New Delhi Congress President Sonia Gandhi addressing the media after meeting President Pranab Mukherjee over the controversial Land Acquisition Bill at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New DelhiNew Delhi: The fierce debate over the land acquisition bill between the BJP and the Opposition has escalated even after Parliament went into a one month break. Even as Sonia Gandhi led a march to Rashtrapati Bhavan demanding that no changes should be made in the acquisition law enacted by the UPA government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has told the nation that the Opposition was lying. Modi, who is upset that his government is being projected as anti-farmer, has assured that nothing will be done to harm the interest of farmers. The Opposition has hit back saying that it is the Prime Minister who is lying on the implications on the changes brought by his government through a presidential ordinance.
However, the allegations that the changes in the law were brought to benefit corporate lobbies and the law does not fully protect the farmers have put the government on the defensive. The original law, introduced due to the insistence of Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, had been criticised as anti-industry as there were clauses built in for getting consent of not only all farmers, but also of the villagers whose livelihood is depended on the land for acqusion of land.
The law provided for assessment of social impact which critics fear would take two to three years. But the UPA had defended the changes saying that government cannot continue to acquire land for building industries, and it is for industrialists to negotiate directly with farmers. But the industry organisations had said since land ownership was fragmented in many states the whole process was cumbersome and investors would be disinterested.
The changes in Land Bill has become a hot potato because of the Maharashtra politics. Modi as Prime Minister had given the charge of rural development to veteran leader Gopinath Munde, a politician who had led pro-farmer agitations in the state. Soon after assuming charge, Munde had declared that he was not in favour of any change in the law and said he would protect the interest of farmers. But within weeks, Munde died in a road accident, and the charge of rural development was given to Surface Transport and Shipping minister Nitin Gadkari. Both of them led rival factions in Maharashtra BJP. Gadkari believed that the land acquisition law was a major hindrance for expansion of highways and industrialisation. He pushed for far reaching changes in the law based on letters from state governments and industry organisations. He persuaded both Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley that the rapid industrialisation and creation of new jobs will happen only if the land acquisition law was drastically altered. Modi cabinet accepted the changes. By then rural development ministry had gone to Birendra Singh from Haryana, who prided as a leader of farmers.
But, unlike Birendra Singh, a newcomer, Gadkari who has the full backing of RSS, pushed hard for the changes. Interestingly, when the law to replace the ordinance was voted in Lok Sabha, Munde's daughter Pritam Munde and niece Poonam Mahajan had been absent. They both gave medical reasons for not being present, but the BJP leadership felt that the family did not want to be seen as voting against the first wish of Gopinath Munde as rural development minister.
Apart from them (Poonam is the daughter of late BJP leader Pramod Mahajan), there were other absentees. There is a feeling among BJP MPs that the party's image has been dented due to the controversy and that the government did not use the party to prepare the ground for changes. They feel that the party too, apart from constituting a committee of eight MPs from rural areas, did not do much for aggressively campaigning on behalf of the changes in the bill. Now the party has time till early May to work out a new and acceptable version of the law, even if it means dilution of the changes made in the ordinance.
Tail piece: The Rural Development ministry's role will shrink in the new financial year as majority of the schemes run by the ministry will be transferred to the states. The Niti Aayog, which has replaced Planning Commission, has also recommended that funding of non governmental organisations for rural development too should be transferred to the states.
Disclaimer
The comments posted here/below/in the given space are not on behalf of Manorama. The person posting the comment will be in sole ownership of its responsibility. According to the central government's IT rules, obscene or offensive statement made against a person, religion, community or nation is a punishable offense, and legal action would be taken against people who indulge in such activities.