<p> Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday asked the Opposition not to create an environment in which “industry and infrastructure” become two bad words.<br /><br /></p>.<p>“The misguided debate must comes to an end. Do you want this country to grow?” Jaitley asked the Congress-led Opposition parties, who criticised the Narendra Modi government’s proposed land acquisition bill in the Rajya Sabha.<br /><br />Participating in a debate, the finance minister categorically negated each of the Opposition’s arguments. “Are we reaching a stage where industry will be counted as a bad word and India will remain poor for the next few decades?” he wondered. The existing law passed by the UPA-II government has 13 specific categories where owner’s consent, social impact assessment and right to food criterion are not considered while acquiring land.<br /><br />“We have added five more categories to the existing list of 13. Your (UPA) law does not include national security irrigation. The moment we add irrigation, it becomes anti-farmer to you,” he retorted in Parliament. The UPA law, argued Jaitley, was against India’s security interest because acquiring land for defence projects was not on the exempt list.<br /><br />“My colleague and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar can come with a file and show it to A K Antony (former defence minister) and Manmohan Singh (former prime minister) how many defence projects are held up for want of land. They, too, know about it,” Jaitley said.</p>
<p> Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday asked the Opposition not to create an environment in which “industry and infrastructure” become two bad words.<br /><br /></p>.<p>“The misguided debate must comes to an end. Do you want this country to grow?” Jaitley asked the Congress-led Opposition parties, who criticised the Narendra Modi government’s proposed land acquisition bill in the Rajya Sabha.<br /><br />Participating in a debate, the finance minister categorically negated each of the Opposition’s arguments. “Are we reaching a stage where industry will be counted as a bad word and India will remain poor for the next few decades?” he wondered. The existing law passed by the UPA-II government has 13 specific categories where owner’s consent, social impact assessment and right to food criterion are not considered while acquiring land.<br /><br />“We have added five more categories to the existing list of 13. Your (UPA) law does not include national security irrigation. The moment we add irrigation, it becomes anti-farmer to you,” he retorted in Parliament. The UPA law, argued Jaitley, was against India’s security interest because acquiring land for defence projects was not on the exempt list.<br /><br />“My colleague and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar can come with a file and show it to A K Antony (former defence minister) and Manmohan Singh (former prime minister) how many defence projects are held up for want of land. They, too, know about it,” Jaitley said.</p>
