The Union Cabinet on Saturday approved re-promulgation of the controversial Land Acquisition Ordinance, which amends the UPA's 2013 Land Act, and whose passage has faced intense political opposition.
This would be the third time the government will float an ordinance -- a temporary law created via executive power, typically if Parliament is not is session, and which expires if not voted into law by the legislative house six weeks after it has re-opened.
The Narendra Modi-led government first promulgated the Land Ordinance in late December, days after closure of the Winter Session of the Parliament. It was re-promulgated a second time in March after Parliament failed to pass the bill in the first part of the Budget session.
The March ordinance, which failed to pass muster during the Budget session's second sitting as well, expires on June 4 (six weeks after it convened on April 23).
Addressing a press briefing, telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad today said the ordinance is being promulgated again to "maintain policy continuity".
During the Budget session, the Land Acquisition Amendment Bill was referred by the government to a Joint Parliamentary Committee comprising of members of both houses and various parties, following demand from opposition parties, led by the Congress.
The BJP government claims that the bill will help ease doing business and removes bottlenecks for development projects created by the 2013 Act. But it has been unable to pass the bill in the Rajya Sabha, where it does not have a majority.
Opposition parties have criticized two key proposals in the amendment -- the clause that removes the need for seeking owner consent while acquiring land for five areas, including public-private partnerships (PPP), and the requirement to conduct a social impact assessment study.
Telecom minister Prasad said the government would ensure farmers "do not face hardships" on compensation during the land acquisition process. Both the 2013 act and 2015 bill require the acquiring party to pay two and four times the acquired land's market rate in urban and rural areas, respectively.
Reacting to the move, the Congress blasted the government's decision to re-float the ordinance, and called it "travesty of justice" and an "affront to Parliament".
"It is an affront to Parliament which refused to put its stamp of approval. Duplicity of Prime Minister stands exposed as he had only yesterday said that his government is open to reviewing the anti-farmer land ordinance," party spokesperson Randeep Surjewala told PTI.
The Congress condemns the Modi government's "sinister design to surreptitiously push through" the Land ordinance after agreeing to get it re-examined through a Joint Committee of Parliament and demands that the government desist from the move and "apologise to the nation for its subversive designs", he added.
(With inputs from CNN IBN and PTI)
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