Govt to bring New Clause in Land Acquisition Bill in Winter Session
There was an unanimous demand from all farmer organizations for a land acquisition bill. The revised draft of the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill (LARR) has been sent for inter-ministerial consultations. It will be sent for cabinet approval in the first week of September and introduced in the Parliament soon after.
The contents of LARR will further be applicable on acquisition of 50 acres of land by a single party in urban areas, reduced from an earlier requirement of 100 acres of acquisition. For rural areas, the new rule will apply on acquisition of 100 acres or more by a single party. The draft has also proposed a more focused definition of ‘public purpose of land’ for which the mandatory consensus of 80% of the people affected by the project is not required.
A clause introduced in the draft land acquisition bill will bring cases where the award of land is underway or possession has not taken place within the scope of compensatory and acquisition norms. This will make private developers, industries and the government, who are currently involved in the process of acquiring land, shell out generous compensation packages to land owners with retrospective effect. “The new clause that we have introduced will give the bill retrospective effect,” rural development minister Jairam Ramesh said.
“I will try to introduce this bill in the Parliament in the ongoing session. There is a good deal of political consensus and, in all likelihood, it will be passed in the winter session,” added Ramesh.
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