Land Pooling Model of Andhra Pradesh
After bifurcation of the erstwhile state of Andhra Pradesh, both the new states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are sharing the Hyderabad as capital for 10 years. Meanwhile the new state of Andhra Pradesh has to build its new capital. The Sivaramakrishnan Committee has suggested for development of several cities in the state as industrial, investment and technological hubs instead of developing one super-city as capital. Meanwhile, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh has announced that a single capital Amaravati will be built near Guntur and Vijayawada on the banks of River Krishna. Amaravati will be the India’s first planned capital to build up from scratch in the recent decades.The core of Amaravati will be built on 33,000 acres of land owned by individual farmers between Vijayawada and Thullur along the banks of the Krishna River.The Andhra Pradesh government has followed the land pooling strategy to collect the land as an alternative to land acquisition. So far more than 30,000 acres of land is collected under the pooling system. Though it is not the first time the land pooling is tried in India, it is an ambitious experiment which could become a model for India’s Smart Cities.
What is land pooling?
Under the land pooling concept, small parcels of land and pooled from the various large owners in a region with their voluntary irrevocable consent and these assembled land are developed by a special agency or government body with all modern facilities like roads, sewerage lines, electricity etc. After the completion of the development in few years, a small portion of the developed land will be returned back to the original owner. The returning portion is not fixed; it depends on the agreement signed between the land owner and the agency polling the land. The pooling process can be used wherever the land prices shoot up after the development. It may not work for rail projects where the land value will not be increased.
The AP Capital Region Development Authority Act, 2014 helped to create the Amaravati land bank with all the government land being transferred to it. The act also helps in land pooling schemes in the capital region. The government has proposed to complete the development in ten years and return 30% of the developed land to the original land owner.It also proposed an annual compensation in the range of Rs. 30,000 to Rs. 50,000 depending on land quality with a 10% increment every year for a period of ten years. Land owners have also been exempted from capital gains tax and stamp duty on the first sale.The AP government also offered loan waiver and government jobs to the local youth. It is also paying annuity to the tenant farmers and landless workers.
Advantages of the land pooling system
As the land owners contribute their land voluntary, the whole land pooling process will be very smooth. The land owners will be made stakeholders in the process of the development. Inclusion of land owners in the project development creates a win-win situation for the government as well as people living there. Under the land acquisition, land is acquired forcibly and it disrupts the inhabitants. The pooling process does not disrupt the current inhabitants. In land pooling the medium of exchange is land only as against the money in land acquisition process. The compensation offered under land acquisition is based on revenue rate and not on market rate. So the compensation will be very less. In land pooling, though the returned developed land is less than the original land, its value will be more than the original land.
Under the land acquisition act, several safeguard measures are to be followed including a social impact assessment by an expert committee and a detailed plan for rehabilitating the original owners. This makes it a tedious process. But the land pooling is an easy way of collecting land for development.
Concerns
Though the land pooling is followed as an alternative to the land acquisition, there are arguments about its legality. It is argued that the compensation under the land pooling is not fair. In land acquisition, compensation will be given immediately whereas in land pooling, the land owners have to wait for years to get full compensation. Many farmers are also opposing the land pooling as their lands are fertile agriculture lands giving two to three corps per year. Land pooling also does not discuss how to create an adequate safety net for thepeople that will soon be displaced. The government is accused of luring the farmers for short-term benefits and converting the large tracts of fertile agricultural lands with urban landscapes. If the development process is delayed due to various reasons like change in the government, the farmers will be left in the lurch. No legal remedies are proposed in the act. Tenant farmers and agricultural workers are facing uncertain future as they have to struggle for alternate employment. Their monthly compensation is a meagre amount. The land pooling scheme attempts to sidestep the provisions of a far stricter central land law. The Land Act, 2013 says government acquisition of land requires the consent of 70 to 80% farmers. Since it is voluntary, the Andhra Pradesh Government’s land pooling scheme has no such provisions.
Conclusion
The success of AP land pooling model could be studied by the other states to implement it in green field projects. At the same time, concerns about the land owners and other workers depending on the land should be taken care with better compensation packages, alternative employment opportunities and adequate legal remedies for their problems.
