BJP MP has questions on land law
A BJP MP surprised many at the first meeting of the Joint Committee of Parliament on the contentious land bill on Friday when he asked if the NDA’s bill had done away with the “consent clause” or the provision that required mandatory consent of affected families before acquisition of their land.
The query comes five months after the new land ordinance came into existence and swiftly became a key bone of contention between the NDA government and the Opposition.
The BJP’s Ganesh Singh, a three-term MP, also wanted to know if the new land bill — pending before Lok Sabha — provided for “guaranteed employment” for families that lost land.
The absence of the consent clause in a vast category of projects including affordable housing and industrial corridors in the NDA’s land ordinance has already seen months of massive protests by the Opposition. The government had also announced that one member in each family of land-losers would get a job.
At the meeting, Congress’ Jairam Ramesh and CPI(M)’s Md Salim demanded that the panel should look into the overall issue of land acquisition, prompting the BJP’s Udit Raj to demand that the panel should only discuss the amendments to the land ordinance.
BJD’s Bhartruhari Mahtab wanted to know who would have the authority to identify farm labourers who worked on acquired land for purposes of compensation. The Trinamool Congress’ Derek O’Brien demanded that farmers and those who are likely to lose land should be called first for deposition before the panel.
The panel will meet on Mondays and Tuesdays. It was also decided that the chief secretaries of states will be asked to give notes on their governments’ views on the bill.