The government has made fresh changes in the draft Land Acquisition Bill . Under the change , the level of consent of landowners for acquiring land for private purpose has been made stiffer following a suggestion from UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi.
Disclosing the changes in the measure in New Delhi on Monday, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, who heads Group of Ministers on the bill, said that the percentage of land owners, whose consent is a must for acquiring land for private purpose, has been raised from 67 per cent to 80 in the proposed bill. He said , consent of land owners was not required for acquiring land for public purpose.
The proposed changes will soon be circulated among 14 members of the GoM for their views and consent, he told reporters after a brief meeting with Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh on the issue.

In the last meeting on October 16, GoM had approved for a provision for consent of two-third (67 per cent) of land owners for acquiring land for private purpose.