Draft Land Acquisition Bill: On High Ground

The Government has done well. It would now be well advised to quickly iron out the wrinkles and get the Bill passed in the winter session of Parliament.

The Cabinet’s approval of the draft Land Acquisition Bill, with some modifications, comes at a time when the issue is hotting up across the country. Mr Rahul Gandhi is banking on troubles around land acquisition in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh. Anna Hazare has listed it in his future agenda. The Left Front had to pay a heavy price in West Bengal because of mishandling the land issue. Innumerable projects are in limbo as the States grapple with agitations. So the Bill has been on the centre-stage. Mr Jairam Ramesh, Minister for Rural Development, has made it clear in the introduction to the draft Bill that the Government’s effort would be to balance industrialisation with livelihood concerns of those whose land is being acquired. He is also looking as pleased as punch that 90 per cent of what he had proposed has been retained.

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