Path cleared for restoration of 2013 land Act

NEW DELHI: The government has decided to allow the ordinance on the altered land acquisition bill to lapse, paving the way for restoration of the 2013 Act and deletion of exemptions granted in the ordinance to 13 different Acts.

The exemptions were intended to make land acquisition speedier with respect to certain projects considered necessary for the developmental process and were a dilution of the 2013 law's tough and complex provisions.

The Cabinet, in its meeting on Wednesday, decided that the ordinance would lapse on August 31 after it runs its current course and would not be re-promulgated for the fourth time.

There is as yet no decision on convening an "extended" monsoon session to pass the Goods and Services Tax bill. While parliamentary affairs minister M Venkaiah Naidu has been sounding out political parties, Congress has indicated it will support the tax reform if its demands such as an 18% rate are written into the law.

Congress leader in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge has said that the party would like to examine the final text of the bill before making any commitment but the government's real task lies in negotiating with party president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.

The bid to make the land Act more acquisition-friendly has run into stiff resistance from Congress with Rahul campaigning that the changes were "anti-farmer" and pro-corporate.

The Trinamool Congress has also opposed the new bill stating that it is opposed to any acquisition by the government.

The deadlock over the politically sensitive issue remains unresolved and a consensus has eluded the joint committee of Parliament examining the bill.

Sensing that the charge of being "anti-farmer" will be politically damaging, the government switched tracks and restored the contentious consent and social impact assessment clauses it had diluted.

With the consent and social impact clauses back in the bill, much of the 2013 law was restored and the government argued it would be left to states to design exemptions and frame rules.

Congress is still holding out on some aspects of the land bill like the clause dealing with retrospective effects and return of unutilized land.