Land Acquisition Process Made Easy – What Do You Need to Know?

The old Land Acquisition Act, 1894 was revised to Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill in 2011. The bill was aimed to usher in more transparency in land acquisition procedures and provide fair compensation, and rehabilitation to the project-affected people. It mandated for organizations to rearrange benefits like land for employment, land and housing but one-time cash payments to people whose land was acquired.

1. The entire process of land acquisition starts off with land title verification. The owner of the property and therefore the area is verified by tallying the survey number of the land. In States, where digitized land records are available the method, becomes easier. A central portal can store plot-wise ownership data captured from Records of Right (RoR) and Register of Mutation. Else, the identical is often accessed from the land records department of the corresponding state.

2. Once verified, Land acquisition is done through Acquisition under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 or Private negotiations with the landowners or Acquisition through other Acts. the method of LARR is often integrated and tracked through an IT system for better management.

4. On conduction of SIA, an expert group from the government reviews the SIA report and decides whether the project can move or be rejected together with justifications

5. If approved, an initial acquisition notice together with details of the plot must be published within the official gazette and a couple of daily local newspapers in this locality for the general public

6. As a mandate, 60 days are provided to the final public for raising any objections before the collector

7. Next, Land survey reports, a close package for resettlement and rehabilitation have to be prepared by the Administrator, reviewed by the collector and made public. The estimates are auto-calculated through software fed with the proper logic.

8. Publication of the ultimate declaration of the acquisition with a summary of the RnR scheme is completed afterward

9. Next, the land is marked, measured, and planned by the collector and project head

10. A final notice must be published for the people for compensation, rehabilitation, and resettlement claims before the Collector. Claims have to be done within 60 days of final notice publication.

11. The Land acquisition award is then made to people claiming compensation and rehabilitation and resettlement. It is done after an inquiry by the collector. Payment details of the identical area are to be captured and stored by the organization’s finance system.

12. Finally, the possession of land is taken by the Collector.

The land acquisition process might delay because of lapses in title verification, litigation, and disputes ending up in huge financial losses. Therefore, it’s essential to keep monitoring the steps for verifying the land title and in the subsequent acquisition. Central storage of all data, smooth approval and clearance processes and following tasks diligently can make the project hassle-free and faster. Even after the acquisition, it’s mandatory to store all documents and data in an exceedingly way it will be retrieved whenever required. You can smoothen your land acquisition process with help of any GIS-based land management system which stores all the data and manages it in detail.