Another
meeting of the leaders could be convened on April 18, 2013.
As the central government
expressed reluctance to send the Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation Bill to
the standing committee on rural development again, the all-party meeting on the
Bill failed to reach a consensus here on recently.
The Central Govt has asked
leaders of all parties to send their suggestions & amendments to the Bill by April 15, 2013 so
that another meeting of the leaders could be convened on April 18, 2013.
Basic Differences..!
The basic differences are
on the definition of public purpose, rate of compensation & package for
rehabilitation.
The Union government said the
panel that it will come up with fresh list of official amendments after
studying the suggestions of the various political parties.
Rural Development Minister
Mr. Jairam Ramesh hoped that the Land Acquisition Bill will be passed in the
Budget session.
The Opposition leader in Lok
Sabha, Ms. Sushma Swaraj, said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has suggested
that if the land is not utilised for the purpose for which it was acquired, it
could be returned to the farmer. She was also hopeful that the Bill will be
passed at the earliest.
The CPI(M) leader, Mr.
Basudeb Acharia, told by moving more than 100 amendments the Central Government
has changed the character of the Bill, which was earlier studied by the
standing committee.
“It is a new Bill now. It has
to go to the standing committee again. We have been demanding this since
December, 2012. If the Central Government had heeded then, the second lap of
budget session could have discussed it,” Mr. Acharia said BL.
Compensation Amount Very
Low
The Samajwadi Party (SP)
argued that the compensation amount prescribed in the Bill is very low. The
party demanded that members of the farmers’ families, whose land will be
acquired, should be given jobs.
