NEW DELHI, Dec 30: Former Union Minister Jairam Ramesh today termed as “deeply disturbing” the government’s decision to amend Land Acquisition Act, saying “the dilution” will open doors for forcible acquisition, excess acquisition and diversion of land owned by farmers.
The Congress leader, who was one of the key architects of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, also criticised the government for adopting the ordinance route for amending the law and said that the NDA government will face strong resistance when it comes to Rajya Sabha where the ruling coalition does not have the numbers.
“By giving up consent clause, you are opening the doors for forcible acquistion and in my view, forcible acquisition under any circumstance must be avoided,” he told reporters here.
“By giving up social impact assessment, what you are doing is, you are opening the doors for diversion of land like what happened in Uttar Pradesh where land was acquired for public purposes and was diverted to private builders and you are also opening the doors for excess land to be acquired,” Ramesh said a day after Union Cabinet recommended promulgation of the ordinance making significant changes in the Act.
“Last 60 years experience has been you always acquire excess land and you sit on that excess land. The new Act said you cannot sit on it no more than five years. Now the ordinance says you can sit on it for 10 years,” the Rajya Sabha MP said.
“Basically, you are going back to the 1894 Act. Forcible acquisition becomes possible and in fact will happen. Diversion of land acquired in public purposes to be used for non-public purpose, that will open up. Excess land being acquired will now become a reality,” he said.
Ramesh said the ordinance is “deeply disturbing one” and it further vitiates the atmosphere in Rajya Sabha.
“I can’t see how the Congress party, CPI-M, JD-U, TMC …I can’t see them supporting the substance of the Act. It is unfortunate that no efforts were made to call an all-party meeting, no efforts were made to reach out to the opposition,” he said.
Asked about the Congress-ruled states’ demand for dilution of the Act for pushing development on the ground, Ramesh said, “In India the experience of last 60 years… Irrespective of political parties…, forcible land acquisition has taken place, diversion of land has taken place and excess land acquistion has taken place.
“And irrespective of political parties, compensation has been lower than the market rate and most importantly R and R (rehabilitation and resettlement) has not been completed,” he said.
Ramesh also commented on the government’s decision to amend the Act to bring under its purview 13 central legislations, including those relating to defence and national security, to provide higher compensation and rehabilitation and resettlement benefits to farmers whose land is being acquired.
“They are making a big deal out of the fact that 13 Acts are now going to get compensation and R and R as far as new Act is concerned. This is nothing new. Already section 105 exists in the Act which says that within one year of the Act coming into force, these 13 Acts must be amended to bring their compensation and R and R (asepct) on par with the new Act.
“They haven’t done anything new. They are only implementing Section 105,” he said.
Ramesh was the Rural Development Minister in the UPA government when the Land Acquisition Bill, which seeks to provide just and fair compensation to farmers while ensuring that no land can be acquired forcibly, was passed by Parliament in 2013.
The Act had stipulates mandatory consent of at least 70 per cent for acquiring land for public private partnership (PPP) projects and 80 per cent for acquiring land for private companies.
The Act, which replaced over a century-old law, made it mandatory to give compensation that is up to four times the market value in rural areas and two times the market value in urban areas.
The government yesterday approved significant changes in the Act, including removal of consent clause for acquiring land for five areas of industrial corridors, PPP projects, rural infrastructure, affordable housing and defence. (PTI)
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