Amid rising farmer protests over land acquisition, the Centre had decided to bring in a new legislation, governing the exercise with a focus on farmers’ welfare, law minister M Veerappa Moily said today. The Bill, being fine-tuned currently, was expected to be introduced in the coming monsoon session of Parliament, he said.
“The focus of the new legislation would be to protect the interests of farmers, their welfare and sustainable development. We need to balance farmers’ welfare and sustainable development,” he said.
The proposed law would also address issues concerning rehabilitation of farmers after the acquisition of their lands. The government was keen on passing the legislation in the next Parliament session as it could not afford a delay in the wake of conflicts over land acquisition increasing by the day, he said when asked about Rahul Gandhi’s padayatra in Uttar Pradesh, where farmers have been protesting land acquisition by the Mayawati government. Moily also referred to the recent protests in Karnataka and land scams, allegedly involving some ministers, in his home state.
“Farmers’ interest will be fully protected”, he said. He also talked about the Communal Violence Prevention Bill being introduced in the monsoon session of Parliament. The National Advisory Committee had cleared the draft and it was expected to come before the Cabinet for approval soon, he said.
“We need a strong bill. Mere sections of the IPC are not enough to capture the real problem of what happened in Gujarat, in many places and in Karnataka. To meet all contingencies, we need a strong Bill,” he said. The Lok Pal bill would also be introduced in the next session, he said.
