West Bengal Govt failed to protect tribal interests in mining land acquisition, says CAG report
The CAG has flagged the West Bengal government's "failure" in safeguarding tribals' interests while land was being acquired for mining projects, leading to inadequate compensation
The CAG has flagged the West Bengal government's "failure" in safeguarding tribals' interests while land was being acquired for mining projects, leading to inadequate compensation payment in five fiscals between 2017-18 and 2021-22 when the Trinamool Congress was in power. In an audit of land management in tribal areas, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) said that "inaction and non-involvement of district level functionaries" such as revenue officers, district collectors and others led to the rehabilitative shortfall. The audit covered 66 land acquisition cases between 2017-18 and 2021-22 involving Eastern Coalfields Limited's (ECL's) Salanpur, Sripur, Kunustoria and Parbelia areas and Bharat Coking Coal Limited's (BCCL's) Barakar area. The CAG report stated that against the assessed market value of ₹17.79 crore, ECL and BCCL paid only ₹2.55 crore to tribal people for their land through negotiated purchases, resulting in a short payment of ₹15.25 crore, or 85.68% of the market value. Besides, the companies also failed to pay the mandatory 100% solatium prescribed under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, depriving the tribals of another ₹17.80 crore.
It further observed that the additional compensation at 12% per annum on the market value, mandated under the legislation, was not paid in any of the test-checked cases. The report also highlighted wide disparities in land prices paid by ECL. "For an acre of land, tribals were compensated at much lower rates ranging between ₹2.50 lakh and ₹12.63 lakh vis-à-vis the compensation allowed to the government ranging between ₹19.77 lakh and ₹125 lakh," the CAG said. According to the auditor, district authorities failed to ensure that tribal landowners received fair market value despite provisions under the Coal India Rehabilitation and Resettlement Policy, 2012. The State government "failed to protect the interests of the tribal people" in land acquisition by ECL and BCCL because of the "inaction and non-involvement of district-level functionaries", resulting in deficiencies in compensation and rehabilitation for Scheduled Tribe families, the CAG report said. According to ECL officials familiar with the land acquisition process, said land for coal mining projects in West Bengal is predominantly acquired through direct purchase by executing registered sale deeds with landowners, including tribals, rather than through compulsory acquisition.
The BriefWire