Demanding the scrapping of an archaic law on land acquisition, the Rashtriya Lok Dal today claimed it has garnered the support of some Opposition parties including the Left to pressurise the Centre over the issue.
"We have prepared a draft proposal in which there are checks and balances akin to those required when acquiring forest land," RLD chief Ajit Singh told PTI today. He said the original Land Acquisition Act 1894 does not have enough provisions in matter of acquiring cultivable land.
Singh said his party's seeks to make rules for acquiring cultivable land more stringent so that it can be done only if reasons for such an acquisition are well defined.
"I had met CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat a couple of days back and held a meeting with CPI general secretary AB Bardhan this morning. Both the leaders are unanimous about changing the archaic law," Singh said.
The Jat leader, who had spearheaded the campaign on sugarcane prices late last year by stalling Parliament and with the help of a unified opposition had forced the UPA to amend the ordinance on sugarcane prices, said if the need arises he may again take the same route to get the law scrapped.
Singh alleged the UP government has acquired land citing certain provisions in the existing law which allow acquisition of land on an "emergency" basis.
"I would like to know what kind of an emergency situation had arisen which prompted the state government to use such provisions for acquiring land of villagers," he said.
"The Uttar Pradesh government is acquiring thousand of acres of land around Yamuna basin for constructing the Yamuna Expressway and also for setting up hi-tech cities. The state government plans to acquire land from 2,000 villages around Noida, Ghaziabad and Bulandshahar for the purpose," he said.
The MP from Baghpat said most of the land which has been and is being acquired by UP government for its projects, is cultivable land and contributes to around 25 per cent of the country's total potato produce.
The RLD leader said he would be meeting JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav, Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik and even TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu in the next few days for building greater consensus over the issue.
