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Government gets BJP on board, bill set to land in House

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Accepting all 12 amendments proposed by the principal opposition party BJP, the UPA government on Thursday clinched a “broad political consensus” on the contentious land acquisition bill, paving way for its parliamentary approval in the upcoming second half of the budget session, starting on Monday. The law will replace the 1894 colonial law that was used all these years to acquire land.

Even though the Left and the DMK continued opposition to the provisions of the bill, parliamentary affairs minister Kamal Nath, riding on the BJP support, said a broad consensus has been reached on the land acquisition bill. He admitted that there wasn’t unanimity, but exuded confidence to get the bill passed in parliament.

At an all-party meeting that lasted for about 90 minutes, Basudeb Acharia of the CPI (M) demanded that the bill be sent to a select committee. He said the current version was against farmers. DMK leader TR Baalu claimed the bill was against the federal structure of the Constitution and his party cannot agree to it.

Union rural development minister Jairam Ramesh said there was need to strike a balance between the interests of farmers and the industrial needs of the country.

The government agreed to the BJP amendment to allow farmers to lease their lands to industries and developers while remaining owners.

“This will provide them with a regular annual income in addition to a lump-sum amount they get at the time of striking the deal. The land will remain registered in the names of the farmers,” said leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj. Also, neither the government nor any private party will get the land unless 70 per cent of the owners agree and get four times the market price at the time of handover and then the agreed annual lease amount.

Jairam Ramesh had pointed out to Swaraj that leasing rights were vested with the states and Parliament cannot enact a law, but Kamal Nath immediately suggested that an enabling clause can be inserted to get the BJP on board.

Nath, who took credit for this breakthrough, said a similar consensus was on cards in the coming days on passing two more path-breaking laws food security and Lokpal bills in this session itself.

The BJP had raised the point that a one-time payment of compensation to farmers created a neo-rich class, indulging in luxurious and showing off wealth till they all lose it and return to penury. In the new scenario, they will be able to share gains from property built on their land not only for life time but for generation.

A dozen changes proposed by the BJP in the Bill that was introduced in September 2011 are in addition to a whopping 153 amendments proposed by the government, mostly on the recommendation of a parliamentary standing committee and some on the recommendation of Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council.

Even the name of the Bill is being changed as The Right to Fair Compensation, Resettlement, Rehabilitation & Transparency in Land Acquisition Bill. In view of farmers’ agitations against acquisition of their land, the UPA government has been pushing for changing the 1894 law since 2007. It had, in fact, introduced two Bills in the Lok Sabha in 2007 — Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill and Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill — but they lapsed in 2009 with the dissolution of the 14th Lok Sabha on completing its term.

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