Land Acquisition Bill set to be moved in Lok Sabha today

NEW DELHI: Congress-led UPA is all set to push yet another landmark legislation-the Land Acquisition Bill-on Thursday in Lok Sabha. Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who was recently taken ill, is likely to attend Parliament when the Bill is considered for passage.

The much-talked about bill proposes payment of compensation that is up to four times the market value in rural areas and two times the market value in urban areas. It is being brought in Parliament after two all-party meetings. Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh will move the Bill, which aims at making affected persons partners in development, leading to an improvement in their post- acquisition social and economic status.

Ramesh said the Bill, renamed as "The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2012" conveys government's determination to address "widespread and historical injustices". This has been done by establishing strong legal prerequisites that need to be discharged first while acquiring land.

The Bill will replace over a century-old Land Acquisition Act, 1894, which suffers from various shortcomings, including silence on the issue of resettlement and rehabilitation of those displaced by the acquisition of land. The Bill ensures that farmers get a fair deal and that there is no forcible acquisition of their land. In cases where public private partnership (PPP) projects are involved or acquisition is taking place for private companies, the Bill requires consent of no less than 70% and 80%, respectively (in both cases) of those whose land is sought to be acquired.