Tracing Journey of Legislative Processes for Land Acquisition and Resettlement in India from Right’s Perspective

Abstract

The processes of land acquisition (LA) rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) in India has progressed to a very contentious extent, as conveyed by series of mass protests, non-cooperation of political parties, and impulsion expressed by the present government and corporates for acceptance of the LARR Ordinance, 2015. Any issue under contention is debated with argument, counter-argument, action and counter-actions. Such process evolves a language of rights-the rights demanded by the citizens, especially the project-affected population, different interest-holders and rights recognised by the state. The article maps out the journey of language of rights in the context of multi-faceted issues of LA, development-induced displacement and R&R (LADRR) over last three decades, that is, 1985 to the present. The right's perspective focuses on three components-characteristics of rights, how rights are derived and role of state and its institutions in recognising and actualising rights. Based on this mapping, the article examines whether there exist some common grounds for actualisation of rights through existing legislative processes for LARR.