New Delhi, March 9: Opposition parties including the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) Monday attacked the Centre in Lok Sabha over the land acquisition bill, prompting the government to state that amendments would be brought in to address their concerns.
As the government moved the Right to Fair Compensation, Rehabilitation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2015 for discussion, Opposition leaders questioned the urgency of the government in bringing in an ordinance to amend the 2013 law in December last year.
Biju Janata Dal member Tathagata Satpathy said the bill was detrimental to the interests of farmers owning small tracts of land in rural India.
“Are we in 2015, or have we been dragged back to the British era? Development for whom? That is a basic question that troubles my mind,” he said.
Satpathy said his party strongly opposed the elimination of the social impact assessment clause. “On the one hand we are talking about providing irrigation to farmers, and on the other hand we are taking away their land,” he said. In the bill, the government has removed the need for obtaining the consent of landowners and carrying out socio-economic assessment for acquiring land under certain categories. Many parties demanded that the bill be sent to the standing committee. AGENCIES
