The objective of the workshop was to fasttrack the process of land acquisition for Highway Development Projects. The initiative will pave the way for faster acquisition of land thereby facilitating timely completion of Highway Development Projects in Tamil Nadu.
Pertinently, the Union Government is committed to infrastructure development in Tamil Nadu and is working tirelessly to complete various projects in a time-bound manner. Significantly, the Government of India is undertaking a number of highway Development Projects worth more than Rs. 40,000 Cr. in Tamil Nadu.
The workshop was inaugurated by Shri Pradeep Yadav, Additional Chief Secretary to Government, Highways & Minor Ports Department, Govt. of Tamil Nadu. In the inaugural address, he expressed that payment of compensation prior to taking possession of the land is the primary responsibility of the CALAs as taking land without payment of compensation is unethical. He also exhorted all the Participants to make effective use of the Workshop and clear all doubts and other issues to ensure timely processing and payment of compensation to the land owners.
The Workshop was conducted by a team led by Shri Abhay Jain, Dy. Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Sh. B.P Khare, Advisor, MoRT&H and Shri Vimal, DGM (LA), NHAI, New Delhi, who explained in detail the land acquisition process and functioning of Bhoomi Rashi Portal to all participants. It was informed that the Bhoomi Rashi Portal will not only allow expediting direct payment of compensation for the acquired land but will also allow the landowners to know/track the status of their payment as well as file grievance, if any. Shri T.N. Ramanathan, Advisor (LA), NHAI, Chennai gave a detailed presentation on various issues in land acquisition in the State of Tamil Nadu.
As part of the workshop, an inter-active session was held wherein the participants raised many issues affecting the land acquisition process and functioning of Bhoomirashi Portal, which were clarified by the Team.
The workshop was attended by Shri S. Vijay Kumar, Regional Officer, MoRT&H, Chennai, Shri Virender Sambyal, Regional Officer, NHAI, Chennai, Shri Ajay Bishnoi, Regional Officer, NHAI, Madurai, Smt. R. Geetha, Chief Engineer, National Highways, Govt. of Tamil Nadu, CALAs along with other officers engaged in Land Acquisition process from various districts of Tamil Nadu, Project Directors of NHAI, Officers of MoRTH and Highways Department, Govt. of Tamil Nadu.