Govt open to practical suggestions on land bill

Government today again indicated its willingness to tweak the land bill, saying its top leadership is in touch with opposition parties and will consider suggestions coming from them.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu told reporters that the government had already said it was open to "well-meaning and practical" suggestions on the contentious issue.

Citing letters written by Congress leaders and the then Commerce Minister Anand Sharma and the then Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan against the land Act brought in by the UPA, he urged the opposition party to understand the practicality of the bill and support its passage.

"Government amended the Act after receiving feedback. Now some people are speaking about the changes saying this should be there, this should not. Our top leadership is in discussion with opposition parties. Government will study their suggestions and go ahead with what is good," he said outside Parliament.

"We have already said that well-meaning and practical suggestions coming from the grassroots will be considered," he said.

The government has yesterday sought to puncture the Congress offensive against the new land bill by citing Anand Sharma's strong reservations on the measure in 2012 where he stated that the old bill during UPA will have "adverse" long term implications.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the then Commerce and Industry Minister Sharma had sought Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's intervention to deliberate on the concerns raised as the bill would not only make the cost of land exorbitantly high but also make acquisition proceedings virtually impossible.