Tribal Safeguards under the Land Acquisition Act, 2013

The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 gives Scheduled Tribe families special protection against displacement and loss of community life. Sections 41 and 42 supplement ordinary compensation and rehabilitation entitlements with safeguards concerning acquisition, resettlement and continuation of tribal rights; several also protect Scheduled Castes.

Safeguards before acquisition

• Land acquisition in Scheduled Areas must be avoided as far as possible; where undertaken, it must be a demonstrable last resort.
• In Scheduled Areas, prior consent of the concerned Gram Sabha is required before the acquisition notification, including for urgency acquisitions. The appropriate Panchayat or Autonomous District Council provides consent where the Gram Sabha does not exist or has not been constituted.
• A project involving involuntary displacement of Scheduled Tribe or Scheduled Caste families requires a Development Plan addressing unsettled land rights and restoration of titles over alienated land through a special drive.
• The Development Plan must also provide for alternative fuel, fodder and non-timber forest produce resources on non-forest land within five years, sufficient to meet community requirements.

Special compensation and resettlement protections

• When land belonging to Scheduled Tribe or Scheduled Caste members is acquired, at least one-third of compensation must be paid as the initial instalment, with the remainder paid after possession is taken.
• Affected Scheduled Tribe families must preferably be resettled in the same Scheduled Area, in a compact block, so that they can retain their ethnic, linguistic and cultural identity.
• Where affected Scheduled Tribe or Scheduled Caste families are relocated outside the district, they receive 25% additional monetary rehabilitation and resettlement benefits, together with a one-time entitlement of Rs 50,000.
• Resettlement areas predominantly inhabited by Scheduled Tribes or Scheduled Castes must receive free land, to an extent decided by the appropriate government, for community and social gatherings.

Protection of continuing rights

• Reservation benefits and other existing benefits continue in the resettlement area; Scheduled Tribe families moved outside Scheduled Areas retain their statutory safeguards and entitlements.
• Affected Scheduled Tribe and other traditional forest-dwelling families with fishing rights in a river, pond or dam must receive fishing rights in the reservoir of an irrigation or hydropower project.
• Community rights settled under the Forest Rights Act, 2006 must be quantified monetarily, with displaced individuals receiving amounts proportionate to their shares in those rights.