Land law may pose a challenge to NDA

The Narendra Modi-led NDA Government may face stiff resistance in amending the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act of 2013.

Though most BJP-ruled States demanded the repealing of the Act at a recent meeting of Revenue Ministers, the RSS is reportedly in two minds about amending the Act in a hurried manner.

RSS sources said the Sangh has sought details of the proposed amendments from the Centre.

“Our view on land is clear. The process now is that agricultural land is turning into industrial land, and industrial land is becoming service land.

“The real estate mafia is making huge profits by taking over the land of closed down factories, particularly in Mumbai,” said an RSS functionary who wished to remain anonymous.

The Bharatiya Kisan Sangh, the farmers unit of the RSS, has also urged Rural Development Minister Nitin Gadkari to provide the details of the amendments.

According to the Sangh, the present law is farmer-friendly.

“We had appreciated the existing law. It will be better if the Government stops sale of land taken from farmers. It should only be leased to industries and the Government should ensure revenue from this land goes to farmers,” Kisan Sangh Organising Secretary Dinesh Kulkarni told Business Line .

He said the Kisan Sangh will take a final view on the issue only after looking at the proposed amendments.

Key clauses The Congress too said it will also wait to see the proposed amendments. “We do not know the Government’s proposals,” said party General Secretary Shakeel Ahmed.

Civil society organisations termed the proposed move of the Centre as ‘shocking.’

They said provisions for consent from gram sabhas and mandatory social impact assessment (SIA) are the key clauses of the Act.

“The consent and SIA provision were introduced to do away with the anomalies in the (previous) colonial act, since farmers and those dependent on the land were never consulted or made a participant in the process of development planning. Huge tracts of fertile land were acquired at throwaway prices and given to private and public corporations in the name of public purpose and industrialisation,” said the National Association of People’s Movements (NAPM).

Stiff opposition The NAPM reminded the Centre that stiff opposition to land grab had, in the past, led to the cancellation of numerous special economic zones and other projects.

“The Ministry of Rural Development should work on implementing the Act by drafting the rules for its implementation and get States to do the same.

“It is shocking that most of these States demanding an amendment have not even bothered to frame the rules for the new Act,” the NAPM statement said.

It also said: “As of now, Karnataka and Maharashtra are the only two States which have framed draft rules for the same, how can they demand an amendment?”

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