Cabinet Clears Re-promulgation of Land Ordinance

The Union Cabinet on Tuesday decided to re-promulgate the land acquisition ordinance with nine amendments. These amendments were introduced in the bill that was passed in Lok Sabha last month. With no possibility of the bill being passed in Rajya Sabha before April 5 when the ordinance lapses, the government had no option but to reissue the ordinance.

The recommendation for re-promulgating the ordinance has been sent to President Pranab Mukherjee. The government expects after the presidential nod the ordinance will be in place before April 5 when the previous ordinance will lapse. Once it is re-issued, it will be the 11th ordinance to be issued by the Narendra Modi government.

Government sources said that the new ordinance incorporates all the nine amendments brought in Lok Sabha as the rule says that the ordinance cannot be different from the bill already pending.

The bill was not introduced by the government in the Rajya Sabha after the Lok Sabha sent it for clearance as it lacks the required numbers in the Upper House. A united opposition led by the Congress has termed the government's ordinance and bill anti-farmer and vowed not to let it pass. The opposition, in no mood to oblige the government, mounted a forceful campaign led by Congress President Sonia Gandhi, demanding that there should be no change in the act passed by the UPA in 2013.

Realising that the Opposition had no plans to relent, the government dropped its peace overture. To pave the way for rare-promulgating the ordinance the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs on Friday recommendded that the current 234th session of Rajya Sabha should be prorogued so that the ordinance can be reissued. Acting on this recommendation the President prorogued the Upper House on Saturday.

As per the Constitution the houses in session which has the bill "as its property" has to be prorogued for the government to issue an ordinance. Parliament is currently on a month-long recess after the Budget session that started on February 23.

Before the start of the budget session the land ordinance was among the six top ordinances or executive orders. While five of them including coal, mines and insurance were cleared by both houses, the land bill is stuck.