New Delhi:
Land acquisition has been a politically loaded issue - in Uttar Pradesh, it allowed Rahul Gandhi to accuse Mayawati of selling out farmers, and in West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee's fiery criticism of policies helped pave her way to power.
Now, a parliamentary committee has recommended drastically reworking the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill to greatly restrict the conditions under which the state can acquire land from villagers or farmers - either for social sector projects or for infrastructure. The Standing Committee on Rural Development has recommended that land cannot be acquired for any for-profit enterprise. The committee has MPs from different parties.
So, private players and private-public partnerships would have to buy land in the open market if their ventures involve any element of profit. It would be upto the companies to win the consent of the land-owners.
The committee also wants state governments to decide on the market value that should be offered to farmers and villagers whose land is acquired. Uniform relief and rehabilitation packages should not be imposed upon them, but in all cases of acquisition relief and rehabilitation will have to be given. The committee also wants all acquisition to be handled in close consultation with the local Gram Sabha and Panchayat.
The committee's recommendations are not binding upon the government. Industry will argue that they will make it impossible to partner with the government in delivering much-needed better infrastructure and increasing the manufacturing sector capacity
The National Advisory Council, headed by Sonia Gandhi, has also worked on its own version of the Land Acquisition Bill. It stresses that land should only be taken by the state for national security reasons.