JOIN USThe ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in Punjab, an ally of the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre, on Tuesday formally announced its opposition to the controversial land acquisition bill in its present form which will come up before Parliament this week.
The party said both the Land Acquisition Act of 2013 and the present bill lack foolproof safeguards for compensating the farmers with adequate actual market value of the land to be acquired.A decision to this effect was taken at an emergency meeting of the core committee of the SAD chaired by party president and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal in the presence of party patron and Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.
SAD said that it would “oppose any land acquisition which was without the express consent of majority of farmers or land owners whose land was proposed to be acquired.” The party also decided that the “land should only be acquired for public purpose and the government should not get into acquisition for private entities.” The resolution also said that where the land is acquired, farmers should be given the option of accepting compensation at market rates along with an additional displacement allowance.