With members pleading for more time to discuss the land acquisition Bill, which has drawn 155 amendments, the contentious Bill will now be tabled in the next session of Parliament.
The Bill, which Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath said the Budget session would consider on a priority basis, will make it easy for the government to acquire land for infrastructure projects and manufacturing zones.
Earlier this month, the Cabinet had cleared a land acquisition policy. It took into account a draft land acquisition Bill, which was sent to a House panel on rural development. Amalgamating the two and including suggestions from civil society, a land acquisition law was drafted. The amendments have sought to redefine public purpose to include land acquisition for infrastructure and manufacturing projects.
Public purpose in the original Bill included apart from defence projects, “land for railways, highways, ports, power and irrigation purposes for use by the government and public sector companies”.
The new amendments now introduce the gamut of manufacturing and infrastructure projects under the head of public purpose, without any requirement for consent of the landowners.
The amendments provide for inclusion of infrastructure projects, “all activities or items listed in the notification of the Department of Economic Affairs dated March 12, projects for industrial corridors and mining activities, national investment and manufacturing zones as designated in the National Manufacturing Policy, projects for sports, health care, tourism, space programmes, and any infrastructure activity that may be notified by the government.”
The other major amendment, which has been introduced in the Bill is the consent requirement of 80 per cent of land holders for any private project for public purpose and of 70 per cent for public-private partnerships.
The amendment proposes that no consent is required from land losers for government projects.
The provisions of the new Bill will also apply in cases where the award has been given, but compensation has not been accepted, or has been accepted with protest.
