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Govt ready with land Bill, but NAC wants changes
The government is ready to introduce the Land Acquisition Amendment Bill in the monsoon session, but a sub-group of the NAC has other plans.
The government is ready to introduce the Land Acquisition Amendment Bill in the monsoon session, but a sub-group of the NAC has other plans.
The National Advisory Council, headed by Sonia Gandhi, wants to review the entire Bill now as it has some more changes to suggest.
“Many provisions in the 2009 Bill are debatable … there is a need to re-look, revise many such things,” said Harsh Mander, NAC member heading the working group on land acquisition, stressing on the “public purpose” in the Bill.
The group, with Aruna Roy and NC Saxena as members, will meet on May 19 to finalise its report and submit it to Gandhi. The report will be sent to the government only after a full NAC approval.
The ‘review’ comes at a time when minister for rural development Vilasrao Deshmukh said his ministry is moving a fresh note with new suggestions in the 2009 Bill for Cabinet approval. The Bill passed by 14th Lok Sabha lapsed with the House dissolution.
This is not the first time that the NAC has scanned the “controversial” Bill. In 2006, the first NAC had suggested several measures that were “more people-friendly” than the provisions of the 2009 Bill. It includes land for land if the affected people are tribals and displacement is a result of hydro-projects. Other measures include housing site for all, one job per affected family in the project, 100 per cent solatium over land price etc.
“We feel the need of these provisions all the more now,” said Saxena.
There is also a suggestion to make the Haryana rehabilitation scheme (with 33-year annuity etc) a model under the Act, which, Deshmukh said, would not be possible in many states.
Meanwhile, on Thursday RLD leader Ajit Singh met Deshmukh with his set of demands — higher compensation in case of commercial projects, retrospective effect of Act in places where land acquisition process is already on etc.
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