States need to be afraid of Modi's Land Acquisition Bill

Just a 500km drive down the rural hinterland, away from the government's drumbeat on land acquisition, would be sufficient to realise that the BJP has not only failed to gauge the temperature of rural politics before seeking changes in the land law but also remained oblivious to the economic realities of deceleration in income and jobs in rural economy.

However, the most shocking disconnect comes from the governance of land. State governments had started acquiring land more deftly, accommodating concerns of farmers and industries at the state level. The Modi government, however, in its overconfidence, has ignited land politics across the country and, in turn, weakened the efforts of states. 

The land acquisition law brought in by the UPA was not pleasant for industries but it had evolved through a process of consensus, involving all political parties including the BJP. As land is a state subject, states had gradually started convincing farmers on land acquisition and balancing the concern of industries in the course of changes in state legislation. The Uttar Pradesh government acquired 30,000 hectares of land from farmers over the last two years.

This was not an en masse acquisition. The district collectors deliberated with individual land owners and got their land registered in favour of government after paying better compensation.

If data from the Uttar Pradesh government is to be believed, 28,000 such registrations have been made till date. The provision of evaluating economic and social impact of large acquisitions and seeking the consent of 80 per cent of land owners may cause a delay in infrastructure projects. The Rajasthan government tried to balance it by proposing an increase in compensation for farmers. The select committee of the state assembly suggested a few pro farming proposals to balance the law further. 

Western and southern states have expedited land acquisition by land pooling. Under this procedure the government acquires smaller patches of land from farmers to make a larger package and builds infrastructure thereon. The government returns land to the owners after deducting the development cost. This increases the land value and the owners or sellers fetch better prices from private developers.

The Chhattisgarh government had successfully replicated the land pooling experiment of Gujarat in the city of New Raipur. The Andhra Pradesh government has obtained 30,000 acres of land in Vijayavada in three months through land pooling. But after the recent political storm over land, Andhra Pradesh will find it difficult to pool 15,000 acres of land for its Vizag airport. Land pooling is not going to be easy in the national capital Delhi as well after the "land-war".  

Land is a sensitive issue. The state governments can manage acquisition more skilfully.  It could have been politically prudent to let the states accommodate corporate interest in the land laws, in the beginning. BJP has approached the land issue without sufficient homework, despite having a fresh and popular mandate under its belt.

The tearing hurry to promulgate the land acquisition ordinance has provided an opportunity to the demoralised Opposition to unite, while a stalemate on this issue is destroying the "feel-good" factor of the new government. Even if amendments to the Land Acquisition Act are passed in Parliament, the negative environment will take its toll on real investment on the ground.