Joint Committee panel on land bill given 8th extension

NEW DELHI: The Joint Committee on the contentious Land Bill today got the eighth extension till the end of the Budget Session next year to table its report in Parliament.

BJP Lok Sabha member Ganesh Singh, who was appointed the chairperson of the committee in July after his predecessor S S Ahluwalia was made a Minister, moved a resolution in the Lok Sabha amid din over demonetisation issue asking for an extension for the committee till the last day of the Budget Session.

Some members, including K C Venugopal (Cong), were heard demanding that the committee should be scrapped because it has served no purpose till now as the BJP government itself has lost interest in the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Bill, 2015.

The resolution seeking fresh extension was passed by a voice vote in the Lower House amid noisy protests over note ban.