STATE SOCIAL IMPACT ASSESMENT UNIT (SSIA ) Established – February 25, 2014 Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology Punjabi University, Patiala.

About LARR Act 2013 The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, was passed by Parliament replacing the old colonial Land Acquisition of This Act was implemented from According to section 4 of this Act Social Impact Assessment Study and Social Impact Management Plan is mandatory in the cases where the appropriate government intends to acquire land for public purpose.

An Introduction of SIA Social impact assessment can be defined as “the process of analysing, monitoring and managing the intended and un-intended social consequences, both positive and negative, of planned interventions (policies, programmes, plans and projects) and any social change process invoked by those interventions.”

Punjab Government Notification

Establishment of SSIA Unit It is worth mentioning that Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology Punjabi University Patiala is the only Department offering a course in the field of Social Impact Assessment. Recognizing this, Punjab Government notified Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology as State Social Impact Assessment Unit on Punjabi University Patiala taking the view of the enormous work involved in SIA studies established a separate State Social Impact Assessment Unit (SSIAU) on April 2014.

Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology Punjabi University, Patiala Department is successfully running Post Graduate Diploma of Social Impact Assessment having 15 seats, 10 for fresh students and 5 for working professionals. The batches of , have successfully completed the Diploma course and have been engaged in different research projects for conducting SIA studies. The SSIA Unit has a created panel of International/ National experts and scholars who visit the department from time to time. These experts deliver lectures and conduct workshops as a part of training and capacity building programmes for the various Social Impact Assesment teams.

1)Prof. Harvinder Singh Bhatti M.A. M.Phill. Ph.D, Director, CCSR and Coordinator SSIA Unit 2)Prof. Malinger Singh Randhawa M.A. M.Phill. Ph.D, H.O.D and Co-Coordinator of the Course 3)Prof. Birinder Pal Singh M.A. M.Phill. Ph.D, Principal Investigator of the Project of Ethnographic Studies ot Tribes of Punjab 4)Dr. Deepak Kumar M.A., M.Phill. Ph.D, Project Director, Educational Status of the SCs in Punjab 5) Dr. Namrata Vadhera M.A. UGC Net, Ph.D 6) Dr. Kiran M.A., UGC Net, Ph.D 7) Mr. Gautam Sood M.A., UGC Net Faculty Associated with SSIAU

Following scholars and experts have delivered lectures and trained the students: 1)Prof. Allen Furr, Chair of the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work at Auburn University, Alabama, U.S.A. 2)Dr. Ann Murphy, Department of Asian studies, University of British Columbia, Canada. 3)Jessica L. men, Department of Asian studies, University of British Columbia, Canada. 4)Prof. Ajit Sikand, Institute of Indology, University of Mainz, Frankfurt, Germany. 5)Pipa Virdi, School of Humanities, University of De Montfort, U.K. 6)Prof. Rajesh Gill, Department of Sociology, Panjab University, Chandigarh. 7)Umendra Dutt, Chairman Kheti Virast Commission, Punjab. 8)Kamaljeet Sohi, Chairman Road Safety, Punjab. 9)Prof. Varinder Kalra, Department of Sociology, Manchester University, Manchester UK. Visiting Experts

About Projects and Team Members SSIA has also created a Panel of Experts from different Departments of Social Sciences and Research Departments of Universities such as Punjabi University, Panjab University, GNDU Amritsar, JNU Delhi and CRRID and from Universities of US, UK, Canada and Germany. This unit is functioning with the coordination of CCSR and Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology, Punjabi University, Patiala. Unit created a Data Base of 100 Researchers who were Interviewed by University Panel. All researchers are competent and qualified for Social Impact Assessment studies. There are several ongoing projects under this unit given by different agencies such as BSF, GMADA, Dept. of Land Acquisition, Punjab Mandi Board, PRBDB etc.

Project Completed By SSIA Unit 1 The project of Master Plan Road Majra T-Junction to Pallanpur. It is the first project of SIA in India after the introduction of new Law. 2Sewerage Treatment Plant and main pumping station village Ramgarh, Sahnewal. 3Evaluation of Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Pre-Matric Scholarship for Scheduled Caste Students in Punjab.

On-going Projects 1)Land Acquisition for construction of Bypass at Dehlon, Dist.Ludhiana 2) Land Acquisition for Naya Gaon Railway Line, Dist. SAS Nagar 3) Land Acquisition for expansion of Sabzi Mandi at Wallah, Dist.Amritsar 4) Land Acquisition at Dists. Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Fazilka, Tarn Taran; Ferozpur by BSF for construction of patrolling track at border,(7 projects) 5)Land Acquisition for expansion of BOPs at 4 sites in Ajnala, Dist. Amritsar. 6)Eco-city Phase-III GMADA, New Chandigarh, Dist. SAS Nagar

Experience & Suggestions According to G.S. Kalkat, Chairman Punjab State Farmer Commission 10,000 acres of agriculture land is acquired annually in Punjab ( for Non agriculture uses) The process of Land Acquisition is further going to be accelerated on a large scale. Urbanization is the main cause of Land Acquisition. Social Impact Assessment study is mandatory for any Land acquisition according to LARR Act, Therefore large scale deployment of experts is required for SIA study.

Thank You