The contentious Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation and Resettlement (LARR) Bill, 2011, which was taken up by the Cabinet on Tuesday, had to be referred to a group of ministers (GoM), as several ministries felt their concerns had not been adequately addressed. The Bill, which has far-reaching implications and ramifications, has expectedly faced several hurdles. The rural development ministry, which mooted the Bill, had taken into consideration the recommendations of the standing committee before placing it in front of the Cabinet.
Significantly, the roadblocks today came from the Congress’ own ministers and not the usual suspect, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) that has been vocal in its opposition to the Bill. TMC minister Mukul Roy was not present at on Tuesday’s meeting.
Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh, who has been keen on pushing the Bill through, informed the other ministers, “We have accepted 25 out of the 28 recommendations of the standing committee, and held widespread discussions.” He, therefore, hoped there would not be much trouble to clear the Bill.
| WHAT THE BILL SUGGESTS |
|
| India’ s total land area 328.7 m ha |
| Forests 67.0 m ha |
| Area under non-agricultural use 21.8 m ha |
| Area under foodgrain cultivation 184 m ha |
| (Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Agriculture) |
| Bills drafted so far |
| UPA-I |
- Land Acquisition Bill 2006
- Land Acquisition Act Amendment Bill 2007
(This went to the Standing Committee)
UPA-II
- Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill 2009 (Passed in the Lok Sabha)
- Right to Fair Compensation, Resettlement, Rehabilitation and Transparency in Land Acquisition
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Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma has gone public with his concerns about the Bill on several occasions earlier. Sharma, who is abroad on official work, was not present at on Tuesday’s meeting, but he had already communicated his views and had written a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Sharma wants SEZs to be out of the provisions of the land act. Reiterating the demands of the industry, Sharma wants land for SEZs and national manufacturing investment zones to be considered as land for public purpose, which would thereby entail less stringent provisions. Other ministries such as urban development and road transport & highways also had issues with the legislation.
A Cabinet minister said, “This being a crucial Bill, which has wide ramifications, all the ministries concerned wanted to ensure that once it is in place, projects should not get stuck. They, therefore, wanted a more intensive clause by clause discussion on the Bill, and this is only possible in a GoM.”
Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath wants that the Bill should ensure development projects are not hit. He wants further discussion on the Bill. Nath has on earlier occasions expressed reservations on the Bill, as he is of the view that once passed, it will cause serious problems to urbanisation and industrialisation in the country.
Road Transport and Highways Minister CP Joshi (who was also the former rural development minister) wants the Bill to ensure that road building activity should not get stalled. He cited crucial projects, like the north-south corridor, as examples of how land acquisition issues could impact road projects.
As the Bill is unlikely to make it to the Parliament this monsoon session, Jairam Ramesh readily accepted the decision to refer it to the GoM. The prime minister will shortly constitute the GoM, likely to be chaired by Defence Minister A K Antony.