Land compensation hiked

new delhi: the delhi government has hiked the compensation rates for land acquisition from rs 16 lakh to rs 23 lakh per acre. compensation would be paid to farmers whose land was acquired for government projects, with effect from april 1 this year. announcing this on thursday, chief minister sheila dikshit said that the land compensation rates were enhanced on the basis of 12 per cent interest for each year since the payment was due.the compensation also includes ex-gratia payment. according to her, the government had worked out new compensation rates on the recommendations of a committee set up in november 2000 under finance minister mahinder singh saathi. she said that the government realised that land was the only source of income for farmers. the city government notified the order on wednesday. saathi said that the government had already amended the indian stamp act to facilitate the hike in compensation. the stamp duty has been increased commensurate with increase in the land compensation, saathi said. the government has revised the stamp duty after 43 years. the new stamp duty rates would come into effect from july 1, 2001. dikshit said that the government had sought approval from lt-governor vijai kapoor for enhancing the compensation rates. "the union urban development minister jagmohan's allegations that we did not take the centre's approval are wrong. also, it is well within our government's rights to enhance the compensation," she said. the chief minister said that the bjp had tried to stall the hike as it did not want the congress to get credit for the move. "the union government created hurdles in our way. they told us it that land was not within our purview so we could not increase the compensation rates," dikshit said. according to her, land acquisition rates were hiked on three occasions previously. these rates were enhanced for the first time in 1990, and later under the bjp government in 1998. the congress government had given an interim relief in 2000. the dikshit government had promised to increase compensation rates at a kisan rally in february. the city cabinet cleared the proposal subsequently. however, the lt governor asked the city government to increase the stamp duty also. while the city government brought about the amendment, the issue remained pending at raj nivas for almost two months.