ABSTRACT
In the prevalent existing development model, the Indian government has a compulsion for land acquisition since the 1990s. The chapter captures manifestations and behaviour of the State by looking at land acquisition in India through the old act – the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (LAA) and the newly enacted law – the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (RFCTLARR), particularly the two issues that have risen to prominence in the neoliberal era: (1) was there a justification for the historical continuity of colonial land acquisition laws effectively into the neoliberal era, and (2) is the RFCTLARR in tune with India’s neoliberal policies or is it a step backwards towards putting restraints on government from making land available to private enterprises? The chapter shows the historical continuity in the land acquisition law from the first colonial Regulation introduced in 1824 till the RFCTLARR. It then examines RFCTLARR to understand the State’s agenda – whether the newly enacted law genuinely addresses concerns of displacement, R&R, or whether it is an old wine in a new bottle, that is, retaining colonial features, potentials of ameliorative provisions to break the impasse on land acquisition through the existing land administration system and concludes that the State has retained overarching powers to enable it to continue accruing land for private companies to achieve its neoliberal agenda.
