Taking part in a debate on the Bill, Opposition leader YS Jagan Mohan Reddy said the government was trying to circumvent the existing land acquisition laws in the name of land pooling. "How can the government expect us to back the Bill if it is not willing to tell as to how it was going to protect the interests of the farmers and farm-labourers who are going to lose their land and livelihood in the area identified as capital city," he said.
The Assembly witnessed a heated debate over the issue with the members of the Opposition and treasury benches levelling allegations against each other.
More From This Section
Chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu and other members of the ruling party accused the Opposition leader of trying to derail the government's efforts. The chief minister said details of compensation and other measures would be incorporated at the time of framing the rules as the Bill was supposed to contain the broad contours and principles of the Act.
Defending the government's move, members of the ruling TDP said farmers of the proposed capital region were voluntarily coming forward to give their land through land pooling only after the government promised adequate returns in the form of developed land parcels and annual monetary compensation.
It may be recalled that the state government had identified over 30,000 acres of land in 23 villages - majority of them in Tullur mandal of Guntur district - as the capital city area where it plans to develop infrastructure in the first phase. To oversee the process of building the new capital, the government has come out with a separate Bill for the establishment of the capital region development authority (CRDA) with powers to approve and execute plans and constructions in the proposed region.
Opposition members questioned the government's move to acquire fertile lands from the farmers for the sake of the capital city even though government lands and other non-irrigated areas were available.
According to the Bill, the government would earmark 10 per cent of the total scheme area for parks, play grounds, gardens and open area, 30 per cent for roads and other utility services, 5 per cent for social amenities such as schools, dispensaries and other community facilities and 5 per cent area for affordable housing meant for economically weaker sections of society.
The capital region development authority will be constituted under the chairmanship of Naidu with municipal and finance ministers and secretaries of various departments as members. A separate executive committee will handle day-to-day functions of the authority while the commissioner will act as chief executive officer, according to the Bill.