“Critical Review of NPRR-2007 & MPAPRA-1999 with regards to provisions related to R&R”

(1) BACKGROUND
The British who laid down the Land Acquisition Act 1894 (LAA-1894) never had any interest in the welfare and rights of the rural people. Land was acquired in an unjust and imperial manner which continue till after independence. With the passing of LAA-1894, the Government got the right to acquire private land anywhere in India, with the sole exception of Jammu & Kashmir for public purpose.
The Government of India (GoI), other state governments and public companies initiated policy formation to provide relief up to certain level to the project affection persons (PAP) due to developmental activities. Accordingly, GoI approved the National Policy on Rehabilitation and Resettlement (NPRR), 2007, to replace the National Policy on Resettlement and Rehabilitation 2003. The new policy and the associated legislative measures aim at striking a balance between the need for land for developmental activities and, at the same time, protecting the interests of the land owners, and others, such as the tenants, the landless, the agricultural and non-agricultural labourers, artisans, and others whose livelihood depends on the land involved. The benefits under the new Policy shall be available to all affected persons and families whose land, property or livelihood is adversely affected by land acquisition or by involuntary displacement of a permanent nature due to any other reason, such as natural calamities.
In 1965, Government of Maharashtra (GoM) accepted the need to rehabilitate Displaced Persons (DP) and thus established the Rehabilitate Directorate at the then Sachivalaya. In 1975 GoM accepted the suggestions of this agency and passed the Maharashtra Project Affected Persons Rehabilitation Act, 1976. Further, the act was modified in 1986 and in 1999 and now the prevailing act in the state is Maharashtra Project Affected Persons Rehabilitation Act, 1999 (MPAPRA-1999). The objective of the MPAPRA-1999 is to consolidate and amend the laws relating to the rehabilitation of persons affected by certain projects in the state of Maharashtra and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. This act is applicable to projects being executed all over the state of Maharashtra. It does not cover inter-state projects. Firstly the act applies to all irrigation projects where the affected area is more than 50 Ha of land or where the command area under the irrigation project is more than 200 Ha or Gaothan is affected, irrespective of extent of land concerned. According to this act, an affected person is eligible for alternate agricultural land, plot for residential purpose, preferential employment, and civic amenities in rehabilitated village.
In this project report, we emphasis on the NPRR-2007 & MPAPRA-1999 and we will try to compare the both in terms of provisions for R&R. We will consider major irrigation project, named as Lower Pedhi Project, located at Amravati district of Maharashtra state, for this purpose.
(2) OBJECTIVES
Right of dignity of an individual guaranteed under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution is the fundamental principle behind all the acts and policies related to Rehabilitation and Resettlement (R&R). None of the R&R policy recognize the right of Rehabilitation.
Present study focus on historical back ground and various provisions of the NPRR-2007 and MPAPRA-1999. Both, viz. policy and act are emerged as evolution since last 50 years and in this project report, the emphasis is on comparing the provisions in both. Project affected persons are kept at focus in this project report.
Various provisions of the policy and act are considered and accordingly financial requirements are calculated for Lower Pedhi Project. Thus project report will also provide a tool to evaluate financial requirements as per policy and act.
(3) OUTPUTS
The output derived from this project report will be useful for the project implementing authority and government at large for taking appropriate steps so as to provide maximum benefits to the PAP which are in accordance to the NPRR-2007 and MPAPRA-1999. The lacuna or contract provisions, if any will be evaluated in a greater depth so as to formulate universal procedure of R&R.
(4) UTILITY OF WORK
The present report will emphasis on important provisions of NPRR-2007 and MPARA-1999 keeping PAP at the centre of attention. The PAP will understand their rights as per policy and act so that they can maximize the amount of compensation or facilities in R&R. Project Implementing Agency will find this report useful for making appropriate allocation in the annual budget.
(5) RESEARCH REQUIREMENT
This project report is based on the NPRR-2003, 2007 and MPAPRA-1976,1986 and 1999 and various government resolutions issued in the area of R&R. The information about the affected persons from Lower Pedhi Project is collected from the concerned implementing agency and the local self government.
(6) BENEFICIARIES
Since, I am working as a part of project implementing authority, belonging to Government of Maharashtra, I will be the first user of this information. The provisions of NPRR-2007 and MPAPRA-1999 will be made clear to me in order to execute the same in most efficient manner. This project report will also provide benefits to other concerned offices, in order to evaluate the provisions for other irrigation or development projects in general. PAP will also get information about their rights.
(7) ASSUMPTIONS
While preparing this project report, emphasis is kept on getting accurate information about the PAP and project details. In order to achieve this, information received from one department is crosschecked by other departments, in order to minimize the human or any other errors, in the information. Since it is not possible to collect accurate information, such as valuation details of each PAP, average compensation rates are considered.