[Five important aspects of the proposed amendment: * The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Bill, 2015 seeks to Amend the Act of 2013 (LARR Act, 2013) and thereby create five special categories of land use: 1. defence, 2. rural infrastructure, 3 affordable housing, 4. industrial corridors, and 5. infrastructure projects including Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects where the central government owns the land.
* These five categories are exempted from the provisions of the LARR Act, 2013. In this act, consent of 80 per cent of land owners are required for private projects and 70 per cent of land owners' consent are required for PPP projects. * Social Impact Assessment to identify those affected will not be required for these five categories. Restrictions on the acquisition of irrigated multi-cropped land imposed by LARR Act 2013 will also be held nullified. * The Bill brings provisions for compensation, rehabilitation, and resettlement under other related Acts such as the National Highways Act and the Railways Act in consonance with the LARR Act. * Acquisition of land by 'private companies' mentioned in LARR Act, 2013 will be changed to acquisition for 'private entities', which may include companies, corporations and nonprofit organisations. (Source: <http://www.oneindia.com/feature/off-grounded-why-the-centre-and-the-opposition-debate-over-land-bill-1721814.html> and <http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/land-bill-six-facts-you-need-to-know/article6978832.ece>.)] I/II. http://in.reuters.com/article/2015/04/23/india-farmers-idINKBN0NE1IQ20150423 Economy | Thu Apr 23, 2015 6:58pm IST Related: TOP NEWS, BUSINESS, ECONOMY Modi land bill delayed amid rising anger in rural India NEW DELHI | BY NIGAM PRUSTY AND FRANK JACK DANIEL (Reuters) - Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has delayed a bill that will make it easier for industry to buy farmland, following anger over rising rural distress and the suicide of a farmer in New Delhi. The death of farmer Gajendra Singh, who hanged himself from a tree during an opposition rally in New Delhi on Wednesday, dominated debate in parliament on Thursday. Two cabinet ministers, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the land acquisition bill, a revision to a 2013 land law, would not be brought up until the first week of May, reversing a previous line-up of legislative business. "The land bill is a challenge for us," one of the ministers said late on Wednesday, after several days of protests that culminated in the suicide. Convinced that the previous land law would delay his industrial development agenda, Modi used executive decrees in December and April to loosen acquisition rules requiring 80 percent consent from landowners, but needs parliament's approval to make the changes permanent. Modi does not have a majority in the upper house and with tempers running high over crop damage and low prices in the countryside, he risks delaying other legislation if the land bill is taken to debate too quickly and dominates proceedings in parliament. SHARING THE PAIN In a rare intervention in parliament, Modi pleaded on Thursday for political parties to end their finger-pointing over the rural crisis and work together to improve the lives of the villagers. "The issue of farmers' suicides has been a matter of concern for the whole country," he said. "I also share the pain. We should resolve to find a solution to this problem which is old and widespread." More than a dozen debt-ridden farmers have committed suicide in India in recent weeks with many villagers who say they voted for Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party in elections last year criticising his government for being slow to respond to the crop damage and falling commodity prices. Spurred by opposition parties, farmers are also angry about the changes to the land law, which many fear will force them to sell holdings against their will. The law was the main target of Wednesday's rally, where Singh lost his life. The rural crisis is the first major political challenge for Modi's one-year-old government. Unseasonal rains and hailstorms damaged about 9.4 million hectares of crops such as wheat, or 15.5 percent of the winter crop area, the farm ministry said. Modi last week announced increased compensation for farmers who have suffered crop damage. The government blames local officials for being slow in releasing such funds. Adding to concerns in the villages, where some 70 percent of Indians live, government forecasters on Wednesday said the monsoon due to start in June was likely to be deficient. (Additional reporting by Ratnajyoti Dutta and Mayank Bhardwaj; Editing by Douglas Busvine and Raju Gopalakrishnan) II. http://scroll.in/article/722905/the-daily-fix-if-it-was-in-trouble-before-modis-land-acquisition-law-is-now-properly-on-the-rocks If it was in trouble before, Modi's land acquisition law is now properly on the rocks Rohan Venkataramakrishnan · Today · 09:17 am The Big Story: Landing in trouble The government has briefly delayed taking up a law to replace its land acquisition amendment ordinance, which had been promulgated and re-promulgated as a way of making the regulatory environment more friendly for businesses. Initially set to come up this week, the land law will now reportedly be taken up in Parliament in May. Already reeling because of the charge that it is anti-farmer, one a previously disjointed Opposition has been able to successfully rally behind, the government has been set back even further after the troubling sight of a farmer appearing to commit suicide in the nation's capital in broad daylight. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was forced to give a statement in Parliament, saying he shared the pain and asked for suggestions on how to improve the situation of India's farmers. Modi has been insistent all along that the land bill will be passed, even if it is somewhat amended. It is indeed crucial for his government's economic approach, since it would speed up land acquisition processes for industry. But having already lost the narrative debate on the matter, the government will now be afraid to do anything else that cements the notion that it is anti-farmer. And don't forget, later this year, Bihar, a state with lots of farmers, will be going to the polls. The Big Scroll A reminder: this is what the dead farmer wanted us to pay attention to, even though no one is bothering to listen. And in Gajendra Singh's death, Rajasthan's farmers see a reflection of their own distress. -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
