BJP agrees to roll back controversial Land Bill amendments

In a major turnaround, the Bharatiya Janata Party gave in to opposition pressure and agreed to roll back six controversial amendments of the Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill, 2015, including those on social impact assessment and consent clause. A joint parliamentary committee has been examining the Land Bill and the committee recorded stiff opposition to the Bill in writing and during oral submissions. In Monday's meeting, though, the BJP members moved exactly the same amendments as moved by the opposition parties, indicating that they accepted to make changes to six contentious clauses. This means that the Bill will look almost similar to UPA's 2013 Land law.

Sources said that the move could be a tactical retreat by BJP that has faced severe criticism while examining the Bill in the joint parliamentary committee.

The changes accepted by the BJP related to the consent clause, social impact assessment, exemption of certain projects from provisions of the Bill, on prosecution of officers, definition of private entity and acquisition for industrial corridors. According to sources, opposition members had moved nine amendments and after arriving at a consensus on six, three would be discussed in the meeting on Wednesday. The committee's term has been extended till August 7, when the members will have to adopt a report on the Bill and submit it to Parliament.

Officials said most of the amendments were brought on the request of the state governments finding difficulty in acquiring land, but Prime Minister Modi decided to accept the public opinion against these changes. It is now left up to the states to amend the law to remove any handicaps they face in implementation, they said. Last month, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said that in the event of no consensus on the Bill, states would be given flexibility to create their own land acquisition laws.

The government was insisting on the changes in the UPA Land Law enacted in 2013 for the sake of fast economic development. Though the Bill to amend the law was cleared by the Lok Sabha in March, where the government has a huge majority, it was stalled in the Rajya Sabha where it is in a minority. Sources said the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Resettlement and Rehabilitation Amendment Bill will be still pushed but only to effect the necessary changes that are not opposed by anybody.

During the course of examining the Bill, the joint parliamentary committee received more than 600 memoranda, opposing the Bill's controversial amendments while a total of 52 depositions were recorded. Of the 52, only two organizations - Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) - supported the Bill's amendments. The committee also recorded severe criticism on the Bill from Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh affiliate bodies such as Swadeshi Jagran Manch, Bharatiya Kisan Sangh and Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh.