Motor Vehicles Agreement: Land acquisition a hurdle

 Land acquisition is going to be a hurdle before the NDA government while implementing the landmark Motor Vehicles Agreement (MVA) for the regulation of passenger, personnel and cargo vehicular traffic between India, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh.

Sources said MVA, which was signed on Monday, will not be a major success unless better road infrastructure was assured as the number of vehicular movement is expected to increase in coming years. “Therefore, to improve the road infrastructure, we need to widen up the roads and there will be state of the art establishments for office and diplomatic work. These will require huge lands, which might be a problem before the government to acquire,” government sources said. 

“The government is already facing hurdles over the contentious Land Acquisition Bill. Now, with the MVA, the issue could further be raised by the <g data-gr-id="25">oppositions,</g> while acquiring land for the up-gradation of infrastructure. Though MVA is landmark decision but this needs to be done carefully,” he said.

Meanwhile, in a statement issued by the Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, he said, “This indeed is a momentous achievement for all the four neighbors. This historic agreement will further promote our cooperation in trade and commerce. This would further need to be supplemented through building and upgrading roads, railways and waterways infrastructure energy grids, communications and air links to ensure smooth <g data-gr-id="38">cross border</g> flow of goods, services, capital, technology and people.”

Recently, the government was cornered by the united <g data-gr-id="35">oppositions</g> over the contentious Land Bill. As per the 2013 Act on Land Acquisition, 80 per cent consent of land owners is required for private projects and consent of 70 per cent of <g data-gr-id="36">land owners</g> for PPP projects. It also exempts five categories from this provision of the Act. These categories include defence, rural infrastructure, affordable housing, industrial corridors and infrastructure projects including <g data-gr-id="37">public private</g> partnership (PPP) projects where the government owns the land.

Facing continuous resistance over the Ordinance, the government referred it to the committee, during the recently concluded Parliament session. Land Bill is currently with the Joint Committee of Parliament for <g data-gr-id="26">detailed</g> discussion on the provisions of the controversial legislation.