The Odisha Nagarika Samaj (ONAS), a civil society alliance in the State, has urged Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for taking public opinion on an anti-land grab law drafted by the State Government.
While welcoming such an initiative of the State Government to put in place an Odisha land Grabbing Prohibition Act 2014 which the State Govt of Andhra Pradesh had enacted years back, the forum expressed its dismay over the haste to pass the Bill without seeking any public consultation on the draft Bill.
In a letter to Patnaik, the forum wrote, “Keeping in view the hurriedly passed anti-corruption legislations, such as the toothless Odisha lokayukta Bill 2014, by your Govt bypassing the public consultation, we apprehend the repeat of the same in case of the proposed anti-land grabbing legislation while keeping the people in dark about the content of the draft law. It might so happen that the proposed Act against land grabbing would turn out to be as toothless as the above referred lokayukta Bill. It is beyond our comprehension as to why your Govt is hesitant to put the draft Bill in public domain and invite wider public consultation thereonIJ Needless to mention, a wide-scale public debate over the draft bill would make the law more people-friendly and fool-proof, which is the goal of any worthy legislative exercise in a democracy.”