All-party meeting on land acquisition bill

The government has convened an all-party meeting on April 9 to iron out differences on issues relating to the controversial land acquisition bill.
The meeting has been called by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath as no consensus could be reached in the March 7 all-party meet, sources said.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said the Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill has been cleared by the Cabinet and will soon go to Parliament.
The long-awaited land bill seeks to address problems of the industry regarding acquisition of land for setting up green field projects.
Government sources said the meeting is likely to be held on April 9. It was scheduled to be held last month but was put off as the government was busy in dealing with the Sri Lankan crisis and other political issues in Parliament.

In the March 7 meeting, government had decided to send the draft of the proposed legislation to the leaders concerned for perusal and discuss their suggestions in the next meeting.
Earlier, the bill's consideration was deferred by the Lok Sabha's winter session till the budget session bowing to the wishes of Opposition members.
The bill provides for a fair compensation to land owners in both rural and urban areas with the stipulation that consent of 80 per cent of the people for acquiring land for private industry is necessary.