Lok Sabha Question No. 532 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-11-28
Subject: Acquisition of Tribal Land
Ministry: TRIBAL AFFAIRS
Asked by: Shri Tanuj Punia

## 532. SHRI TANUJ PUNIA:

Will the Minister of Tribal Affairs be pleased to state:

(a) whether tribal land has been acquired for mining, industrialization and non-agricultural purposes during the last three years;

- (b) if so, the details thereof, State-wise;
- (c) whether the Government has assessed the impact of such acquisition on tribal communities; and

(d) if so, the details thereof and the corrective measures taken by the Government to prevent/check indiscriminate acquisition/diversion of tribal land for industrialization and other development projects?

## ANSWER

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## ACQUISITION OF TRIBAL LAND

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR TRIBAL AFFAIRS (SHRI DURGA DAS UIKEY)

(a) to  (d): Ministry  of  Rural  Development,  Department  of  Land  Resources  (DoLR) is  Nodal  Ministry  at  the Centre who plays a monitoring role in the field of land reforms. However, Land and its management fall under the exclusive legislative  and administrative jurisdiction of States as provided under the Constitution of India (Seventh Schedule- List II (State List)- Entry No. (18). Therefore, the details of tribal land acquired for mining, industrialization and non-agricultural purposes is not centrally maintained.

To protect and safeguarding the land rights of  STs and to address the issue of  Land Acquisition and displacement of tribals, following Constitutional and legal provisions have been put in place:-

(1) Constitutional  provisions  under  Schedule-V provide  for  safeguards  against  displacement  of  tribal population because of land acquisitions etc. The Governor of the State which has scheduled Areas is empowered to prohibit or restrict transfer of land from tribals and regulate the allotment of land to members of the Scheduled Tribes in such cases. Para 5.2 of the V Schedule of the Constitution has a predominant object of imposing total prohibition on transferring immovable property in a scheduled area to any person other than a tribal.

(2) The Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 (in short PESA) also provides that "The Gram Sabha or the Panchayats at the appropriate level shall be consulted before making the acquisition of land in the Scheduled Areas for development projects and before re-settling or rehabilitating persons affected by such projects in the Scheduled Areas".

(3) The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act " (in short, FRA) enacted in 2006 provides adequate safeguards with regards to evictions as given under Section 4(5) which  reads  as "Save  as  otherwise  provided,  no  member  of  a  Forest  Dwelling  Scheduled  Tribe  or  Other Traditional Forest Dweller shall be evicted or removed from forest land under his occupation till the recognition and verification procedure is complete".

- (4) The  Scheduled  Castes  and  the  Scheduled  Tribes  (Prevention  of  Atrocities)  Act,  1989 provides punishment  for  wrongfully  dispossessing  members  of  the  Scheduled  Tribes  from  their  land  or  premises  or interfering with the enjoyment of their rights, including forest rights, over any land or premises or water or irrigation facilities or destroying the crops or taking away the produce there from amount to offence of atrocities and are subject to punishment under the said Act.

(5) The  Right  to  Fair  Compensation  and  Transparency  in  Land  Acquisition,  Rehabilitation,  and Resettlement Act, 2013 (RFCTLARR Act, 2013) has special provisions for STs, which have been spelled out under Sections 41 and 42.

- (i) The First Schedule of the RFCTLARR Act provides for compensation for land owners. As per Section 3(r)(ii) of the RFCTLARR, 2013, 'land owner' includes any person who is granted forest rights under FRA, 2006(2 of 2007) or under any other law for the time being in force.

(ii) The Second Schedule of the RFCTLARR , provide for element of rehabilitation and resettlement for all the effected families (both land owners and the families whose livelihood is primarily dependent on land acquired) in addition to those provided in the first Schedule.

(iii) The Third Schedule of the RFCTLARR, provide for infrastructural amenities for a reasonably habitable and  planned  settlement  in  the  resettlement  area.  Right  to  Fair  Compensation  and  Transparency  in  Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and RFCTLARR Act, 2013 further spells out the procedure for identification of the affected persons/ families [sub-section (c) of Section 3], determining and calculating the compensation amount (Section 26 to 29), as well as mechanisms for developing rehabilitation and resettlement processes (Chapters V and VI).

- (6) The Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act, 2015 also stipulate for acquisition of land for coal mining purpose in accordance with the provisions of the LARR Act, 2013, thus implying that the safeguards for the Scheduled Tribes as laid down in the LARR Act, 2013 will have to be followed while acquiring land for coal mining.
- (7) The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2015 also stipulates that the  State  Governments  while  making  rules  for  the  District  Mineral  Foundation  shall  keep  the  provisions contained in Article 244 read with Fifth and Sixth Schedules to the Constitution , PESA Act, 1996 and the Forest Rights Act, 2006 in view.

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