Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu told journalists here on Friday that the government welcomed “a wider national debate” on the Land Bill and that any good suggestions “will be considered.”

The Bill will be taken up when the budget session resumes on April 20.

Mr. Naidu stressed that the land ordinance was a result of “a collective demand of States for an enabling land acquisition law with less hurdles. The changes made to the Act of 2013 were aimed at benefiting farmers, rural areas and the country at large.”

Outreach campaign

Top government sources said it now looks unlikely that the government will re-promulgate the ordinance that will lapse on April 5. In the interim, the government will carry out an aggressive outreach campaign to explain the provisions of the Bill.

While the Mines and Minerals Bill had to be approved by both Houses, as the government had introduced two amendments in it since it was first cleared by the Lok Sabha, the Coal Bill only required the green signal from the RS.

In this case, the draft legislation that emerged from the Select Committee report was identical to the one passed earlier in the session by Lok Sabha.

The government succeeded in pushing both Bills through by dividing the Opposition, with regional parties – the Trinamool Congress, Biju Janata Dal, Samajwadi Party, AIADMK, Bahujan Samaj Party and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha — voting with the government, while the Janata Dal (United) walked out.

In the end, the stiff fight — moving amendments and pushing for division at the slightest ambiguity — put up by the Congress, the Left parties and the DMK was of no avail.

As decided by the House, the Mines Bill was taken up for voting in the first half of the day, with the Congress, the DMK and the Left parties opposing it and accusing the government of violating federal provisions by not taking on board the views of the States in the reports of the Select Committee. This was done through an amendment moved by P. Rajeeve (CPI-M) who made a plea for recommitting the Mines Bill to the Select Committee for wider consultation, but this was defeated.

Speaking outside the House, D. Raja (CPI), Sitaram Yechury (CPI-M) and Pawan Kumar Verma (JD-U) said the Bill runs the risk of being ultra vires as State governments had not been consulted.

These sentiments were repeated when the House met to pass the Coal Bill. The JD(U) walked out and the DMK, the Congress and the Left parties grouped together again to oppose the Bill, pointing out that it did not have provisions to protect the interests of labour and tribal people, while also infringing on the rights of the States by the Centre.

“We don’t understand the rush with which the government has tried to pass these Bills, sidestepping the concerns of States. We are against these Bills and have registered our protest,” DMK leader Tiruchi Siva said outside the House.

Support from parties like the BJD and the Trinamool came with riders, as they stressed that the Centre will have to ensure that benefits reach the States and the tribal people for whom the legislations are intended.

Trinamool’s Derek O’Brien said his party supported the Bills as the government had accepted its suggestion of setting up a district fund as well as courts to quickly settle disputes.

Mr. O’Brien was, however, quick to point out that the party would oppose the Land Bill.

“Stay away. Please don’t touch the Land Bill as it is a different kind of mine, a landmine,” he said.

Source: TH