Rehabilitation and resettlement: the R&R award, the authorities and the special provisions for SC/ST families

1. The officers and the committee

• Administrator (section 43). Where involuntary displacement is likely, the State appoints for the project an officer not below the rank of Joint, Additional or Deputy Collector as Administrator for Rehabilitation and Resettlement. Subject to the Government and the Commissioner, the formulation, execution and monitoring of the R&R Scheme vest in him.
• Commissioner (section 44). The State appoints an officer of the rank of Commissioner or Secretary as Commissioner for Rehabilitation and Resettlement. He supervises the formulation and implementation of schemes and is responsible for the post-implementation social audit with the Gram Sabha or municipality.
• R&R Committee (section 45). Where the land to be acquired is one hundred acres or more, a project-level committee chaired by the Collector monitors implementation and carries out social audits. It includes a woman of the affected area, a representative each of the SCs and STs, a voluntary organisation, a nationalised bank, the Land Acquisition Officer, the chairpersons of the local Panchayats or municipalities, the District Planning Committee chairperson, the local MP and MLA (or nominees), a representative of the Requiring Body, and the Administrator as Member-Convenor.

Above them sit the State Monitoring Committee (section 50) and, for national or inter-State projects, the National Monitoring Committee (section 48); see the Unit II note.

2. The procedure

• Census (section 16(1)). On the preliminary notification, the Administrator surveys and takes a census of affected families: land and property being acquired, livelihoods lost (including of the landless), public utilities and Government buildings affected, amenities affected, and common property resources acquired.
• Draft Scheme (section 16(2)–(3)). He prepares a draft R&R Scheme with each family’s entitlements, the Government buildings and amenities to be provided in the resettlement area, and a time limit for implementation.
• Publicity and hearing (section 16(4)–(6)). The draft is publicised and discussed in the Gram Sabhas or municipalities, and a public hearing is held in every Gram Sabha or municipality where more than 25 per cent of its land is being acquired. In Scheduled Areas the consultation follows the PESA Act, 1996. The draft, with a report on objections, goes to the Collector.
• Review and approval (section 17). The Collector reviews it with the R&R Committee and sends it with his suggestions to the Commissioner for approval.
• Publication (section 18) of the approved Scheme, and publication of its summary with the declaration under section 19.
• R&R Award (section 31) by the Collector, alongside the compensation award under section 23.
• Payment before possession (section 38): monetary entitlements within six months and infrastructure within eighteen months of the award.

3. The R&R Award: section 31

The Collector passes an R&R Award for each affected family in terms of the Second Schedule. Section 31(2) lists what it must contain:

• the R&R amount payable and the bank account to which it is to be transferred;
• particulars of the house site and house to be allotted to displaced families;
• particulars of land allotted to displaced families;
• one-time subsistence allowance and transportation allowance;
• payment for cattle sheds and petty shops;
• one-time amount to artisans and small traders;
• details of mandatory employment to be provided to members of the family;
• fishing rights involved;
• annuity and other entitlements; and
• special provisions for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

An item that does not apply must be marked “not applicable”. The Government may increase the rates by notification to keep pace with the price index.

The Second Schedule sets the entitlements. As enacted, it provides among other things a house (in rural areas a constructed house, in urban areas a house of at least 50 square metres plinth area) for families whose house is acquired; land for land in irrigation projects; a choice of employment for one member of the family, a one-time payment of five lakh rupees, or an annuity of two thousand rupees a month for twenty years; a monthly subsistence grant for one year; a transportation allowance; and a one-time resettlement allowance. Section 32 and the Third Schedule require infrastructural amenities in the resettlement area: roads, drainage, drinking water, schools, health centres, anganwadis, places of worship, burial grounds and the like. Section 47 allows the Collector to accept a quantified amount from the Requiring Body into an account administered by the Administrator in full satisfaction of the R&R obligations.

4. Special provisions for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes: sections 41 and 42

• As far as possible, no acquisition in Scheduled Areas; where it happens, only as a demonstrable last resort (section 41(1)–(2)).
• Prior consent of the Gram Sabha, Panchayat or Autonomous District Council is required for every acquisition in Scheduled Areas, including urgency cases (section 41(3)).
• Where SC or ST families are involuntarily displaced, a Development Plan must settle pending land rights, restore titles on alienated land through a special drive, and provide for fuel, fodder and non-timber forest produce within five years (section 41(4)–(5)).
• At least one-third of the compensation is paid as a first instalment, the rest after possession (section 41(6)).
• ST families are resettled preferably in the same Scheduled Area in a compact block, and resettlement areas get free land for community gatherings (section 41(7)–(8)).
• Any alienation of tribal or SC land in disregard of the law is null and void, and R&R benefits go to the original owners (section 41(9)). This fits with the Karnataka PTCL Act in Unit IV.
• Fishing rights in the reservoir (section 41(10)); and, if relocated outside the district, an additional 25 per cent of monetary R&R benefits and a one-time fifty thousand rupees (section 41(11)).
• Reservation and other benefits continue in the resettlement area, and statutory safeguards follow ST families relocated outside Fifth or Sixth Schedule areas (section 42).

5. Private purchases: section 46

Where a person other than a “specified person” buys land by private negotiation above the area limit notified by the State, he must apply to the Collector stating his intent, purpose and the land. The matter goes to the Commissioner, and the Collector passes individual R&R awards. No land use change is permitted until R&R is complied with in full, and a purchase made without complying is void ab initio (section 46(4)–(5)). In Karnataka, Act 16 of 2019 amended the Explanation to section 46(6).

6. Karnataka: lump sum in lieu of R&R

Karnataka Act 16 of 2019 inserted section 31A: for projects notified under section 10A, the State may pay a lump sum prescribed by rules in lieu of rehabilitation and resettlement, provided it is not “abnormally at variance to the disadvantage of the affected families”. It also inserted section 30A (voluntary acquisition by agreement with a willing owner), under which other affected families get a prescribed lump sum towards R&R.

How this is examined

“Discuss the procedure and manner of rehabilitation and resettlement of affected families” (January 2026, set under Unit II) and “Explain the provisions relating to the R&R award” (August 2024, 100-mark paper) are answered with sections 2 and 3 above. “Rehabilitation and Resettlement Award” is a frequent 6-mark short note (June 2025, August 2024): write section 31 with its list. “Special provisions relating to SC/ST” (January 2026) is section 4 of this note.