The Resettlement and Rehabilitation Policy has been drafted by the Union Rural Development Ministry in the backdrop of protests in Nandigram and Singur in West Bengal and Raigad in Maharashtra.

While Union Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh had hoped that an early clearance from the Law Ministry would pave the way for the policy to be sent to the Cabinet for approval, the decision to refer the matter to a GoM might put a brake on its passage in the ongoing Parliament session.

The Law Ministry is understood to have completed the final draft of the rehabilitation package which comprises an amended Land Acquisition Act, a rehabilitation policy and a rehabilitation law.

The GoM is expected look into several critical aspects of the issue like having an independent arrangement for out of court settlement of small issues involved in land acquisition or having an independent tribunal to deal with such cases.

It will also look into the proportion of land, which the government can acquire for setting up industrial projects.

After the protests, an Empowered GoM on SEZs headed by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee put a end to compulsory land acquisition for these zones and also fixed a limit of 5,000 hectares on their size.

Changes in land acquisition laws are expected to put an end to compulsory land acquisition for industrial projects.

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