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Business News/ Politics / Policy/  NDA govt to seek middle ground on land bill
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NDA govt to seek middle ground on land bill

Rural development minister says govt will accept, incorporate any suggestion aimed at the welfare of farmers

The biggest hurdle for the NDA government is to get the 2015 bill passed in the Rajya Sabha, where it is in a minority and a united opposition has the support of 134 out of the 245 MPs in the house. Photo: Vipin Kumar/HTPremium
The biggest hurdle for the NDA government is to get the 2015 bill passed in the Rajya Sabha, where it is in a minority and a united opposition has the support of 134 out of the 245 MPs in the house. Photo: Vipin Kumar/HT

New Delhi: The ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on Thursday signalled its willingness to seek out middle ground in the face of concerns and reservations from sections of the ruling combine and the opposition over proposed changes to the 2013 land acquisition law.

Rural development minister Chaudhary Birender Singh told reporters that the government will accept and incorporate any suggestion aimed at the welfare of farmers into a new 2015 land acquisition bill that aims to replace the 2013 law.

“I would not say opposition; they are suggesting certain amendments, they are suggesting certain good things. Any good suggestion for the benefit of the farmer, we will accept and incorporate into the (2015) bill," Singh told reporters in New Delhi. “We will not do anything that is detrimental to the interests of farmers."

The minister was referring to comments and views put forth by groups such as the Swadeshi Jagran Manch, the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh and the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh, which are among the many called to express their views before a joint committee of parliament comprising 30 members of Parliament (MPs). The three groups are affiliates of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh, the ideological mentor of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the main component of the NDA.

The parliamentary committee was constituted in May to iron out differences between the ruling combine and the opposition on amendments proposed to the 2013 law that has stringent provisions on getting farmers’ consent before acquiring land and makes a social impact assessment mandatory.

The 2015 bill does away with the consent clause as well as the mandatory social impact assessment—strongly opposed by the main opposition Congress and other parties. According to the government, these two provisions were among those holding up land acquisition for key infrastructure projects.

The biggest hurdle for the NDA government is to get the 2015 bill passed in the Rajya Sabha, where it is in a minority and a united opposition has the support of 134 out of the 245 MPs in the house. Although the government can get the crucial bill passed in the Lok Sabha, the lack of support from the opposition could derail the government’s plans for the second consecutive session of Parliament.

When asked about the opposition’s unrelenting position on the new land bill, finance minister Arun Jaitley said this and another bill on a uniform goods and services tax (GST) aimed at making the country into a single market would not be held back by the opposition.

“GST and the land bill are necessary for the Indian economy. The government is hopeful that no political party will take an anti-growth anti-development stance," Jaitley told reporters at a separate press conference on Thursday.

According to Singh, the government would acquire multi-crop land only under “extraordinary circumstances". This has been a key concern of the opposition groups.

“The bill already has provisions that only wasteland will be acquired" at first, the minister said, adding that key clauses of the 2013 law, dealing with compensation, relief and rehabilitation, had not been touched. The 2013 law stipulates that those whose land is being acquired would be given twice the price of land in urban areas and four times the price in rural areas.

It also provides for the process of acquisition to take place after rehabilitation and resettlement procedures are completed. “We have already agreed to a suggestion that the government provide jobs to one person from a family that was drawing sustenance from the land that is being acquired," the minister said. “We have already incorporated good suggestions made in the past and we will do that in the future as well," he said.

“If any suggestion comes in relation to any clause, we are ready to consider it in farmers’ interest.... There is no such rigidity on our part that we are not willing accept if there is anything good," he said.

Singh said the 2013 law was opposed by the chief ministers of many states including those administered by the Congress party who were of the view that land acquisition was very difficult under the terms of the 2013 law.

Since the 2013 law came into force on 1 January 2014, land acquisition had taken place only in three states—two of which were Punjab and Odisha, Singh said. Most states had not framed the rules for acquisition of land, he said.

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Published: 02 Jul 2015, 08:17 PM IST
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