TMC likely to ask for modifications in Land Bill

Trinamool Congress, the second largest constituent in the UPA government, is likely to ask for modifications in the draft Land Bill.

At a late evening meeting with Union Rural Development Minister, Jairam Ramesh, on Saturday, West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo, Mamata Banerjee, said that the bill, by and large, was an improvement over the previous draft, except one or two points.

Banerjee said that she was opposed to government intervention in acquiring land for private projects. Land should be acquired for projects related to national security, defence, etc, she pointed out.

Ramesh flew down from Delhi to seek Banerjee’s opinion on the Bill and had to meet her at a television channel’s office to fit into her busy schedule. “I have come to seek your co-operation in the Land Bill,” Ramesh told her, on meeting.

Banerjee said that while Debabrata Bandyopadhyay would give expert opinion on the Bill, she would look into the political aspects. Bandyopadhyay, former land and land revenue secretary, is part of a two-member committee drafting the West Bengal government’s Land Policy, which would be ready in the next seven days.

Banerjee has been one of the major stumbling blocks to the Land Bill. Earlier, she had opposed a provision which enabled state intervention in acquiring 30 per cent of the land for private industry. The latest draft has improved the formula to 80:20.

Ramesh on Sunday met Bandyopadhyay at his residence and discussed the Bill for more than an hour.

Bandyopadhyay was understood to have said that land should not be acquired for private purpose. He also wants the Bill to spell out the nature of public purpose projects.

In the draft Land Bill, the expression “public purpose” includes: the provision of land for any other useful to the general public, including land for companies, for which at least 80 per cent of the project affected people have given their consent through a prior informed process.

Moreover, if a private company seeks intervention of the government for acquiring the balance land, it shall be bound by the rehabilitation and resettlement provisions of the Act.