Land Acquisition Bill passed by Rajya Sabha

The historic Land Acquisition Bill moved another step closer to becoming a law with Rajya Sabha approving the legislation which seeks to provide fair and just compensation to farmers and to those who lose livelihood on account of acquisition.

The new law will apply to all Special Economic Zones to be set up from now onwards, the government said while rejecting apprehensions over it, saying states were free to improve upon it by even raising the requirement of consent from 80% to 100%.

The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2012, which got the nod of Lok Sabha last week, was passed by the Upper House by 131-10 votes with four new official amendments, proposed by opposition parties, including BJP.

The bill will go back to Lok Sabha for approval of the new amendments, which include dilution of retrospective clause with regard to acquisition of land for irrigation projects.

The bill, which will replace over a century-old law, stipulates mandatory consent of at least 70% for acquiring land for Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects and 80% for acquiring land for private companies.

It proposes compensation upto four times the market value in rural areas and two times the market value in urban areas.

Replying to a six-hour debate, Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh sought to address the concerns over the "urgency clause" in the bill, saying it is for use only in case of natural calamities and national security and cannot be invoked in case of land acquisition for private parties.

Compensation in this case will be higher, he said.

Ramesh the government would not like multi-crop land to be acquired to the extent possible but it has been left to the states to decide the ceiling in this regard.

Responding to a host of issues raised by members and concerns expressed, he promised to accommodate the maximum possible the suggestions in the rules to be notified for the new law.

At the same time, he said the new law may be amended after three-four years if the next government wishes. "I don't think there is any room for amending this law," he said.