NEW DELHI: The government is considering radical changes in the Land Acquisition Act to enable speedier project implementation by diluting the social impact assessment and consent clauses which are seen to hamper land purchase.The proposed changes to the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act follow rural development minister Nitin Gadkari ’s consultations with states yielding a wide consensus in favor of amending the law.The likely points for action shortlisted by the rural development ministry for the PMO’s consideration include removal of the consent clause for public-private partnership projects. Alternately, it is proposed to reduce the consent requirement to 50% of land owners.Under the law passed last year, PPP projects would have required consent of 70% of land owners. The note has argued that the clause should be revisited as ownership in PPP projects vests with the government.Unwilling to oppose a populist law before the Lok Sabha election, BJP had supported the bill when it was brought to Parliament despite misgivings about the impact the Act would have on costs and timelines.The BJP manifesto had hinted at reviewing the Act and the Modi government lost no time in consulting states after assuming office as land acquisition is a key element in its plans to revive growth.The proposals, however, are silent on whether the provisions stating that compensation for acquisition in rural areas will be four-fold the market price and two-fold in urban regions will be revisited.The social impact assessment clause has been both praised and slammed. Activists feel SIA mainstreams evaluation of the cost-benefit equation by factoring in social and environmental variables.On the other hand, its critics feel SIA processes are too elaborate and will delay projects and rather than making assessments more predictable, will achieve the opposite.The ministry has proposed a second look at the “affected family” clause on the ground that it is very elaborate and includes “livelihood losers” who have been working on the affected land for three years before acquisition.The rollback of several controversial provisions of the Act will require considerable political finesse and Gadkari promised that the interests of farmers would be protected in any such review. Yet, as the action points indicate, the task is not easy.The ministry has highlighted that development of “culturable wastelands” in lieu of “multi-cropped irrigated land” needs to be amended as states like Delhi, Goa, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand do not have any wasteland for such a purpose.The retrospective clause stipulating that land acquisition proceedings would lapse in case compensation is not paid or physical possession is not completed is up for modification as well.Payment of compensation in accordance with the new Act is seen to result in increased burden on the state exchequer and leading to litigations.The Centre wants to restore primacy of the urgency clause that will allow a state government to determine the need for acquisition. The law restricts the clause to reasons of defence, national security and national calamity and even these need parliamentary approval.The penalty provisions that include imprisonment of six months to three years for errant officials is seen as too stringent and could result in harassment, the note states.The clause specifying sharing of 40% of enhanced cost with original land owners should be deleted as it leads to disputes, the ministry has suggested.