Modi U-turn on land Ordinance

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New Delhi, August 30: Faced with stiff resistance, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Sunday announced that the government would not re-promulgate the controversial Ordinance on land acquisition which expires Monday and declared readiness to incorporate any suggestion in the bill which is pending in Rajya Sabha to benefit the farmers.
Apparently referring to the political opponents, he said doubts have been created over the land bill and fear instilled among farmers even though states had suggested amendments to the Act of 2013 for the benefit of villagers.
‘‘We had promulgated an Ordinance on Land Acquisition Bill which will expire tomorrow. I have decided that it should be allowed to expire. It means restoration of the situation that prevailed before my government took over,’’ the Prime Minister said in his monthly radio programme ‘‘Mann Ki Baat.’’
The government had issued the Ordinance thrice so far, as the Land bill could not be passed in Parliament due to stiff resistance by most of the opposition parties as well as some ruling NDA allies.
The bill, which seeks to amend the Act of 2013, is currently being scrutinised by a Joint Committee of Parliament, to which it was referred by Rajya Sabha during Budget Session in the wake of strong Opposition by several parties.
The Prime Minister’s announcement makes it clear that the government will try to use the legislative route to enact the law, instead of the executive
mechanism.
Highly-placed sources later explained that the decision of not re-promulgating the Ordinance was taken against the backdrop of the recommendation of NITI Aayog that enacting law on land acquisition should be left to states, since the subject is on the Concurrent List of the Constitution.
The sources pointed out that the bill on land acquisition was still alive in Rajya Sabha and the government is awaiting the report of the Joint Committee of Parliament on it.
Insisting that the voice of farmers matters the most to him, the Prime Minister said, ‘‘the government has an open mind on Land Acquisition Bill, about which there is a lot of controversy. I have said it again and again that I am ready to accept any suggestion for the benefit of farmers.’’
Modi, during his 20-minute address, maintained that the suggestions to “improve” upon the Land Act of 2013 had come from states which wanted the law to be freed from the “clutches of bureaucracy” and ensure development of villages and welfare of farmers by providing irrigation canals, electric poles for electricity, roads, houses and help poor villagers get work. PTI