The National Advisory Council (NAC) recommendation on the land acquisition has not gone down well with the Indian Industry. In a sharp criticism to the proposal Ficci said, “It does not support the NAC proposal to disallow private companies to buy land directly from land owners if more than 400 families are to be displaced.”

The industry body said that the NAC’s suggestion may backfire at the present time. “It would further provide room for bias in acquiring land. It would also result in sub-optimal allocation of land resources in the country,” it said on Tuesday.

However, Ficci said that the time has come to revisit the archaic land acquisition legislation. It suggested the adoption of the Haryana model for land acquisition as it provides for payment of annuity in the form of royalty for a period of 33 years for the land owners. “Some employment should be mandatory for local people, who may be displaced, must also be looked the new policy,” the chambers noted.

“Industry should be allowed to function in the market based system for acquisition of land and pay the market determined price to land holders which would enable land owners to sell the land voluntarily,” Ficci suggested. It said that it will not allow any forced displacement.

Last week, the council headed by Sonia Gandhi made strong proposals on restructuring the land acquisition policy. The NAC recommendations said that private companies should not be allowed to buy directly from land owners if more than 400 families are to be displaced and in such a case government would purchase the land on behalf of industry. Also, the proposal included a higher compensation to land owners and landless labourers, which encompasses sharing profits with farmers every time the land is sold.

“It is important that land acquisition rules do not result in any distrust and social conflicts in the society, but at the same time they should not make the process of acquisition cumbersome and uncertain for the industry,” Ficci added.