(a) whether the Union Government cantake action against States on noncompliance of the
National Rehabilitation and Resettlement Policy, 2007 by the Statesbecause it had been
formed as a guideline policy only;
(b) if so, the details thereof and thereaction of the Government thereto;
(c) if not, the purpose of formulatingsuch a policy under which the noncompliance does not
invite any punitive action; and
(d) the remedial steps taken/being takenby the Government in this regard?
MINISTER OF STATE FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT (SHRI LALCHAND KATARIA)
(a) to (d): To address various issues related to land acquisition and rehabilitation & resettlement s this Department has
formulated a revised National Rehabilitation & Resettlement Policy (NRRP), 2007, which has been published in the Gazette of
India on 31st October,2007 and has been circulated to all the Gol/Ministries/Departments and the various States/UTs for its
implementation. NRRP-2007 specifies that prior to initiating the acquisition of land for a project, the appropriate
Government should inter-alia, take into consideration the alternatives that will minimize the displacement of people due
to the acquisition of land for the project, minimize the total area of land to be acquired for the project and minimize the
acquisition of agricultural land for non-agricultural use in the project.The policy is in the form of guidelines. 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. It 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 13 th September, 2011. The Committee after detailed examination has submitted It`s 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 was placed before the Cabinet
on 13th December, 2012 and it has approved the said Official amendments to the LARR Bill, 2011. This Department intends to
introduce the Official amendments to the LARR Bill, 2011 in the Lok Sabha in the Winter Session of the Parliament.