Facing ire from the Opposition over amendments to the land Bill, the Centre is learnt to have restricted the definition of a private body, which acquires land for its projects. Sources said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Rural Development Minister Birender Singh and Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu, who convened an urgent meeting on the issue on Sunday, will interact with leaders to discuss the issue on Monday morning.
A day before The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Bill comes up for consideration and passage in the lok Sabha, Government on Sunday indicated to the Opposition that it would move an official amendment replacing the term ‘private entity’ with ‘private enterprise’.
The move seeks to restrict those in the private sector who plan to acquire land. There were worries that a private individual may pass off as a ‘private entity’ to acquire land. The NDA Ordinance and the subsequent Bill replaced the term ‘private company’, used in UPA’s Bill, with ‘private entity’.
A private entity is an entity other than a Government entity, and could include a proprietorship, partnership, company, corporation, non-profit organisation, or other entity under any other law.