NAC for written consent of 75 pc farmers for land acquisition

New Delhi, May 25 (PTI) Against the backdrop of the
farmers' stir in Greater Noida, Sonia Gandhi-led NAC Wednesday
proposed that acquisition of land for development should have
consent of three-fourth of village councils and provide for
compensation six times the registered value.
At its meeting chaired by Gandhi here, the NAC reached a
consensus on combining the Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill,
and Resettlement and Rehabilitation Bill into a single
National Development, Acquisition, Displacement and
Rehabilitation Bill.
"All land transfers for public purpose must come under the
purview of this law," Aruna Roy, member NAC, told reporters
here.
The various suggestions made by the NAC included the one
requiring written consent of 75 per cent of the farmers and
gram sabhas for acquiring their land for development projects.
It implies that the rest 25 per cent will have to follow suit.
One of the recommendations to the government would be
giving farmers six times the registered value of their land as
compensation, Harsh Mander, another NAC member and convenor of
the Working Group on Land Acquisition and Resettlement and
Rehabilitation, said.
He said there was consensus in the Council on inclusion of
persons working on the land into the category of project-
affected persons which would make them eligible for receiving
compensation.
"This would recognise the most invisible persons in the
land acquisition process who lose their source of livelihood
once the land is acquired," Mander said.