Now, acquiring less than 100 acres for public purpose can bypass R&R

The Cabinet on Monday gave its nod for acquiring parcels of land less than 100 acres for public purposes without going through the process of Rehabilitation and Resettlement (R&R).

Briefing reporters after the meeting, Law Minister T B Jayachandra said the provision would apply only to land being acquired for public purposes like housing, railway projects, road widening, power installations and for burial grounds.

However, the land would be acquired only after getting the consent of the land loser. A committee headed by the jurisdictional deputy commissioner would be constituted to fix the price for the land to be acquired.

Jayachandra said a price higher than the market value would be paid.Asked whether the move would not amount to circumventing the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (a central act), which has stringent R&R provisions, Jayachandra replied in the negative.

Exemption
He said the act itself provides exemption if land is being acquired for public purposes.
“The move is being taken to avoid delays and ensure speedy completion of projects meant for public purposes,” Jayachandra said.

Cultural policy
The Cabinet decided to constitute a sub-committee headed by Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister H K Patil to study the provisions of the ‘state cultural policy’ submitted by a committee headed by writer Baraguru Ramachandrappa.

The six-member committee had submitted its report to the government in June 2014 and had made 44 recommendations, including decentralisation of the department of Kannada and Culture, restricting ‘moral policing,’ setting up three academies and a tribal university.  
DH News Service

Duty relief for lease holders of ‘C’ mines
In another decision, the Cabinet decided to make suitable changes in the Karnataka Stamps Act to provide some relaxation in payment of stamp duty by lease holders who opt for ‘C’ category mines, which will be auctioned soon.  

Jayachandra said as per the provisions of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2015, the mines should be granted for a lease period of 50 years. The total stamps and registration duty that needs to be paid by the lease holders would work out to Rs 2,800 crore.

“Nobody was participating in the auction process due to the high stamp duty that needs to be paid and hence, we have decided to provide some relaxation,” Jayachandra said and added that the exact amount of relief to be provided was yet to be decided.

The government is expecting around Rs 18,000 crore from the auctioning of ‘C’ category mines, Jayachandra said.

Approval for formation of residential layout by Mangaluru Urban Development Authority on 13 acres in Konaje village, Mangaluru taluk
Nod for construction of Ambedkar Bhavan in Mangaluru city at a cost of Rs 12 crore
 Extension of 4th State Finance Commission headed by C G Chinnaswamy till September 30, 2017
 Upgradation of Mysuru Police Public School on the lines of Sainik schools at a cost of Rs 22.51 crore