Oppn-backed bandh unsuccessful, says Das; counts benefit of amending Land Acquisition Act

Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das today said the bandh sponsored by opposition against amendments in the land acquisition act was "unsuccessful" and that the people rejected their "anti-development" agenda.

He enlisted the "benefits" of his government amending the 2013 Land Acquisition Act including that it ensures the people get compensation expeditiously.

He claimed the people rejected the dawn-to-dusk bandh sponsored by the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, the Congress, the RJD, the JVM against the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Jharkhand Amendment) Act, 2017 (Jharkhand Act-07/2018).

The state government had brought an amendment in the 2013 Land Acquisition Act, through a bill passed in the Jharkhand Assembly in August, 2017. The bill had done away with the impact assessment clause to allow government-sponsored developmental projects.

"There is right to criticize in a democracy. Every person and every party has different views. And the opposition view is anti-development. As per my information, the people of the state made the bandh unsuccessful," Das told a press conference here.

He said the people of the state are pro-development and all parties should be so even as they may have differences. "If negative views remain, then the people will teach them a lesson in the 2019 elections."