In an indication that the ruling BJP is keen to go ahead with amendments to the Land Acquisition Act — the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Second Amendment) Bill — the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the legislation met here on Monday after a gap of more than two months.

The committee met representatives of the government of Karnataka and the Ministry of Urban Development, the Government of Delhi and the Delhi Development Authority regarding Clause 6 of the Bill, that deals with with the consent of land owners. The panel sought evidences after a gap of more than a year.

Talking to BusinessLine after the meeting, the panel’s chairman and senior BJP MP Ganesh Singh said the Karnataka government, headed by the Congress, was supportive of the amendments suggested by the Centre.

“The BJP is very keen to see the Bill passed. It is essential for development,” he said.

The Congress, however, boycotted the meeting saying the exercise was futile as Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked States to go on with changes to the Act.

Singh said he failed to understand why the Congress members were absent from the meeting. “I don’t know whether they boycotted the meeting or were just absent. They have not given anything officially on their absence. Officials of their own government in Karnataka supported the amendments,” Singh said .

Meaningless, says Cong Congress MP Rajeev Satav, who is a member of the JPC, said the party had taken the decision to boycott the panel last year.

“In his customary radio address, Mann Ki Baat, Modi had urged the States to come up with their own laws to nullify Opposition protests against the Centre’s Land Acquisition Act. He was appealing to circumvent the proceedings of Parliament. What is the meaning of the functioning of such a joint panel if the government is not keen on it?” Satav asked.

The Centre had faced stiff resistance from its own allies on the changes to the Land Acquisition Act. After the Bihar elections in 2015, the Centre was forced to shelve the move as a joint Opposition had carried out protests across the country on the issue. A restart of the committee’s proceedings comes after the BJP’s thumping victory in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.

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