Meghalaya Govt reduces administrative costs for land acquisition to 2.5 percent

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaOctober 12, 2020

The state Cabinet on Monday approved the proposal for reducing the administrative costs for land acquisition to 2.5 percent from 10 percent.

Addressing media persons after the meeting, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said there is a provision for administrative cost in the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 and Land Acquisition Act, 1894.

In the old Act of 1894, he said the revenue and disaster management department had levied charges of 20,000 and above 8 percent for establishment and 2 percent for contingency charges.

“This amount has now been reduced to 2.5 percent,” said the chief minister.

Sangma said the department after considering all aspects has worked out that the rates for Defence’s IBBF and BOPs should be at 2 percent and contingency at .5 percent (that is 2.5), for national highways and state roads at 2.5 percent, all central and state projects of government departments at 8 percent and any other projects at the old rate which is 10 percent.

This has been done in terms of the bigger projects like the national highways and in those the agency charges were very high. So in the land acquisition, if the agency charges at 10 percent, then it becomes very high for the concerned authorities and therefore, that amount has been reduced keeping in mind these big infrastructure projects and the agency charges, in those cases the administrative cost is reduced to 2.5 percent,” he said.