RtGHTS OF THE VULNERABLE its entirety and to make suitable recommendations to the Government, especially as the Government was reported to be considering a comprehensive Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill, 2000 without incorporating into it any provisions relating to resettlement and rehabilitation. The petition urged that provisions covering resettlement and rehabilitation should be part of the Land Acquisition Act itself, so that they became justifiable. 6.3 The Commission considered the request contained in the petition carefully and agreed with the view that the resettlement and rehabilitation of persons displaced through the acquisition ofland for various projects should formpart of the provisions of the Land Acquisition Act itself, or be the subject of appropriate separate legislation. The Commission was additionally of the view that the Government should, while adopting a comprehensive policy, provide for that policy to be incorporated into appropriate legislation within a specified time frame. The Commission also decided to invite the Secretary, Ministry of Rural Development, to meet the Commission, in order to inform the Ministry of its view on the subject. The Secretary, Ministry of Rural Development, accompanied by other senior officers of , the Ministry, met the Commission on 13 February 2001. During the ensuing discussions, the Commissionemphasised that it was desirable to incorporate the resettlement and rehabilitation package in the Land Acquisition Act itself and advanced the following reasons and ideas: • ILO Convention 107, to which India is a party, provides for the protection of the rights of indigenous and tribal people. • Incorporation of the Rehabilitation and Resettlement (R&R) package in the law will ensure the R&R of Project Affected People in a systematic manner. • The provision of an R&R package in the law itself would help to avoid litigation, at times frivolous, in such matters, and this in turn would help to avoid delays and cost overruns in projects. • Once the R&R package is provided in the law, there wottld be uniformity in dealing with cases by the Courts; this would prevent lack of uniformitj' in the handling of such cases and interference by the Courts. • The R&R facilities should be provided in advance before actual acquisition of land takes place. ANNUAL REPORT 2000-2001 j 55