Farmers to benefit as Punjab govt notifies new conversion rates

JALANDHAR : Punjab government has notified factors by which the market value of a rural property will be multiplied in case the government wished to acquire it for any project under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013. The move has come at a time when farmers in several Punjab districts refused to hand over their land to the National Highways Authority of India ( NHAI) for the Katra- Delhi expressway, claiming that the compensation was not adequate and, also, in protest against the new agricultural laws.

The Centre has set 2023 as the deadline for the ₹ 35,000 crore four-lane project that will pass through Amritsar, connecting Katra ( Vaishno Devi) with Delhi.

According to the new factors, the market value of a rural property will be increased in case the government wished to acquire it for a development project.

Earlier, there were only two thresholds of multiplication factor — factors of 1 and 1.25 — and now the state government has taken these factors up to 2, varying on the basis of distance of the rural land from the nearest urban body jursidiction. Now, the market value of the land will be calculated by the competent authority for land acquisition (CALA) as per the modified factors.

As per the notification, in case the land falls within 5 km from the outer boundary of any urban body in the state, the market value will be multiplied by 1.0. The factor will be 1.25 for distance between 5km and 10Km, 1.5 for 10km to 15 km, 1.75 for distance above 15km to 20 km.

The market value will be multiplied by the factor of 2 if the land more than 20km away from an urban body boundary.

Jalandhar deputy commissioner, Ghanshyam Thori on Wednesday directed all the competent authorities for land acquisition to immediately implement modified multiplication factor rates in the0 district.

Jalandhar sub- divisional magistrate Rahul Sindhu and district revenue officer Jashanjit Singh said the new formula will apply to the land acquisitions where compensation award is yet to be fixed by the authorities and on all future projects.