Govt will reissue land ordinance if Rajya Sabha fails to pass bill: Naidu

Land Acquisition Bill would lapse on April 6, 2015 if main opposition party Congress continued to oppose it in Rajya Sabha

Union minister for urban development and Parliamentary affairs, M Venkaiah Naidu, today said the Centre would reissue the ordinance pertaining to the land acquisition Bill if it lapses next month.

“The Constitution has provided ways to the government in case a particular Bill was not passed by the Parliament. We will consider various options, including the reissuance of the ordinance on the land acquisition Act,” Naidu told reporters. “Any thing is possible. Even the Congress might change its mind” in favour of the Bill, according to him.

The Bill would lapse on April, 6, 2015, if the main opposition Congress continue to oppose the Bill in the Rajya Sabha. The Bill was already passed with nine amendments by the Lok Sabha on March 10, 2015.

Stating that his government was still open to consider any constructive suggestions or changes if proposed to the Bill, the minister advised the Congress party not to oppose the Bill blindly.

“The government has already incorporated nine changes to the Bill and is open to meaningful changes even at this stage. After all, it was introduced only in the interests of the farmers and their offspring as the Bill seeks to make them partners in the development process,” he said, adding that the land acquisition came to a halt apart from stalling the ongoing projects after the previous UPA government formulated the new land acquisition Act.

He also condemned the the comments made by senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh about the soft stand taken by the non-Congress parties on the amendment Bill.

“Charging them that they have compromised with the government for other reasons. Digvijay Singh might be speaking out of his own experience,” the minister said, adding that the government wanted a national debate on the land Bill.

The minister also appealed for the cooperation for the passage of GST and the black money Bills besides the land Bill in the second part of the Budget session. In spite of disruptions, both the Houses had registered a high productivity of 121 per cent in this session, according to Naidu.