Partner to EIA consultants
Environmental consultants lead air, water, soil and ecology studies; we run the household, consultation and livelihood components on the same timeline.
Services · Land acquisition
Field evidence for SIA studies that must survive a public hearing and an expert review
Bharat Survey supports social impact assessment work in India for state SIA units, requiring bodies, project developers and the consultants who prepare SIA reports. We run the census of affected families, record assets and livelihoods with GPS and photo evidence, document public hearings, and provide the data behind a social impact management plan. We are not a state-empanelled SIA agency; where a notified unit or empanelled body must sign the study, we work as its field and data partner.
- Census survey of affected families
- Asset and livelihood inventory with GPS
- Public hearing documentation
- Data for the social impact management plan
3,000
Target homes
2,184
Visits
1,962
Enumerated
1,871
Verified
Daily verified recordsLast 12 days
Quality
Accepted1871
In review64
Outside area19
Weak signal8
Coverage · by block
Block A62%
Block B48%
Block C31%
Block D24%
Location evidence
Survey #BS-0412
- In areaInside approx. boundary
- Accuracy±12 m
- Time09:42 · fresh fix
- Mock GPSNot detected
- Interview length11 min
Added to accepted count
RFCTLARR Act 2013Affected family censusPublic hearing recordsLivelihood loss assessmentSIMP inputsCommon property resourcesOffline field appGPS-verified records
The law
The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (RFCTLARR Act) makes a social impact assessment the first step when the appropriate government proposes to acquire land for a public purpose, with exemptions the Act and state rules define. Chapter II sets out the process: the SIA is carried out in consultation with the panchayat or municipality of the affected area, a public hearing is held, and the study is normally to be completed within six months.
What the study must assess
The Act asks whether the project serves a public purpose, estimates affected families and those likely to be displaced, checks the extent of land, lists public and private assets affected, looks at whether the land proposed is the bare minimum, and considers alternative sites. It also studies social impacts and weighs them against benefits. A Social Impact Management Plan lists the measures to address the impacts.
After the report
An independent multi-disciplinary expert group appraises the SIA report and recommends whether the project should proceed. Weak field data is the most common reason these reviews stall: family counts that do not match revenue records, livelihood losers who are not landowners left out, or hearing minutes that do not record objections.
Who is affected family?
- Landowners whose land is acquired
- Tenants and sharecroppers
- Agricultural labourers dependent on the land
- Forest dwellers with rights
- Families dependent on common property
- Families residing in the area as defined by the Act
Scope
Four components that make up most of an SIA's evidence base.
Census of affected families
Every household, not a sample
A complete household census in the project footprint, with tenure, members, occupation, income sources and dependence on the land, each record located and time-stamped.
Assets and common property
Structures, trees, wells, shrines
Inventory of private and community assets with photos and GPS points, linked to the survey number where records allow.
Livelihood and vulnerability
Who loses income, not only land
Labourers, artisans, grazers and women-headed households whose losses are easy to miss in land-record-based lists.
Public hearing documentation
What was said, by whom
Attendance, audio or written minutes with consent, and a structured log of every objection and suggestion for the report annex.
Where SIA reports fail
Mitigation
A management plan is only as specific as the data under it.
SIMP preparation services
We supply the household-level tables that the SIMP author needs: who is displaced, who loses livelihood, which vulnerable groups are present, and which community assets need replacement. Measures can then be costed per family instead of per village.
- Impact category per family
- Vulnerable group flags
- Asset replacement list
Tracking commitments after approval
Repeat surveys of the same families, using stable IDs, show whether resettlement and livelihood measures reached them.
- Stable family IDs
- Round-wise comparison
- Grievance log
Lender-standard social baselines
Projects with multilateral financing often need baselines aligned to lender performance standards. The same census data can feed those requirements with extra modules.
- Gender and vulnerability modules
- Consultation records
- Baseline for monitoring
3,000
Target homes
2,184
Visits
1,962
Enumerated
1,871
Verified
Daily verified recordsLast 12 days
Broader scope
For ESIA work we cover the social side and field data. Environmental baselines stay with accredited environmental consultants.
One project map
Social survey points and asset records export in formats the environmental team's GIS can overlay on their sampling locations.
Consistent annexes
Questionnaires, sampling notes, consent text and hearing logs are delivered as ready annexes for the combined report.
Procurement
States handle SIA differently. Some notify a State Social Impact Assessment Unit; some empanel institutions, universities or NGOs to conduct studies; some do both. Requiring bodies usually cannot pick any consultant freely.
Social impact assessment unit state government
Where a state SIA unit exists, it typically assigns or approves the agency and reviews the draft. We work with the assigned agency as its field partner, following the unit's formats.
Empanelled social impact assessment agency
An empanelled social impact assessment agency is one listed by the state government after a selection process. Bharat Survey does not claim any such listing. If your study requires an empanelled body, we can support the body you appoint with census fieldwork, data management and hearing documentation.
Social impact assessment agency empanelment: what states usually ask
Social impact assessment agency empanelment notices commonly look for experience with SIA or R&R studies, social scientists on the team, field capacity in local languages, and absence of conflict of interest with the requiring body. Read each notice closely; criteria vary by state.
Not the right fit if
- Studies that must be signed by an empanelled SIA agency we are not
- Environmental monitoring or laboratory tests
- Legal opinion on compensation
- Deciding whether land should be acquired
A good fit if
- Complete census of affected families
- Asset and livelihood inventories with evidence
- Public hearing documentation
- Data tables for the SIMP and monitoring rounds
Rehabilitation and resettlement survey
R&R entitlement surveys and resettlement monitoring.
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Government survey services in Hindi.
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Independent evaluation of outcomes.
Learn moreEmpanelment
How empanelment processes usually work.
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Procuring survey services through GeM.
Learn moreFAQ
Straight answers to the questions people ask most about this topic.
Who conducts social impact assessment in India?
Under the RFCTLARR Act the appropriate government arranges the SIA, usually through a state SIA unit or an institution or agency it has notified or empanelled. The study is done in consultation with the local panchayat or municipality and reviewed by an independent expert group. Field agencies like ours support the assigned body.
What is the social impact assessment cost?
There is no standard rate. Cost depends on the number of affected villages and families, whether a full census is needed, the number of public hearings, languages, and whether monitoring rounds follow. We quote the field and data components after seeing the project footprint and terms of reference.
How long does an SIA take?
The Act sets a normal limit of six months from the start of the study. Fieldwork for a census of affected families is usually a few weeks for a compact project, longer for linear projects like roads or canals crossing many villages.
Do you cover people who do not own land?
Yes, and we treat it as essential. Tenants, sharecroppers, agricultural labourers, artisans and families dependent on common property are enumerated in the same census, with their dependence recorded explicitly.
India Nationwide, Hindi-first
Share the project footprint, number of villages and the state's process. We will propose the field and data scope.