Rejecting suggestions of a parliamentary panel, Left parties and some state governments, the Union rural development ministry will stick to its 70:30 formula for land acquisition for industry in its amendments to the related Bill.
In other words, the state will be able to acquire only 30 per cent of the total land required, that too only after the rest has been bought by the private party.
Ministry sources said that the the Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill, 2007, along with the Resettlement and Rehabilitation Policy will be pushed for Parliament with minor changes. The original proposal of the group of ministers (GoM) also favoured this 70:30 formula. Union Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh told Business Standard, “I’ve sent the bill to the law ministry. Once the law ministry and the Union Cabinet clear it, the Bill will be placed in the forthcoming session of Parliament for passing.”
The Left parties and the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Rural Development had raised serious objections to the 70:30 formula and sought full power of the state to acquire land. The committee also recommended that the highest price of sale deed in the last three years plus 50 per cent of the said highest price should be the criteria for assessing and determining the market value of the land.
This is also unacceptable to the ministry and it wants lower valuation of the land.
However, these amendments will not be binding on the states as they are free to formulate own amendments in state laws. But the Centre expects that politically, many states will have no other option but to follow the central policy.
