Land Acquisition Act to come into force from January 1

NEW DELHI: The new Land Acquisition Act to provide just and fair compensation to farmers will come into force from January 1, Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh said.

He said that the rules of historic legislation replacing a 119-year-old act have been approved by the Law Ministry.

"They (rules) will be put into the Gazette tomorrow and the Land Bill will be notified as of January 1, 2014," the minister said.

The new law, passed during the Monsoon Session of Parliament, received the assent of the President on September 27.

The bill was brought as the archaic act of 1894 suffered from various shortcomings including silence on the issue of resettlement and rehabilitation of those displaced by acquisition of land.