Lapse of Land Ordinance not a setback for govt: Jaitley
1 Sept 2015 6:08 AM IST
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on Sunday announced that the government will not <g data-gr-id="18">repromulgate</g> the controversial ordinance on land acquisition which expires on Monday and declared readiness to incorporate any suggestion in the bill, which is pending in Rajya Sabha.
"I won't call it a setback. It is set forward. Rather than involve ourselves in political stalemate and remain parked in a traffic jam situation, we take the alternative route, which has lesser political cost, allow greater flexibility to the states ... and states who want to get benefit out of it, get the benefit out of it," Jaitley said.
Earlier last week, the government had issued an order to include 13 central acts like national highway and railways acts to extend benefits to those whose land is acquired under the land law.
Jaitley said rather than allowing the parliamentary stalemate to carry on, the Centre followed an alternative route which will give flexibility to states to change laws on land acquisition as per their requirement.
Replying to queries on GST Bill, which is held up in Rajya Sabha, the minister said he was in touch with the Congress party. Stating that Congress was unsure of their stand, he added that the opposition party was "the one who pioneered this and they are the one who is picking holes in their own proposals."
"Now that is a politically unsustainable situation... in the Budget session they told us, we will do it in the next session. Now they are saying that we are not against the GST, but we have some suggestions ... all right we will discuss the suggestions with them ... now they say don't do it right now. Do it after a little while," he said.
The Constitution Amendment Bill to roll out GST, a new indirect tax regime, has been passed by Lok Sabha, but is stuck in Rajya Sabha where the government does not have <g data-gr-id="29">majority</g>. Meanwhile, Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who addressed the media along with Rural Development Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh, also sought to allay apprehensions that the development agenda of the Narendra Modi government will be heavily hit with the 2013 land law restored even as she conceded that the process of land acquisition will definitely be delayed due to it.
Cong Spreading Misinformation on Land Bill: BJP
The BJP on Monday accused the Congress of spreading misinformation against the Land Acquisition Bill, saying it was the main opposition party which took a U-turn on the bill and not the government. “Congress CMs had favoured bringing changes in the UPA’s Land Acquisition Act, 2013, <g data-gr-id="83">as</g> under it, the acquisition process was very difficult and lengthy. But when we brought the bill with changes as per their demand, they started opposing it by calling it anti-farmer,” Union Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh said.
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