Odisha House passes Bill exempting mandatory social impact assessment
The Bill was passed even as the Opposition BJP and Congress staged a walkout over various demands. Earlier, the Odisha government had introduced and withdrawn the Bill in March.
Odisha Assembly The Odisha Assembly on Wednesday passed the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Odisha amendment) Bill–2023, with provisions for exemption of the mandatory social impact assessment (SIA) and special provision for safeguarding food security during land acquisition for various industrial and infrastructure projects.
The Bill was passed even as the Opposition BJP and Congress staged a walkout over various demands. Earlier, the Odisha government had introduced and withdrawn the Bill in March.
According to the Bill, the RFCTLAR&R Act-2013, a central law, with mandatory provision of SIA “causes delay in acquisition of land.” As acquisition of private land under the 2013 land acquisition law has been a major challenge for the state government because of provisions like mandatory SIA, a task force was constituted by the state government to suggest necessary changes in the existing central law. It also recommended procedures for facilitating smooth transfer of land for industrial projects.
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