Govt decides to refer land bill to House joint committee

With the passage of land acquisition bill in the budget session of parliament looking an unlikely possiblity, government has decided to refer the contentious measure to a 30-member joint committee.
The GST bill figures in the list of business in Rajya Sabha tomorrow and it appears that it could end up going to a Select Committee with Congress insisting on a legislative scrutiny for the measure claiming that provisions of the earlier bill have been changed and needed a re-look.
The name of senior BJP leader S S Ahluwlia is doing the rounds for the Chairmanship of the joint committee of both Houses that will examine the land bill. But there was no official confirmation on this.

Government may bring a resolution in Lok Sabha tomorrow to set up the joint committee, the sources said.
The resolution will then be taken to Rajya Sabha for incorporating members from the Upper House.
The motion for refererring the GST bill to the Select Committee will come up in Rajya Sabha since the Lok Sabha has already passed it.

Government will inform Parliament in this regard after firming up the decisions on the two issues at a meeting of BJP Parliamentary Party tomorrow morning, party sources said.
Almost the entire Opposition is against the land bill that proposes changes in the earlier law of 2013 in this regard.

The land bill (the 'Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Second Bill, 2015') was introduced in Lok Sabha today amid strong protests from the Opposition which termed the legislation 'anti-farmer', as members of Congress and some other parties staged a walkout.