JOIN USThe Union Cabinet on Saturday decided to re-promulgate the controversial land ordinance, saying it is necessary for maintaining continuity and for providing a framework to compensate people whose land is acquired.
The Centre’s move comes at a time when a joint committee of Parliament is looking into the contentious land acquisition bill which got stuck due to the Opposition’s resistance in the Rajya Sabha before the Lok Sabha passed it during the last Budget session.
Though the government appears to be determined to push it through Parliament in the Monsoon session slated for July–since by then the joint committee would have tabled its report–Prime Minister Narendra Modi interestingly did not put much stake on the legislation.
The land acquisition bill is not “a matter of life or death for me. And neither was it an agenda of my party or the government,” Modi said in an interview. “The land ordinance has been cleared again by the Cabinet to maintain continuity and we will ensure that farmers do not face hardship on compensation,” said Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.