The Bill also proposes changes in provision in the central Act that imposed penalty — imprisonment of the land acquisition officers — if the land was not acquired within a stipulated time. The Gujarat government is expected to table a Bill in the Assembly Thursday to bring crucial amendments to the 2013 land acquisition Act, including relaxation of the clauses of social impact assessment and need for consent of land owners. It has proposed around 10 key changes in the original Act — The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, enacted by the previous UPA government at the Centre — on the ground that the law has made land acquisition “a very lengthy and difficult proposition”.
The proposed amendments seek to exempt projects under five categories from social impact assessment and food security provisions, and also bring in a deadline for possession and compensation, failing which the acquisition would lapse. The Bill also proposes changes in provision in the central Act that imposed penalty — imprisonment of the land acquisition officers — if the land was not acquired within a stipulated time.
