Could do with less innuendo, insinuatuon in large issues, says Jairam Ramesh

Talking about coal scam, he also says, a little more sensitivity would be good

Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh today said that the country could do with less innuendo and insinuation and a little more sensitivity on cases like Coal scam.

Speaking to the reporters on the governments plans with the National Food Security Bill and the new Land Acquisition Bill, he said, "I cant say anything on the coal scam. All I can say is that these cases are extraordinarily sensitive. If some wrongs have been committed, they should be established quickly."

He further added, "I think we could do with less innuendo, less insinuation and a liyyle more sensitivity on such cases which involves a large number of issues".

 

However, he refused to speak about the scam and related issues.

The new Land Acquisition Bill, which would come into effect from January 1, 2013, would be relevant for some of the projects in Tamil Nadu, he said.

To a question on the effect of the new Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2013, on the gas pipeline project of GAIL which goes through Tamil Nadu, he said that the farmers has to be paid on par with the compensation prescribed under the new bill after one year from the date of implementation of the new bill.

"13 Acts has been kept out of the purview of the new Act, such as the National Highways Act and the Railways Act, under which those departments have separate rules fir acquisition and GAIL's acquisition is also like this, " he said.

However, he added, within one year of the new Act coming into effect, that is from January 1, 2015, the compensation under these Acts will be on par with the compensation, rehabilitation and resettlement in the new Bill.

This would mean that for agitating farmers in Tamil Nadu, who are against acquisition of land by GAIL for its gas pipeline from Cochin to Bangalore through Tamil nadu, the compensation would be increased on par with the new regulation from January 2015. The new Bill would be implemented from January 1, 2014, he added.

Speaking about the National Food Security Bill, he assured that the subsidy and food grain allocation for states would not be reduced even after the new Bill comes into effect.