Bengaluru: Batting for periodic revision of land guidance values, Revenue minister Krishna Byre Gowda on Wednesday said it would help prevent illegal land transactions and ensure fair compensation to farmers whose lands are acquired for various developmental projects.Responding to a question by BJP MLC KS Naveen in the Legislative Council, the minister said large disparities between guidance values and actual market prices led to irregularities and injustice to farmers during land acquisition.“Revising the guidance value from time to time is the only solution to prevent injustice caused to farmers in land acquisition compensation. In some places, there is a lot of difference between the guidance value and the market price. This is leading to illegalities,” Gowda pointed out.Earlier, Naveen questioned the govt on whether compensating farmers based on pre-2019 guidance values caused financial losses to landowners. “Don’t you think awarding compensation to farmers during land acquisitions as per 2019 guidance value is causing a loss to farmers?” he asked.Explaining the existing framework, the minister said the 2013 land acquisition law clearly outlined the method for determining compensation. “If you go by this law, once a preliminary notification for land acquisition is issued, the guidance value for that land is not revised. Instead, either the earlier guidance value or the registered sale deed values from the past 3 years are considered. The average amount based on the highest transaction value is then determined as compensation,” he explained.However, Gowda acknowledged that outdated guidance values could disadvantage farmers. “Govt is acquiring land every day for one or the other reasons, and it is true that not revising the guidance value from time to time causes injustice to farmers. This is the reason that I recommended revision of guidance value, but there are people who oppose that also,” he said.Referring to the widening gap between official and market rates, the minister said the discrepancy also encouraged illegal transactions. “At some places, if the guidance value is ₹2 lakh, the market price is ₹70 to ₹80 lakh. This is also leading to the transaction of black money. Considering all these, revision of guidance value is the only solution to prevent illegal transactions and also to give justice to farmers,” he added.
