Demand for withdrawal of land bill grows

Farmers and activists today demanded withdrawal of the NDA government's Land Acquisition law even as members of a parliamentary panel looking into the vexed legislation asked them to press Members of Parliament for support.
At a public hearing organised by Bhumi Adhikar Andolan, a union of peasants body, the land bill opposers, which included activist Medha Patkar, JPC members and MPs Jairam Ramesh of Congress and Mohammad Salim of CPI(M), also accused the Narendra Modi government of playing a new kind of conspiracy by getting the bill passed from the states.
"We want withdrawal of the bill. We also want to secure land rights for farmers. Modi asking states to frame their respective laws is nothing but, in a way, admission of his defeat as farmers have taken firm stand on the issue.

"It will also make clear that he is playing a new kind of conspiracy in getting the land bill promoted, projected and passed from states to the Centre (as it is in the concurrent list). (But) people's movements are determined to fight the law at state level also," social activist Medha Patkar said.
The outfits also passed a resolution to ensure that clauses like seeking farmers' consent and carrying out social impact assessments before land acquisition, are kept intact.
Ramesh advised farmers to put pressure on six members of the panel whose votes are crucial in deciding conclusion of the panel report. The JPC has 30 members.

"The committee has 13 members who are opposed to, while 11 are in favour of proposed amendments. So, the votes of rest six members, who are mostly regional party leaders, matter more. So, you need to pressurise them to protect your rights," Ramesh said, adding that the terms and references of the committee is restricted to 15 amendments proposed in the bill.
The Congress leader also accused the Centre of running away from its administrative and moral responsibility.
Ramesh also admitted that he was not completely satisfied with the 2013 Land Acquisition Act brought by the previous UPA government, but added that he had to find a middle path being a cabinet minister then.