Cabinet approves ordinance on Land Acquisition Act
The Cabinet also cleared another ordinance on National Capital Territory of Delhi Laws (Special Provisions).
Both the Bills could not be passed in the Winter Session of Parliament due to frequent ruckus of MPs on conversion issue.
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that the Cabinet has recommended promulgation of Land Acquisition ordinance to President after consultations with state governments and stakeholders.
"We have to balance farmers' interests with development needs of the society," Jaitley said.
He also said that the provisions on higher compensation for land will remain untouched.
The Finance Minister said projects are vital to India's defence , therefore, defence production has been exempted from social impact.
"The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has approved certain amendments in the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013," read a government statement issued on Monday.
"The Act came into effect from 01.01.2014 but it has been reported that many difficulties are being faced in its implementation. In order to remove them, certain amendments have been made in the Act to further strengthen the provisions to protect the interests of the ‘affected families’. In addition, procedural difficulties in the acquisition of lands required for important national projects required to be mitigated," it said.
The government said the present amendments bring all those exempted 13 Acts under the purview of this Act for the purpose of compensation as well as rehabilitation and resettlement.
"Therefore, the amendment benefits the farmers and the affected families," it said.
The Cabinet had earlier approved promulgation of an Ordinance to hike Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) cap in the insurance sector to 49 percent from the existing 26 percent.
The Union Cabinet had also cleared the ordinance for implementation of coal reforms.
It had approved re-promulgation of an Ordinance to facilitate e-auction of coal blocks for private companies for captive use and allot mines directly to state and central PSUs.
Support Our Journalism
We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism
IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.
