Sources in the government said on Wednesday that inclusion of a fresh clause through an official amendment is one of the various options being weighed. According to the proposal, if some states want to have social impact assessment and seek consent from farmers before acquiring their land, they will be free to do so.
Faced with a stalemate on the controversial land bill, the Union Cabinet had on Tuesday night discussed the issue amid suggestions that government may tweak some of its provisions to make it palatable to the Opposition.
There are indications that government plans to bring some official amendments to the vexed Bill, in order to take the Opposition on board.
Several states have opposed the "dilution" of provisions in the original Land Acquisition Act of 2013 regarding the consent of farmers and exemption from social impact assessment (SIA). Another option before the government is to re-introduce the consent clause with certain dilutions and having social impact assessment in some other form.
The discussion in the Cabinet came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi had expressed agreement with the remarks of SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav that since there is no consensus on the issue, both government and Opposition should make some adjustments to resolve it.
Referring to the protracted issue, Yadav in an all-party meeting on Monday had said that both the government and the Opposition should collectively endeavor adopting a give and take approach to find a solution.
The Joint Committee of Parliament examining the controversial land acquisition bill was on Wednesday given an extension till the first week of August to submit its report. The Committee was originally mandated to table its report on Tuesday – on the first day of the Monsoon session.
The bill to amend the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act of 2013 has got stuck because of opposition by several parties. Congress, led by Rahul Gandhi, is aggressively campaigning against it.
While the 2013 law required the consent of 80 per cent of land-owners to be obtained for private projects and that of 70 per cent for PPP ones, the present Bill exempts five categories from this provision – defence, rural infrastructure, affordable housing, industrial corridors and infrastructure projects, including public-private partnership (PPP) projects where the government owns the land.
The 2013 Act also required that a social impact assessment be conducted to identify affected families and calculate the social impact when land is acquired. This provision has been done away with.
Out of 672 representations that the committee received, 670 have opposed the amendments being brought by the NDA government in the Land Bill, particularly dropping the consent clause and social impact survey.
Joint panel on land gets extension till August 3
The Joint Committee of Parliament examining the controversial Land Bill was on Wednesday given an extension by the Lok Sabha till August 3 to submit its report. A motion moved by panel chairman SS Ahluwalia was adopted by voice vote amid din over Lalit Modi controversy. Ahluwalia had approached the Lok Sabha Speaker twice for the extension. The Committee was originally mandated to table its report on Tuesday – on first day of the Monsoon session. The panel had earlier written to the Speaker seeking extension till July 27 to submit its report. But on July 19, Ahluwalia sought time till August 3.