Land bill: Govt mulling various options

Battling strident opposition to the land bill in Rajya Sabha where it lacks numbers, Government is mulling various options like issuing ordinance by proroguing one of the Houses, though there is also a strong view that it should be allowed to lapse unless a consensus builds.
For the time being, Government is sticking with nine amendments that it had brought in the bill during its passage in Lok Sabha earlier this month.
Union Cabinet today gave "post facto approval" to those amendments.
"We had given some amendments. The Cabinet has today given post facto approval to those amendments," Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters at the Cabinet briefing.

He was asked whether the issue of land bill came up for discussion at the Cabinet meeting. "We have informed you about all Cabinet decisions," was the reply of another minister Piyush Goyal, who declined to go into the issue of land bill.
Sources in the government meanwhile said that that there have been instances in past when ordinances were issued on pending bills even when Parliament was in session in some way.

"There are instances of ordinances issued when the Lok Sabha was in session but the Rajya Sabha was not in session and the bill on the subject matter was pending before Parliament.

"Similarly there are also instances of ordinances issued after the Rajya Sabha was prorogued and the Lok Sabha was adjourned sine die but not had not been prorogued, the sources in the government said.
This means that the government has the option of proroguing one of the Houses during the ongoing session and repromulgating the ordinance. Sources cited six examples from the past when ordinances were promulgated when one of the Houses was prorogued.
The thinking in the government has come at a time when its efforts to build a consensus on land bill has failed with most of non-NDA parties opposing the measure tooth and nail even as Government brought nine amendments in its earlier bill to replace the ordinance.

While the NDA, which has more than a majority in Lok Sabha passed the bill with nine amendments, it is finding it impossible to get it through in Rajya Sabha where numbers are stacked against it.
Amid the on-going suspense on the fate of the bill, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the Cabinet will take a call on it.
"You will have to wait for the Cabinet to take a decision," he said at 'The Growth Net' event here. Cabinet, he said, "will take a call" on the entire issue.