Cong, BJP jostle to claim legacy of Ambedkar
Until 2013, acquisition of land was governed by The Land Acquisition Act 1984, in India The land ordinance was first promulgated in December 31 last year to amend the act passed by the erstwhile UPA govt in 2013
The ordinance was again repromulgated for the second time in April 3
The second ordinance will lapse on June 3; the next parliament session is expected to begin pushing the anti farmer Land Ordinance!”
“Congress Party will continue to fight for the rights of the kisan and mazdoor against this #suitbootkisarkar,” he had said in tweets soon after the Cabinet decided to re-promulgate the ordinance.
Senior leader Jairam Ramesh, who was the Rural Development Minister during UPA rule, said the Modi government had insulted Parliament by re-promulgation as a Joint Parliamentary Committee was already looking into the land bill.
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar also castigated the government for its action, saying it wanted to “snatch” the rights of farmers.
The ordinance was promulgated for the first time in December last year to amend the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013. It was then replaced by a bill. only around July 20
As usual, the real test for the NDA government awaits in the Rajya Sabha where the ruling alliance is in minority
Besides the Congress, the TMC and other opposition parties, the NDA’s partners such as the Shiv Sena and the Shiromani Akali Dal are opposing the ordinance
The ordinance exempts the following five types of projects from certain provisions of the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013: defence; rural infrastructure; affordable housing; industrial corridors (govt) & infra projects Govt is required to issue a notification before exempting a project from the Social Impact Assessment, and limits on acquiring agricultural and multi-cropped land. Before this, govt must ensure that the amount of land proposed to be acquired is in keeping with the minimum land required NEW DELHI: Ahead of Bihar elections, both the Congress and the BJP are trying to outdo each other in appropriating the legacy of B R Ambedkar and observe his 125th birth anniversary next year in a big way.
The Union cabinet, which met on Saturday, was apprised of the constitution of a committee under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to suggest different programmes and activities to be undertaken by various ministries, departments and states to celebrate Ambedkar’s anniversary and spread his thoughts and ideas.
The committee included senior ministers Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj, M Venkaiah Naidu, Smriti Irani, Sadananda Gowda, Ram Vilas Paswan and Suresh Prabhu.
The social justice and empowerment ministry is undertaking 16 major activities, including setting up of Ambedkar International Centre at 15, Janpath in Delhi at the cost of `197 crore.
The Congress too held a meeting to finalise the programmes for the year-long celebrations. The meeting was chaired by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and it was attended, among others, by party vice-president Rahul Gandhi who will visit Ambedkar’s birthplace at Mhow in Madhya Pradesh on June 2.
In a show of strength, the Congress has invited all its Dalit leaders to Mhow to ensure that Rahul’s programme is a big success. Throughout the year, the party will organise seminars, conventions to disseminate Ambedkar’s ideology and also discuss his contribution to the making of the Constitution.
Over the years, the Congress has been desperate to win back the support of Dalits who had moved to the Bahujan Samaj Party for years now. However, a major chunk of the Dalit vote bank both in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar gravitated towards the BJP in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
A buoyed BJP is now eyeing Bihar, where assembly elections are due later this year, and has stepped up its efforts to woo Dalit and Mahadalit communities.
Social justice and empowerment minister Thawar Chand Gehlot hit out at the Congress for “politicising” the event:“If today somebody is going there (Mhow), I want to ask why did he (Rahul) not do it for so many years? They (Congress) are doing it as the land beneath their feat has slipped.”