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Journalism of Courage
As the country has limited land resource,city building rules should be liberalised to allow maximum covered areas in construction of houses and commercial buildings,Assocham President Rajkumar N Dhoot said today.
“Recommendations of the Ashok Chawla Committee on Natural Resources (in this regard) the Floor Area Ratio (FAR) should be implemented,” the Assocham chief said in a statement here.
As per the FAR rules,a proportion of the plot size has to be earmarked for open space in the building. The builders have been demanding that this ratio should be reduced. It varies from state to state.
He said several other recommendations of the Chawla panel should also be implemented to ensure that no forcible land acquisition takes place and the farmers are compensated well.
As the committee suggested,a transparent and dependable system of land bank data should be put in place by the government. Besides,a part of the notional gains by the land acquirer should be used for public welfare in the areas.
“Land is a sensitive and sentimental issue for the farmers. But it is a crucial requirement for economic growth and removal of poverty. Some of the models adopted by the states like Haryana have been successful,” Dhoot said.
He said farmers would agree for parting with their land if they too gain from the development process.
In its report submitted to the government in May,2011,the Chawla Committee had made some useful recommendations which,if implemented,can resolve several of the knotty problems confronting the whole issue of land acquisition,Assocham chief said.
“The bottomline should be: win/win situation for the acquirer as also the farmers who is parting with the land,” Dhoot said.
One of the most contentious issues relates to the quantum of compensation paid to the farmers. This arises out of a wide difference between the market price of land and the value which is shown in the government records,known as ‘Schedule of Rates’ (SoRs). The SoRs form the basis for giving compensation to farmers.
As per Chawla panel’s recommendation,there should be regular updating of SoRs in line with the corresponding market rates. “Once the gap between the market rates and the SoRs is brought to a minimum,there would be less pressure for allotment of land at the so-called institutional rates,” the chamber said.
So far as the national capital of Delhi is concerned,the government committee had suggested an immediate constitution of a regulatory body.
