In a bid to evolve a consensus and ensure that its crucial land Acquisition Bill has a smooth sailing in the Parliament, the Government on Thursday approved five key amendments suggested by the BJP and left parties to the legislation.
The land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011 along with amendments will be taken up for consideration in lok Sabha next Tuesday.
Among the amendments approved by Cabinet was the one suggested by leader of Opposition in lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj that instead of acquisition, the land could be leased to developers so that its ownership will remain with the farmers and would provide them with regular annual income.
The Cabinet also agreed to her suggestion for a provision for payment of 50 per cent compensation to the original farmers whose land has been purchased after the introduction of the bill in lok Sabha in September 5, 2011. This apart, the Cabinet approved three other amendments suggested by left parties also. This will be moved as official amendments, sources said.
Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh said, “We are working our best to create an all party consensus. We are working hard to ensure the bill get passed with the cooperation of all parties in this session of Parliament.”
The amendments apart, the Cabinet approved the proposal for treating 50:50 Joint ownership Metro Rail Companies like DMRC at par with CPSUs for transfer of land. It will allow to transfer/alienation of land including defence land to Metro Rail Companies. This will facilitate ongoing and future metro rail projects to get completed within the approved cost and time with subsequent benefits to the people.