Rly land reforms

Minister’s idea to use surplus land is great. Trust Lalu’s ingenuity and put transparent rules in place

It’s taken a long time coming. But the railways’ decision to commercially utilise its surplus land is still paradigm shifting, provided it catches on everywhere in the government. Lalu Yadav’s plan is that after catering to dedicated freight corridors and other projects, land will be used for such things as construction of budget hotels through public-private partnerships. Not just hotels, many projects in today’s India face a land constraint, while the government acts like an irresponsible but possessive zamindar. However, just as holding on to land has problems, utilising it can also become problematic. So some rules should be in place.

Take the railways’ case. Of 4.23 lakh hectares of railway land, 3.19 lakh hectares is used for core purposes. To utilise the 43,000 hectares of surplus land, a Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) will be set up. RLDA will also look at development of stations. However, how insulated will RLDA be from political interference, and will its recommendations be binding?

Second, what happens to the railway land that has been encroached upon? The number of such encroachments across the country runs into hundreds of thousands. It is no good arguing that these are illegal under the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act of 1971, especially when occupancies are recognised under other legal provisions like the electoral or ration card system. Even a single encroachment in the middle of free land may make exploitation of scale economies unviable.

Third, how transparent is the land allocation policy going to be? Transparency is easier to impart for budget hotels, for which, IRCTC has invited bids on lease and BOT basis. Non-transparency is a more important issue for other forms of commercial exploitation, when competitive bids may not be the best option. Fourth, how will the Railways handle its stipulated social sector obligation? If answers to these questions aren’t well thought out, litigation and court intervention may follow. Consequently, an excellent idea may get derailed. But wish Lalu luck. He is the first rail minister who doesn’t want to be a zamindar.