Govt planning to bring land bill in LS next week

After a climbdown, government plans to bring the much talked about land acquisition bill in the Lok Sabha for consideration and passage next week.

The Joint Committee of Parliament was today granted extension till August 11 to submit its report. The panel was to submit its report today.

In a meeting held on Tuesday, it was decided to hold the next meeting on August 10 following a demand by Congress on the grounds that one of its members on the panel from Lok Sabha was not in a position to attend the deliberations due to suspension from the House along with 24 other party MPs.

Having arrived at a unanimous agreement on six key issues, including on bringing back the consent clause and social impact assessment in the land acquisition law, the Committee aims to finalise its view on three other issues at its Monday meeting.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajiv Pratap Rudy said the land bill was one of the several measures being brought for consideration and passage next week. The Monsoon session will end on August 13.

If the bill comes up next week, it would mean that the Union Cabinet may meet on August 11 or 12 to finalise the amendments based on the panel's report.