Govt pitches for some understanding on long-pending Land Bill

With the controversial Land Acquisition Bill pending for long, the government on Tuesday made a strong pitch in the Lok Sabha for “some sort of understanding” on it, stressing that the passage of the legislation is necessary to make land available for the programme of ‘Housing-for-All’ by 2020.

“Land is a major issue...want some solution whereupon people of different parties try to find some sort of understanding on Land Bill at the earliest,” Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said, while moving the Real Estate Bill for consideration and passage in Lok Sabha. The Land Acquisition Bill has been stuck due to sharp differences among political parties after the Narendra Modi government introduced some amendments to the Act of 2013. The Opposition, which is blocking the Bill, contends that the new provisions are anti-farmer and pro-corporate.

After amending the 2013 Act four times through ordinances, the government had to finally give up the ordinance route in August last. The Bill is now pending before a Joint Committee which has been seeking extensions. Naidu noted that land is acquired for affordable housing and no one could create hundreds of houses without that.