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Business News/ Politics / Policy/  Land bill reintroduced in Lok Sabha; opposition walks out
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Land bill reintroduced in Lok Sabha; opposition walks out

Move govt's second attempt in this session to pass the legislation aimed at easing process of acquiring farm land

It is the second ordinance with the nine amendments passed by the Lok Sabha that the government on Monday re-introduced as a bill in the same house. Photo: PTIPremium
It is the second ordinance with the nine amendments passed by the Lok Sabha that the government on Monday re-introduced as a bill in the same house. Photo: PTI

New Delhi: The government on Monday introduced an amended version of the land acquisition law, even as opposition groups walked out in protest, warning they will not allow Parliament to work.

This is the government’s second attempt in the budget session to pass the contentious legislation aimed at easing the process of acquiring farm land.

The 2015 land acquisition bill aims to alter a 2013 law that industries say strangles economic growth by making it difficult for them to acquire agricultural land.

The bill, passed by the Lok Sabha on 10 March, was pending in the Rajya Sabha, where the opposition commands the numbers, when Parliament went into recess on 20 March. It was brought in as an ordinance because the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government had re-promulgated the land acquisition ordinance first issued on 29 December on 3 April—two days before it was due to expire.

It is this second ordinance, passed by the Lok Sabha in March with nine amendments, that the government on Monday reintroduced as a bill in the same House. Ordinances are valid for six months and need parliamentary approval if Parliament is in session during the period of its validity.

Opposing the bill, Mallikarjun Kharge, the leader of the opposition Congress party in the Lok Sabha, asked why the government was reintroducing a bill that was already pending for approval in the upper House.

“The bill (pending in the upper House) is alive; it has to be passed. I don’t understand why the government brought in an ordinance and force this (new) bill on us which is anti-farmer," Kharge said as rural development minister Birender Singh rose to introduce the bill.

“This (new) bill is for industrialists, the rich, it is for payments of debt, that is why it has been brought in," Kharge said. He was referring to an allegation made by Congress party vice-president Rahul Gandhi at a farmers’ rally in New Delhi on 19 April that Prime Minister Narendra Modi won the 2014 general election by borrowing thousands of crores of rupees from big industrialists and was now trying to ease land acquisition laws in order to repay his “debt".

“This is a way of forcing the new bill on us; we will not let Parliament work," Kharge warned.

In his response, parliamentary affairs minister Venkaiah Naidu said the country was well aware who had supported industry and businesses for five decades, referring to the decades of Congress party rule in India. He said the government was introducing the bill as “we wanted to take Parliament into confidence. It is a pro-farmer legislation", Naidu said, adding that the amended bill was important for economic growth.

Bhartruhari Mahtab of the Biju Janata Dal sought to know the “extraordinary situation" that, he said, had forced Singh to introduce a new ordinance bill.

After hearing both the sides, speaker Sumitra Mahajan ruled that “no identical bill to the one being proposed to be introduced is pending in Lok Sabha. There is no rule that bars the introduction of a bill, while a bill on the same subject passed by Lok Sabha is pending in the Rajya Sabha. And that’s why honourable members, as per established practice, the Speaker does not decide whether a bill is within the legislative competence of a house or not...so I shall put the motion to a vote".

At this point, members of the Congress, Trinamool Congress and Aam Aadmi Party walked out of the Lok Sabha. The government introduced the bill after voting for its introduction.

The 2015 bill does away with a clause mandating the consent of 80% of farmers for private acquisition of land and 70% for public-private partnerships. It also does away with the need for a social impact study involving public hearings examining people affected by acquisitions, including farm labourers. But it includes an assurance of jobs for at least one member of the families displaced by acquisitions. Another amendment provides for the government to ensure the land acquired is the bare minimum required for a project, while another calls on the government to undertake a survey of wastelands.

Meanwhile, in an interview to the Hindi language Jagran newspaper, the transcript of which was published in the paper on Monday, Prime Minister Modi said the original 2013 land law was brought in in a hurry but that the BJP, then in the opposition, supported it—in a comment that could be seen as a possible olive branch to the opposition.

“You should understand its history. The land acquisition bill was being considered after 120 years," he said, referring to the 1894 colonial-era land law that the 2013 legislation replaced. “Were even 120 hours devoted to consider such an old legislation? It was not.

“It is not that only the Congress party is responsible for it. We, as the BJP, are also responsible because we had supported it. Elections were approaching and the (Parliament) session had to be completed. That is why the decision was taken in a hurry. Later, every state realized it is a big problem," Modi said in his interview. On the opposition criticism that the land acquisition rules were being relaxed to favour big businesses, Modi said vested political interests were spreading “a lie".

“The fact is that we have not made even a minor change in the provisions of the 2013 law relating to acquisition of land for corporates. In amending the law, we are not giving any land to the corporates. Nor is there any intention to do so," Modi said.

“This is a lie, but it is being propagated. The changes in the land law are not an agenda either of the BJP or my government. Almost all state governments had requested for changes in the legislation," the Prime Minister said.

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Published: 11 May 2015, 02:20 PM IST
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