INDIA
A Group of Ministers (GoM) formed to examine certain provisions of the controversial Land Acquisition Bill met but no decisions were taken in the meeting.
The first meeting of the Group of Ministers on the controversial Land Acquisition Bill on Thursday heard a strong demand by some members for retaining a window of retrospective application which was done away with earlier.
The meeting of the GoM, headed by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, discussed theadbare the newly-included contentious clause of prospectivity in the Bill and a question of Rehabilitation and Resettlement package on par with the Land Acquisition bill for the affected parties in the mineral-rich forest areas.
"There was a strong view expressed that we must have a window of retrospectivity. There was also a view that the Bill shall apply prospectively only," a source familiar with what transpired at the meeting said.
Considering the protest from the industries and other infrastructure Ministries, the Rural Development Ministry has said it has made changes in the controversial clause which had said that the Bill would apply retrospectively.
According to this clause, the Bill would be applicable to all cases of land acquisition before the date of commencement of the Act if the award under the 1894 Act has not been made.
The Ministry had made changes in this clause, which said that the "Bill shall apply prospectively only, i.e., for new acquisition only, and not retrospectively".
"There was a discussion on schedule IV of the Bill (which says about the mineral-rich forest areas dominated by tribals). Some of them (ministers) said the Act should not be there in scheduled IV but others felt the Act should be applicable in the schedule IV and remain," the source said.
A Minister, who supported the provision, said on condition of anonymity "the Bill already says the central government can by notification give the compensation and Relief and Rehabilitation of those in the fourth schedule on par with the Land Acquisition Bill."
Talking to reporters, Pawar said a final decision is expected to be taken in its next meeting.
"We will decide next time. This week, I am going to Vietnam and I will be back on October 4. After that, we will meet. Three members gave their views. No decision happened today," the GoM Chairman said.
Ministers who opposed certain provisions in the bill including Commerce Minister Anand Sharma, Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath and Highways Minister C P Joshi, sources said.
Nath told reporters later that he suggested roping in gram panchayats to ensure fair price of agriculture land and the process of awarding compensation should be hastened.
"My concern is about the fair market value (of land). The fair market value is defined as the circle rate or the rate at which the (land) transfer is made. It is well known that the circle rate does not reflect the market price. The transactive price does not reflect the market price," he said.
He claimed there is a difference in the price of land with high agriculture yield and it should be valued differently.
"I have suggested that gram panchayat must decide the price of land. There must be another stream of valuation to decide the piece of land. The land which has higher agri yield is different from the land which has no agri yield. It is a question of what is the agricultural yield of the land," Nath said.
He suggested that the Bill should also include the issue of compensation paid to farmers.
"I want the process to be fast so that farmers get their compensation. One of the major concerns is that huge tracts of land have been acquired and notices have been issued but the compensation has not been paid. This must come within the ambit of the bill," the Minister said.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Panchayati Raj Minister Kishore Chandra Deo and Petroleum Minister Jaipal Reddy also spoke.
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