Reject amendments to AP land bill: Cong delegation urges prez

A delegation of Congress leaders today urged President Pranab Mukherjee to reject the amendments made to a land acquisition law in Andhra Pradesh Assembly as it "affected rights of people over land".
The delegation, headed by Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) President N Raghuveera Reddy, met the president at his official residence and submitted a memorandum.
Others in the delegation included Congress leader Digvijaya Singh and MPs from the state, T Subbarami Reddy and KVP Ramachandra Rao.
"Amendments to 'Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement AP Amendment Act' made by the state government on March 28 is an attempt to take away the right of people over their land to make it convenient for land acquisition," the delegation said in a release.

The law is Andhra Pradesh's amended version of the principal law--Land Acquisition Act, 2013.
The leaders requested the president to use his rights and refuse the amendments made to the legislation, which allegedly bypassed safeguards that were provided to families whose lands were acquired.
Ever since the amendments were made with an aim to pool lands for construction of the new capital Amaravathi, there has been dissent among wide circles of the society, especially farmers community.