Industrial corridors tool to favour private companies: Congress
The party has opposed the passage of the bill in Lok Sabha, terming it as "pro-corporate" and "anti-farmer".
By TNN | Updated:
NEW DELHI: The Congress on Thursday attacked the BJP government over the Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill, saying it is trying to favour industrialists in the name of setting up industrial corridors.
The party raised serious apprehensions over the government's intentions saying that under the proposed bill, the government can acquire land up to 1km on both sides of the designated railway line or road of the industrial corridor which will prove beneficial only to private companies.
"It was said that the land would not be acquired for private purpose. That means the land would be acquired by the government in the name of industrial corridor and then transferred into private hands," said Congress spokesman Ajoy Kumar.
He said that the government can acquire acres and acres of land through this process. On the 1400km Delhi-Mumbai corridor, Kumar said, the government can acquire around 3.5 lakh acre land just on this corridor as per the proposed bill.
The party also alleged that the government is trying to create confusion by saying that projects worth Rs 4 lakh crore are pending while the truth is that only seven projects (13% of total projects) are pending due to problems in land acquisition.
Accusing the government of amending forest rights act through the backdoor, Kumar said this shows that the government is acting against 99% of the people while trying to give benefits to only 1% of select industrialists.
The party has opposed the passage of the bill in Lok Sabha, terming it as "pro-corporate" and "anti-farmer" and has planned a series of protests across the country against the "black" legislation.
The party raised serious apprehensions over the government's intentions saying that under the proposed bill, the government can acquire land up to 1km on both sides of the designated railway line or road of the industrial corridor which will prove beneficial only to private companies.
"It was said that the land would not be acquired for private purpose. That means the land would be acquired by the government in the name of industrial corridor and then transferred into private hands," said Congress spokesman Ajoy Kumar.
He said that the government can acquire acres and acres of land through this process. On the 1400km Delhi-Mumbai corridor, Kumar said, the government can acquire around 3.5 lakh acre land just on this corridor as per the proposed bill.
The party also alleged that the government is trying to create confusion by saying that projects worth Rs 4 lakh crore are pending while the truth is that only seven projects (13% of total projects) are pending due to problems in land acquisition.
Accusing the government of amending forest rights act through the backdoor, Kumar said this shows that the government is acting against 99% of the people while trying to give benefits to only 1% of select industrialists.
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The party has opposed the passage of the bill in Lok Sabha, terming it as "pro-corporate" and "anti-farmer" and has planned a series of protests across the country against the "black" legislation.
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