Parl Panel may suggest govt accept UPA clauses on Land Bill

The 30-member Joint Committee of Parliament, which was to submit its report on the government's Land Amendment Bill, has likely suggested the government withdraw six key amendments, including the proposal to remove the key consent clause and requirement to submit social impact assessment (SIA).Sources told CNN IBN that the government-appointed panel has given in to pressure and has decided to largely recommend the government stick to the UPA's 2013 version of the Land Bill and the which the NDA was intending to tweak.The Narendra Modi-led government moved a bill to make amendments in the Land Bill 2013, but it stumbled after the Congress protested and dubbed the move 'anti-farmer'.The government had in the interim also floated an ordinance thrice but after heavy opposition in the Rajya Sabha, where the ruling BJP does not enjoy a majority, it agreed to appoint a joint committee to study the issue."It's as good as our own Act of 2013," a Congress member of the committee was quoted as saying by PTI after a meeting of the joint panel expressing total agreement with the amendments moved by the ruling BJP."I know the BJP is retreating. It has a habit of acting first and thinking later," Congress leader Veerappa Moily told CNBC-TV18, adding that the BJP had supported the 2013 version of the Act.Moily also said the government ceding ground on the land bill does not automatically mean the Congress would support it on other legislative matters such as the goods and services tax (GST) bill.But Derek O'Brien of Trinamool Congress, who is also part of the joint panel, said the Congress and the BJP had entered into a "sort of match fixing on the issue" but did not elaborate on what the TMC's stand would be on. The TMC had opposed both the Congress' 2013 and BJP's 2015 versions of the land bill. BJD MP Jay Panda said it would be good if the BJP gives in to opposition to the land bill and suggested the ruling party could incorporate the BJD's suggestion that states be allowed to incorporate clauses such as allowing farmers a share in profits from projects built upon acquired land.While Arvind Sawant, MP from the BJP's alliance partner Shiv Sena, said his party was opposed to the removal of consent and SIA clause.