Rajya Sabha names 10 members for land bill committee

Ten Rajya Sabha members have been named for a joint parliamentary committee on the land acquisition bill.

Left leaders, however, later complained that none of their members were included in the list, even though the government had taken names from them as well.

The motion was moved by Union Rural Development Minister Birender Singh on Wednesday.

The members are Prabhat Jha and Ram Narain Dudi of the BJP, Digvijaya Singh, Jairam Ramesh and P.L. Punia of the Congress, Ram Gopal Yadav of the Samajwadi Party, Sharad Yadav of the JD-U, Derek O'Brien of the Trinamool Congress, Rajpal Singh Saini of the BSP and Sharad Pawar of the NCP.

Raising the issue in the house later, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader K.N. Balagopal questioned why the motion for nominating members to the committee was moved during the debate on companies bill.

"Lunch hour was announced between 1 p.m. to 1.30 p.m. Why was the motion moved then during the debate on companies bill," said Balagopal.

"Leaving Left out of the panel is very wrong," he said.

He was joined by CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury, who said names were taken from them.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, however, said that Md. Salim of CPI-M from Lok Sabha was there in the panel.

"Does the government perceive Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha as separate entities... Don't give the reason that in a joint panel, Rajya Sabha representation is not needed," said Yechury.

Deputy Chairman P.J. Kurien agreed that it would have been "better" if the motion was moved after the bill, but added that he had taken the consent of the house.

The deputy chairman added: "In the constitution, council of states is mentioned first. Because there is a member from the other house, it is no reason not to include member from this house".

The Lok Sabha on Tuesday had referred the contentious land acquisition bill to a 30-member joint committee of the two houses.

The committee is expected to give its report by the first day of the monsoon session.

The government in December last year passed an ordinance to amend the land acquisition act, and a bill on the lines of the ordinance was introduced in the Lok Sabha in the first half of the budget session. Despite getting through the lower house, the bill got stuck in the Rajya Sabha where the government is in minority.

Subsequently, another ordinance was issued by the government after proroguing the Rajya Sabha and the relevant bill has now been brought in the lower house.

The key points, which were removed from the earlier law, related to the consent clause and the social impact assessment study.