Lok Sabha Question No. 1265 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-07-25
Subject: Displaced Tribals
Ministry: TRIBAL AFFAIRS
Asked by: SAKSHI SWAMI MAHARAJ

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA (MINISTRY OF TRIBAL AFFAIRS)

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1265

TO BE ANSWERED ON 25.7.2016

## DISPLACED TRIBALS

## 1265.   DR. SWAMI SAKSHIJI MAHARAJ:

Will the Minister of TRIBAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state:-

- (a) the total number of tribals displaced from their traditional habitats due to various reasons during each of the last three years and the current year in the country, State/ UT-wise including Uttar Pradesh;

(b)      the preventive steps taken/being taken by the Government in this regard; and

(c) the  steps  being  taken  by  the  Government  for  proper  rehabilitation  of  such  displaced tribals, State/UT-wise?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF TRIBAL AFFAIRS (SHRI JASWANTSINH SUMANBHAI BHABHOR)

- (a) In  so  far  as  land  related  issues  are  concerned,  the  Ministry  of  Rural  Development, Department  of  Land  Resources  (DoLR),  is  the  nodal  Ministry  at  the  Centre,  who  plays  a monitoring role in the field of land reforms.  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, State wise details are not maintained centrally.  Collecting data regarding land acquisition and displacement covering ST families also is under the purview of DoLR.  A National Level Monitoring Committee has been constituted in the DoLR for this purpose.

(b)& (c) As safeguards, The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (LARR Act, 2013 in short) has special provisions for scheduled tribes.  As per the Act, as far as possible, no land is to be acquired in the scheduled area except as last resort.  In case acquisition or alienation of any land in the Scheduled Areas, the prior consent of Gram Sabha or the Panchayat or the Autonomous District Councils, at the appropriate level in the Scheduled Area in the Fifth Schedule to the Constitution, as the case may be,  are  required  to  be  obtained,  in  all  cases  of  land  acquisition  in  such  areas,  including acquisition in case of urgency.  The Act also lays down procedure and manner of rehabilitation and resettlement.

The  Scheduled  Tribes  and  Other  Traditional  Forest  Dwellers  (Recognition  of  Forest Rights Act, 2006 in section 4 (5) states that save as otherwise provided, no member of a forest dwelling Scheduled Tribe or Other Traditional Forest Dweller shall be evicted or removed from the Forest Land under his occupation till the recognition and verification procedure is complete.

The Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996, 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  or  development  projects  and  before  resettling  or  rehabilitating persons affected by such projects in the Scheduled Areas; the actual planning and implementation of the projects in the Scheduled Areas shall be coordinated at the State Level;

Constitutional  provisions  under  Schedule  -  V  also  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.

Land being a State subject, the various provisions of rehabilitation and resettlement as per the LARR Act, 2013 are implemented by the concerned State Governments. Section 16 of the Act  mandates  the  Administrator  for  Rehabilitation  and  Resettlement  to  conduct  survey  and undertake a census of the affected families and to prepare rehabilitation and resettlement scheme which shall include particulars of the rehabilitation  and resettlement  entitlements  of each land owner and landless whose livelihoods are primarily dependent on the lands being acquired and where resettlement of affected families is involved. Further, Chapter V of the LARR Act, 2013 deals  with  Rehabilitation  and  Resettlement  Award  for  affected  families  by  the  Collector  and provision of infrastructural amenities in resettlement area. Sections 41 and 42 of the LARR Act, 2013  contains special provisions for Scheduled  Castes and Scheduled  Tribes including reservation  and  other  benefits.  The  Second  Schedule  to  the  LARR  Act,  2013  highlights  the various  elements  of  Rehabilitation  and  Resettlement  entitlements  for  all  the  affected  families (both land owners and the families whose livelihood is primarily dependent on land acquired). These elements include provision of housing units in case of displacement, land for land, offer for developed land, choice of annuity or employment, subsistence grant for displaced families for a period of one year, transportation cost for displaced families, cattle shed/petty shops cost, onetime  grant  to  artisan  and  small  traders,  fishing  rights,  one-time  Resettlement  Allowance,  and Stamp Duty and Registration Fee.

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