The Odisha Legislative Assembly on Wednesday passed the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Odisha Amendment) Bill (RFCTLAR&R) 2023 enabling the government to exempt ‘strategic and development projects’ from social impact assessment (SIA) and special provisions for safeguarding food security.
The Bill was passed even as the Opposition parties staged a walkout and did not participate in discussions. Earlier this year, the Naveen Patnaik government had withdrawn an amendment Bill with similar provisions in the wake of severe criticism.
In a statement, State Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Sudam Marndi said the mandatory provisions in the RFCTLAR&R Act, 2013 such as Social Impact Assessment (SIA) study and special provision for food security were found to be causing delay in acquisition of land. Lapsing of these provisions were further delaying the project.
