Three Union Ministers met President Pranab Mukherjee to explain urgency of land acquisition ordinance

Three senior Union Ministers had met President Pranab Mukherjee to explain the urgency in promulgating the ordinance on Land Acquisition before he gave his nod to it.

The ministerial delegation, comprising Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, an eminent lawyer himself, Law Minister D V Sadananda Gowda and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari, went at the call of the President who wanted some clarification on the ordinance, sources said. Jaitley and the other ministers convinced the President about the urgency of the ordinance in view of the fact that before January one, the land law should bring under its purview 13 central legislations, including those relating to defence and national security, to provide higher compensation and rehabilitation and resettlement benefits to farmers whose land is being acquired.

They cited Section 105 of the Land Act in this regard. The President accorded his nod to the ordinance after meeting the ministers. With the promulgation of the ordinance, the R & R (rehabilitation and resettlement) and compensation provisions of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 will be applicable for the 13 existing central laws including the Coal Bearing Areas Acquisition and Development Act, 1957, the National Highways Act, 1956 and the Land Acquisition (Mines) Act, 1885.