(a) whether the Government proposes to address the issue of compulsory acquisition of land for `Public Purpose`
with regard to national interest;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) the specific provisions in the new Rehabilitation and Resettlement Policy for the Project Affected People of such projects;
(d) whether the Government plans on amending the exemption of the Ministry from conducting Social and Environmental Impact Assessment for such projects; and
(e) if so, the details thereof?
MINISTER OF STATE FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT (SHRI LALCHAND KATARIA)
(a) to (b): Public Purpose? has been defined comprehensively in the ?Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and ResettlementBill,2011?.The aforesaid Bill has been introduced in the Lok Sabha on 7th September,2011.
(c) to (e): To address various issues related to land acquisition and rehabilitation & resettlement this Department has formulated the National Rehabilitation & Resettlement Policy (NRRP), 2007, which has been published in the Gazette of India on 31st October. 2007. It has provisions for payment of market based compensation for land being acquired and providing benefits to the affected families. Chapter- IV of the Policy deals with Social Impact Assessment (SIA) Study for various projects. To give legal backing to the Policy, this Department has prepared ?The Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation & Resettlement (LARR) Bill, 2011. The LARR Bill, 2011 was approved by the Cabinet on 5th September, 2011 and was
introduced in the Parliament on 7th September, 2011. The Bill was referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee
on Rural Development by the Hon?ble Speaker Lok Sabha on 13th September, 2011. The Committee after detailed examination has submitted its 31st Report on the above Bill to the Lok Sabha on 17th May, 2012 which was laid in the Rajya Sabha on the same day. The recommendations contained in the 31st Report had been examined in the Department. Based on the recommendations or
otherwise, note for the Cabinet for the official amendments to the LARR Bill, 2011 was prepared and sent to the Cabinet
Secretariat. The Cabinet Note for the official amendments to the LARR Bill, 2011 was considered by the Cabinet in its meeting held on 28th August, 2012. As per the decision of the Cabinet, the matter was considered by a Group of Ministers (GoM) in
its three meetings held on 27th September,2012, 8th and 16th October,2012.
The GoM has finalized its report and the matter is in the process of being placed before the Cabinet. This Department intends to introduce the Official amendments to the LARR Bill, 2011 in the Lok Sabha in the Winter Session of the Parliament.