An all-party meeting was held in New Delhi to iron out differences on issues relating to the Land Acquisition Bill. Our correspondent quoting official sources reports that yet another meeting will be held to sort out some more issues. The meeting convened by Parliamentary affairs minister Kamalnath was attended by Rural Development minister Jairam Ramesh, Aviation Minister Ajit Singh, MOS of Parliamentary Affairs and planning Rajiv Shukla. Senior Leaders of political parties including BJP leader Sushma Swaraj, Revati Reman Singh of the Samajwadi party, D. Raja (CPI), Sivanand Tewari, JDU, Heavy Industry Minister and NCP leader Praful Patel were also among those attended the meeting.
The Bill seeks a fair compensation to land owners in both rural and urban areas. The meeting takes place as no consensus could be reached in the 7th March meet. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday said the Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill has been cleared by the cabinet and will soon go to Parliament.
The long-awaited land Bill seeks to address problems of the industry regarding acquisition of land for setting up green field projects.
In the 7 March meeting, the government had decided to send the draft of the proposed legislation to the leaders concerned for perusal and discuss their suggestions in the next meeting. Earlier, the Bill's consideration was deferred by the Lok Sabha's winter session till the budget session bowing to the wishes of opposition members.
The Bill provides for a fair compensation to land owners in both rural and urban areas with the stipulation that consent of 80% of the people for acquiring land for private industry is necessary.