Gadkari defends Land Bill

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari today said the amended Land Acquisition Bill was pro-farmer and no compromise had been made on the compensation and rehabilitation provisions.
Speaking at a function here, Gadkari said the present Bill does not give exemption on 80 per cent consent clause and the Social Impact Assessment (SIA) requirement in the case of acquisition for private industries, private hospitals or private medical or engineering colleges.
If the government wants to acquire land in the border areas for a defence project or an airfield or an ammunition depot, the 80 percent consent clause could be a hurdle, he said, justifying the exemption for defence projects.

Similarly for irrigation projects, Metro railway, rural electrification projects, etc., land acquisition without consent was needed, he said.
The new industrial corridors were needed to de-congest the metro cities, to take the industry to smaller towns and villages, he said.