the letter sent by the NAC to the Centre.
The Rural Development Ministry, under Vilasrao Deshmukh, also ignored the Sonia Gandhi-led NAC’s advice to fix compensation at six times that of the sum mentioned in the registered land deed.
The draft bill accepted only one NAC suggestion: That if the land remains unused for five years from the time of acquisition, it will be returned to the original owner/s.
Jairam Ramesh has proven himself to be an uncompromising and fair negotiator with the industry during his tenure as minister of environment and forests. If norms were flouted, except in the case of POSCO, he came down heavily on state governments and industries.
NAC will feel that with an activist like Ramesh at the helm of the Rural Development Ministry, its say in tuning the Land Acquisition bill to the advantage of people displaced will be decisive. Ramesh is also widely held as close to 10, Janpath, and Congress scion Rahul Gandhi.
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