Government Readies to Reissue Contentious Land Ordinance Which Lapses Next Week

New Delhi:

The government is preparing to reissue or repromulgate its controversial ordinance on land reforms. The executive order, which is aimed at making it easier for businesses to acquire land from farmers, lapses on April 5.  

Because an ordinance cannot be reissued while Parliament is in session, the government is likely to truncate the session of the Upper House or Rajya Sabha with immediate effect, said Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu. The Cabinet is expected to endorse the recommendation of the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs (CCPA) to prorogue the Upper House. Once the presidential assent is received, the government will be free to re-issue the land ordinance.

The government was initially considering a proposal to let the ordinance lapse. But senior ministers ruled against it. They warned that if the ordinance lapses, farmers will stop getting four times the land price compensation under 13 categories of acquisitions for public works mandated by the ordinance.

The government is in a minority in the Rajya Sabha, and despite suggesting nine changes to its ordinance in the Lok Sabha or Lower House, it has failed to propitiate the Opposition which describes the new rules for land acquisition as "anti-farmer." Some allies of the government, including the Shiv Sena, agree with that assessment.

In December, the government used an executive order to make significant changes to the law passed for land acquisition by industry when the Congress-led government was in power. The new proposal - which must be cleared by both Houses of Parliament - exempts projects in five categories including defence from seeking the consent of 80 per cent of the affected landowners as mandated by the 2013 law.

Those changes to the older law usurp the rights of farmers, said Congress chief Sonia Gandhi to the government in a strongly-worded note today.

Confronted with a united Opposition, senior ministers have said that though they are constructive suggestions for changes to the proposal are welcome, the government will not surrender its intent to ease land acquisition rules, which form a key part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's agenda for economic reforms.