Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Swadeshi Jagran Manch, which is affiliated to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or RSS, has rejected the Narendra Modi government's Land Acquisition Bill, saying it contains "several detestable and unacceptable sections".
The RSS affiliate positioned itself alongside opposition parties when its members told a Joint Committee of Parliament today that the new law proposed by the government must include the consent of farmers before their land is acquired and a comprehensive assessment of the need for a project and its social cultural and environmental impact.
Ashwini Mahajan co-convenor of the Swadeshi Jagran Manch National, said they have always maintained the ordinance was "not a step in the right direction".
"We should not give up the social impact assessment clause specially. If there is a problem in getting consent from 70 or 80 per cent of the farmers, at least the consent of a majority of the farmers should be sought," he added.
The Modi government's land bill, a crucial part of its reforms agenda, aims at making it easier to acquire land especially for projects under five categories including defence, nuclear power, government infrastructure projects etc. The government has been unable to get the bill passed in Parliament and has had to repeatedly issue Ordinances or emergency executive orders to keep it from lapsing.
Apart from leading the opposition in stalling the bill in Parliament, the Congress has also attempted to tap into the misgivings of farmers over the bill, with party vice president Rahul Gandhi touring the country attacking the Modi government and its proposed law as "anti-farmer and pro-big industry."
In an eight-page representation, the Swadeshi Jagran Manch or SJM has said that the "government should not own the responsibility of acquiring land for the needs of the private industries."
The SJM said the BJP-led NDA government has shown "undue hurry" to bring an Ordinance to replace a Land Act passed by the previous Congress-led government in 2013 and also that the, "Re-promulgated Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Ressettlement (Amendment) Ordinance issued on April 3, 2015, contains several detestable and unacceptable sections, even after incorporation of several amendments that have been included in 2015 ordinance under intense public pressure."
It has also stressed that agricultural and forest land should not be allowed to be acquired for any other purpose in the interest of food security.
The SJM joins several other affiliates of the RSS - which is the ideological mentor of the ruling BJP - to criticise Prime Minister Narendra Modi's land reforms. Others like the Bhartiya Kisan Sangh, Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh and Akhil Bhartiya Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram too have opposed the land bill.