HYDERABAD: The Andhra Pradesh government on Tuesday told the Hyderabad High Court that it would acquire lands which are notified for various projects in the State only after complying with all provisions of the new Land Acquisition Act, 2013, pertaining to rehabilitation and resettlement to all the affected families concerned.
AP advocate general Dammalapati Srinivas made this submission before the bench of Acting Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice T Rajani which was dealing with a PIL filed by the AP agricultural workers union, represented by its secretary Venkateswarlu. The bench recorded the statement of the AG.
On earlier occasion, the bench made it clear that the State government will issue final notification for acquiring lands only after complying with the provisions of the new Land Acquisition Act 2013 regarding rehabilitation and resettlement package.
On Tuesday, the petitioner’s counsel submitted that the final notifications under Section 19 of the Act are being published by the collectors concerned without conducting survey in the said area and then finalising the rehabilitation package and getting it approved by the office of the commissioner for rehabilitation. The provision of appending the rehabilitation package details with the final notification has been violated.
On the other hand, the advocate general said that the state government is committed for giving all the benefits to the affected people under the Act. The government will follow the Act regarding rehabilitation and resettlement and then only dispossess the affected people after the payments.