Land Bill gets RS nod

The Land Acquisition Bill was approved by the Rajya Sabha with the government declaring that it was a necessary legislation and not an election one, even as the main opposition BJP expressed reservations about some of its provisions. The bill stipulates mandatory consent of at least 70% of landowners for acquiring land for public private partnership projects and 80% for private firms. Replying to a debate on the bill, rural development minister Jairam Ramesh said the government was only walking the middle path between industrialization and benefits for farmers and tribals.
Incomplete irrigation projects would stay out of the purview of the new law which provides retrospective implementation; also, in irrigation projects, the government will be able to pay cash compensation in lieu of land as against the mandatory clause of land for land. Since these irrigation-related amendments were made after the bill was passed by Lok Sabha, the legislation will go back to the lower House for its consent for it to become law. “The bill envisages compensation also to those who will lose their livelihoods from any land acquisition,’’ Ramesh said.