35% of issues in big projects due to land acquisition; no plan to change law: Cabinet Secretary Somanathan

More than a third of infrastructure project-related issues raised under the Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation, or PRAGATI, framework are due to land acquisition problems, with another 38 per cent on account of forest, wildlife, and environmental reasons and right of use/way, Cabinet Secretary TV Somanathan said on Friday. Speaking two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired the 50th meeting of PRAGATI – a mechanism that uses a technology-based platform to monitor projects that cost at least Rs 500 crore – the government’s top bureaucrat also said that there was no plan to change the land acquisition law.

“Regarding land acquisition, there is no plan to change the land acquisition law,” Somanathan told reporters in a media briefing.

Of the 3,300-plus projects reviewed under the PRAGATI framework, 382 were personally reviewed by Modi, with 2,958 of the 3,187 issues raised relevant to these projects being resolved. As many as 42 per cent of the issues related to these 382 projects had to do with land acquisition, Somanathan said.

“India is a democracy. There are interests of completing a project, but there are interests of people whose land is affected. Similarly, we want infrastructure; we also want a good environment. So, it is in the very nature of this that there is a balance. And there will be issues; it is never black and white. So, I am not sure that any fundamental revisit of processes is in fact (required),” he said.

“I think these are going to happen in any democratic society… If we were a country where we can throw people out of their land – and there are some countries like that, or where you can simply do what you want, those countries may be able to implement faster. But we don’t want to be in that situation. We want to implement with consultation, with consent, and with public involvement. So I am not sure that we really need to embark on regulatory reforms on these fundamental issues of public consultation, etc. Yes, here and there, there are procedural improvements that can be done and they are done from time to time. But fundamentally, I don’t see any need for changes there.”

Large time and cost overruns have been a chronic problem in India’s public projects and schemes, with the key reason being lack of co-ordination: between ministries, various levels of government (Centre, state, and local), and states. The PRAGATI framework was instituted a decade ago to resolve these issues, fast-track critical infrastructure projects, improve outcomes of flagship government schemes, and assess and resolve grievances of citizens across sectors. At the top of the framework are review meetings with the PM, which see chief secretaries of states and secretaries in the Central government in attendance. At the 50th review meeting chaired by the PM on Wednesday, five infrastructure projects were discussed. These projects – from the road, railways, power, water resources, and coal sectors – span five states and have a cumulative cost of more than Rs 40,000 crore.

Somanathan said on Friday that the PRAGATI ecosystem has accelerated the implementation of more than 3,300 projects worth more than Rs 85 lakh crore, with some of the projects reviewed being as old as the Jammu-Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla rail link, work on which began in 1995. A total of 7,735 issues have been raised under the PRAGATI framework, of which 7,156 have been resolved. The biggest cause of these issues is land acquisition, accounting for 35 per cent of them, with forest, wildlife, and environmental issues second at 20 per cent. The third-biggest reason is right of use or way, which caused 18 per cent of the issues raised. These three make up 73 per cent of all issues, with other reasons related to construction approvals, law and order, and financing, among others.

According to the Cabinet Secretary, the review meetings – especially those chaired by the PM – helped increase accountability. “In these meetings – especially at the apex level, Prime Minister’s meetings – the Chief Secretary or the Secretary of the Government of India ministry is directly giving the Prime Minister a commitment on when something will happen and when it will be finished. And this is something which officers take with greater seriousness than something that is not at that level. So, it is actually a very personal accountability that arises when these projects get taken up there,” Somanathan said.