Govt action wise on land ordinance

The NDA government has wisely decided to withdraw the controversial land acquisition ordinance, after repromulgating it twice and defending it for a long time. It tried in many ways to sustain it and to make it acceptable through buying time with repeated promulgations, scrutinies by parliamentary committees, dilution of some provisions, attempts to secure support of sections of the Opposition and a public campaign to present opposition to it as anti-development. But finally the government had to admit failure, as it was losing both political and perception wars over it. The fears and apprehensions created among the farmers were real. Whether they were well-grounded was a different matter. Those opposed to the new provisions could very well convince the farmers that the new acquisition scheme would hurt their interests. In fact, the bad patch gone through by the farming community in the recent past confirmed their fears. The forthcoming elections in Bihar, where farmers’ support is considered important for the BJP, may have been a factor in the government’s decision. But the U-turn cannot be completely explained by it.

The government’s handling of the land acquisition issue was wrong from the start. It was haughty and on a high horse from the beginning, and proceeded to make the amendments to the 2013 law without consultation with the Opposition and other stake holders. It refused to recognise its vulnerability even when it did not have the required parliamentary support for the measure. It should learn that in a democracy, consultations on major policy matters are important, even when the ruling party has a majority. Even some of the coalition allies had opposed the government’s position. Rushing the measure through an ordinance was wrong and repeated issuances were more so. Throughout its persistent defence of the ordinance, the government kept claiming that its provisions completely protected the interests of the farmers. But now, it has claimed that the decision to let the ordinance lapse is a pro-farmer measure. The contradictions and confusion could only be clear from the Prime Minister’s statement, after the decision to drop the ordinance, that there was nothing wrong with the ordinance.

The ordinance is dead but the land acquisition issue may have to be addressed constructively in the future. Other solutions and approaches may have to be thought of. The lessons gained from this humbling experience should guide the government in any future effort in that direction. The political respite earned now should also be used to pursue other important reform measures like the Goods and Services Tax (GST) legislation, which too, needs the support of the Opposition.