In a bid to ensure early passage of the contentious land Acquisition Bill in the Parliament Session that would reconvene from April 22, the Centre is reaching out to political parties for a broad consensus on the UPA’s ambitious legislation which it sees as a major political launchpad ahead of the 2014 lok Sabha elections.
Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh said on Thursday that his meeting with leader of Opposition in the lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj and CPI leader D Raja was “very good”. However, he refused to elaborate the details of the meeting undertaken to iron out differences on the Bill that was introduced in the Parliament last year.
The standing committee on rural development, which is headed by BJP MP Sumitra Mahajan, had criticised the original draft of the Bill and made a number of key suggestions.
However, instead of sending the draft bill again to the Parliamentary panel, the Centre is keen to bring broader political consensus on the legislation saying that many suggestions of the Standing Committee led by Mahajan have already been incorporated.
On Friday, Ramesh will meet CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury and JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav seeking their support.
The Minister’s meeting with Opposition leaders comes two days after an all-party meeting failed to make much headway amid divergent views and decided to hold a fresh round of consultations on April 18 to sort out differences on the contentious bill.
After the April 9 meeting, Swaraj had said BJP has submitted 12 points of concern. One was over the Government deleting the term SEZ and replacing it with ‘manufacturing zones’ in the bill. “It is the same thing,” she had said.
BJP had also suggested that instead of acquisition, the land could be leased to the developer as it was a “better proposition” because the land will remain with the farmer and would provide him with regular annual income.
Following opposition from parties on such points, the government had asked the parties to submit the suggestions regarding the Bill by April 15. The Rural Development Ministry would study the suggestions and get back to them before the consultations on April 18.