Group of ministers clears land acquisition bill
16 Oct 2012
A group of ministers headed by agriculture minister Sharad Pawar today cleared the controversial land acquisition bill, paving way for its introduction in Parliament in the coming winter session.
The group, according to Pawar, has succeeded in overcoming differences on most issues. The GoM is reported to have arrived at a compromise on some of the contentious aspects, including the percentage of landowners whose consent is needed for acquiring land.
As per the final draft of the bill, for acquiring land for public-private-partnership and private projects, the buyer has to get consent of two-thirds of the owners of those lands from whom land would be purchased, sources said.
The GoM was sharply divided on 'The Right to Fair Compensation, Resettlement, Rehabilitation and Transparency in Land Acquisition' bill, with a number of ministers opposing the retrospective clause as well as the original proposal for 80 per cent consent by both "livelihood losers and land losers" before land could be acquired.
''The draft has been finalised. I have to circulate the minutes of the meeting to the members...and then it will go to the cabinet,'' Pawar told reporters after an hour-long meeting. ''There were different views but we succeeded to bring some understanding.''
Pawar, however, did not specify the issues that have been addressed.
