After around two years of legal and constitutional challenges, Andhra Pradesh has successfully passed an amendment to the Centre’s right to fair compensation and transparency in land acquisition rehabilitation and resettlement act of 2013(LARR 2013). This amendment will reduce the acquisition of private agricultural land to a simple agreement initiated by the district collector.
It was a victory for the democratic evolution of property rights in India. The right to private property needs to be sufficiently guaranteed in law so the powers of the state do not interfere with the functioning of a market economy.
Until this amendment was passed, India followed the Land Acquisition Act of 1894which was written for the colonial regime to acquire land. The LARR came to power in May 2014 to remove the Land Acquisition Act of 1894 which was NDA government’s first move. However there was public opposition to the changes proposed by the center but this did not deter it from attempting to amend the LARR 2013.
Programs like Sagarmala and Bharatmala which seek to industrialize the Indian Coastline faced hurdles like land acquisition in addition to amending state level land laws the Centre is also changing national policies on forests and coasts.
Instead of protecting private property to ensure that a competitive market economy functions well these policy changes sacrifice laissez faire values at the altar of private profit.
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