‘Don’t make Land Bill a prestige issue’

The Centre has asked the Opposition not to stall the Land Bill. Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu told a press conference here on Friday the government has already introduced amendments to address various concerns.

“We have not taken it (passing the Bill) as a prestige issue. That’s the reason we made eight amendments. We are ready to make more changes as long as they (changes) don’t alter the core of the Bill,” he said.

The Opposition is resisting the Bill for the sake of opposing, he argued.

“The mandate for the BJP is for development. People expect us to take up development projects and create jobs. But unfortunately the Congress and the Left are opposing the development agenda,” he said.

No room for delay He flayed former Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh for saying that infrastructure projects could wait for a few years.

“He doesn’t understand the urgency of taking up developmental projects,” Venkaiah said.

The Minister further said the upcoming session will see the introduction of several important legislation, such as an amendment Bill for the introduction of GST, the Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets (Imposition of Tax) Bill and the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill.

“Finance Minister Arun Jaitely is in a dialogue with different States with regard to the implementation of GST. We are not in a hurry to rush the Bill,” he said.

Political consolidation Venkaiah welcomed the coming together of various Janata parties to form a single front. “We welcome the move. But we had seen the fate of such initiatives in the past,” he quipped.

Backing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s foreign trips, he said Modi is received very well in different countries. “The image of the country has gone up and investors are willing to come and invest in India,” he said.

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