The Hindu : Karnataka News : New guidelines for assessing land value

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, May 20, 2005

Karnataka

Karnataka

New guidelines for assessing land value

Special Correspondent

Officials to follow system of capitalisation of income

BANGALORE: In a move to reduce the number of litigations by farmers challenging the compensation awarded for acquired land, the State Government on Thursday issued a set of new guidelines for assessing the land value.

The Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs, H.K. Patil, told presspersons here that the Government has directed the acquisition officials to follow the system of capitalisation of income while fixing the compensation at the initial stage to avoid civil disputes. Guidelines have been drafted for preferring appeals against court verdicts on such land disputes.

The Minister said no review petition should be filed in cases if the court has enhanced the payment of compensation to dry land not exceeding Rs. 70,200 an acre, for irrigated land yielding with one crop annually at Rs. 1.17 lakh an acre and irrigated land which produces two crops annually at Rs. 1,48,200 an acre.

Mr. Patil said review petitions should be filed only in such cases when the court awards more compensation than specified by the Government. Nearly 20,000 court judgments are to be implemented by the Government and it will cost Rs. 250 crores.

The major objectives of the guidelines are to reduce the number of litigations with regard to compensation for acquisition of agricultural lands for projects, to avoid exploitation of small and marginal farmers as also legal confrontation between the Government and the landowners, Mr. Patil said. The decision to issue new guidelines was taken at a high-level meeting of officials held on April 24.

The Minister said the value of land varies from region to region. The value can be fixed based on five principles — that fixed by a five member local jury, capitalisation of income system, opinion of experts, agreement between the landowner and the acquisition authority and the average price of land in the village. The last principle was followed more in villages, the Minister said in a statement.

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