RSS wing Swadeshi Jagran Manch opposes land ordinance

NEW DELHI: Swadeshi Jagran Manch, the economic wing of the RSS, has come out against the land acquisition ordinance and today urged the Narendra Modi government to amend the measure keeping interests of farmers in mind.

SJM has especially opposed in the ordinance the scrapping of social impact assessment (SIA) and food security measures, which were part of the land acquisition Act passed during the UPA government's tenure.

"This should have been avoided. I hope good sense will prevail and government will amend it. It has to go to Parliament for passage," SJM's National Co-Convener Ashwani Mahajan told PTI.

SIA, he said, was an internationally accepted part of any land acquisition project. The Act brought by the UPA was tabled after a series of consultations and BJP was also a part of it, he said, noting that the saffron party had supported it in Parliament as well.

Asked what SJM would do now as the government has overruled its objections, he said they were in consultations and expected that the Centre would make changes in the law when it seeks Parliament's nod for it.

Government had told them, he said, in its justification for the new law that there was an "urgency for industrialisation". "I think there will be always an urgency for it. But it's such an important issue that any wait is worth it".

Supporting SIA and food security clauses, he said the impact of people affected by an acquisition must be studied and necessary measures taken to compensate them by all means.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley while defending the ordinance had said the new law will not only ensure more compensation to the farmers whose land is acquired by the authorities but also aid in much-needed development.