Govt pitches for some understanding on pending land Bill

With the controversial Land Acquisition Bill pending for long, the government today made a strong pitch in the Lok Sabha for "some sort of understanding" on it, saying passage of the legislation is necessary to make land available for the programme of 'Housing-for-All' by 2020.

"Land is a major issue...Want some solution whereupon people of different parties try to find some sort of understanding on land Bill at the earliest," Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said while moving the Real Estate Bill for consideration and passage in the lower house.

The Land Acquisition Bill has been stuck due to sharp differences among political parties after the Modi government introduced some amendments to the Act of 2013. The Opposition, which is blocking the bill, contends that the new provisions are anti-farmer and pro-corporate.

 

After amending the 2013 Act four times through ordinances, the government had to finally give up the ordinance route in August last. The Bill is now pending before a joint committee which has been seeking extensions.

At the outset, Naidu noted that land is acquired for affordable housing and no one could create hundreds of houses without that.

The minister said the Real Estate Bill aims to protect the interests of buyers and bring more transparency in the housing sector.

It is the need of the hour as lots of consumers have been taken for a ride by various unscrupulous people, he said but added that he was not berating the entire industry.

He also assured the construction industry that the measure would help attract greater flow of investment, including from foreign investors and will ultimately help in reduction in cost of borrowing.

The Bill would also help in enhancing credibility and acceptability of developers.

He also assured the industry that ongoing projects would not come to a standstill because of the legislation which has been approved by the Rajya Sabha with the support of almost all parties, except AIADMK.

The Bill has been scrutinised by a select committee of the Rajya Sabha.

Allaying concern of the industry, Naidu said the provision of imprisonment in the Bill was certainly not the first but the last option.

He said in the development of housing sector, development and environment must go together as we cannot afford to cause damage to the nature.

The minister said that the Bill also provides for imprisonment of up to three years in case of promoters and up to one year in case of real estate agents and buyers for any violation of orders of Appellate Tribunals or monetary penalties or both.

Naidu said that it proposed that a minimum of 70% collections from buyers should be deposited in separate escrow account to cover cost of construction and land.

Initiating the debate, K C Venugopal (Congress) said he is happy that Naidu admitted that the Bill is the baby of the UPA government. He said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had mocked the Congress on the issue.

He lamented that amendments moved by the Opposition in the Lok Sabha are ignored by the government but it agrees to the ones moved in the Rajya Sabha. He said it was against healthy democracy.

He said the Bill is the need of the hour to help the poor get housing.

But he cautioned that the central legislation and the laws enacted by various states should not be inconsistent with each other.