The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Bill, 2025, a Private Member's Bill introduced by Smt. Renuka Chowdhury, seeks to institutionalise climate resilience within India's land acquisition framework.
The Bill proposes a total prohibition on the acquisition of irrigated multi-cropped agricultural land in regions specifically notified as "climate-vulnerable" due to risks such as drought, floods, or desertification. To address current exceptions in the 2013 Act that allow acquisition under "exceptional circumstances," the amendment mandates a Food Security Impact Assessment (FSIA) conducted by scientific institutions before any agricultural land is taken.
Furthermore, the Bill introduces a five-year post-acquisition review mechanism to assess actual effects on local food production and mandates that these findings be presented directly to State Legislatures or Parliament.
Key Amendments and Sustainability Measures
Statutory Prohibition: No irrigated multi-cropped land in notified climate-vulnerable districts can be acquired for any purpose.
Climate-Vulnerability Criteria: Regions identified as prone to drought, salinity ingress, or other climate-related productivity risks will be reviewed and updated every five years.
FSIA Protocols: Scientific evaluations must now project losses in soil fertility, irrigation potential, and local agricultural employment before acquisition.
Public Transparency: FSIA summaries and proposed safeguarding steps must be made public and annexed to the Social Impact Assessment (SIA) study report.
Legislative Oversight: Mandatory conduct of a Post-Acquisition Food Security Review within five years to monitor the transition of agricultural assets.
What is a "Food Security Impact Assessment" (FSIA)? An FSIA is a scientific and socio-economic evaluation mandated by the 2025 Bill to determine how land acquisition will affect food availability and agricultural sustainability. It acts as a catalyst for informed decision-making by evaluating projected losses in agricultural output and project-specific impacts on local food supply chains. This mechanism manifests as a transition from purely administrative land acquisition to a scientifically-driven process that prioritizes national livelihood security. Establishing these assessments is a primary lever for ensuring that diversions of multi-cropped land do not compromise the "Zero Hunger" targets or the constitutional rights of agricultural dependents.
Policy Relevance: Anchoring Land Governance in Climate Resilience
Institutionalizes a Framework for Resource Preservation: By prohibiting acquisition in climate-vulnerable areas, the Bill benchmarks a trajectory where environmental risk is a mandatory constraint for state-led development projects.
Mechanically Bridges the Implementation Gap: Mandating that FSIA findings be annexed to Social Impact Assessments streamlines the delivery of comprehensive risk data to decision-makers and the public.
De-risks the Rural Livelihood Ecosystem: Analyzing the projected loss of irrigation potential and local employment serves as a cornerstone for protecting the 68.84 crore rural residents identified in broader demographic studies.
Signals a Paradigm Shift in Legislative Accountability: Requiring reports to be laid before Parliament or State Legislatures future-proofs land policy by subjecting executive acquisition decisions to legislative scrutiny.
Solidifies India’s Standing in Sustainable Development: Grounded in Article 48 of the Constitution, the Bill institutionalizes the state's duty to modernize agriculture while protecting its most productive ecological assets.
Follow the Full Bill Details Here: Rajya Sabha: The Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Bill, 2025
