Centre may allow states flexibility of having consent clause,

Seeking to placate the Opposition on the vexed land acquisition bill, the Centre may include a fresh section in it to allow state governments have the provision of a consent clause and social impact assessment while implementing the law.
Sources in the government said today that inclusion of a fresh clause through an official amendment is one of the various options being weighed.
According to the proposal, if some states want to have social impact assessment and seek consent from farmers before acquiring their land, they will be free to do so.
Faced with a stalemate on the controversial land bill, the Union Cabinet had last night discussed the issue amid suggestions that government may tweak some of its provisions to make it palatable to the Opposition.

There are indications that Government plans to bring some official amendments to the vexed bill, in order to take the Opposition on board.
Several states have opposed the "dilution" of provisions of the original Land Acquisition Act of 2013 regarding the consent of farmers and exemption from social impact assessment (SIA).

Another option before the government is to re-introduce the consent clause with certain dilutions and having social impact assessment in some other form.
The discussion in the Cabinet came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi had expressed agreement with the remarks of SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav that since there is no consensus on the issue, both government and opposition should make some adjustments to resolve the issue.

Referring to the protracted issue, Yadav had said on Monday in an all-party meeting that both the government and the opposition should collectively endeavor adopting a give and take approach to find a solution.