Land acquisition, food security bills on government frontburner

NEW DELHI - With the Supreme Court asking the government to distribute surplus foodgrain free to the poor and farmland acquisition for infrastructure projects becoming contentious by the day, the government is expected to finetune pending social sector legislation ahead of the next session of parliament Nov 7.

According to officials in the rural development ministry, discussions are being held on the land acquisition amendment bill and the proposed legislation on relief and rehabilitation, which were passed by the Lok Sabha in February 2009 but lapsed as the term of the house got over.

Unlike the contentious civil nuclear liability, which was passed after major concerns of the opposition were accommodated, the government in this case has to first build consensus within the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), said an official.

It risks conflict with Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief and Food and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on the issue of food security, and with another key ally, the Trinamool Congress, on land acquisition.

The land acquisition amendment bill has been held up due to resistance from Railway Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, it is learnt.

Some informal discussions have taken place between senior Congress leaders and Banerjee on the bill, said Trinamool Congress leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay.

“Mamata Banerjee has been uncompromising in protecting the interests of farmers. We will make our approach clear when asked,” Bandyopadhyay told IANS.

“The buyer and seller should reach the settlement amicably. Each family that gives land should be guaranteed a job. No multi-crop land should be acquired.”

The government promised to bring the bill in the winter session after Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in August following the farmers’ agitation in Uttar Pradesh to demand higher compensation for land notified for acquisition for the Yamuna Expressway.

The Congress has demanded that Haryana’s legislation on land acquisition and rehabilitation, which has provisions for acquisition of land at market rates and an annuity for 33 years, should be sent to all states as a model law.

Besides its allies, the government is also facing pressure from other parties, including the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) to bring an amended land acquisition policy at the earliest.

In BJP leader Tarun Vijay’s view, agricultural land was being used for real estate, posing a threat to country’s long-term food security.

“Land is reducing and cinemas and multiplexes are coming up in large numbers. The compensation that a farmer gets for land does not last long and he loses his livelihood,” Vijay told IANS.

The land acquisition amendment bill, which seeks to amend The Land Acquisition Act 1894, provides for mandatory social impact assessment for any acquisition resulting in large- scale displacement. It also says states can acquire only 30 percent of the land required by private companies after they have bought 70 percent on their own.

The government is also expected to step up its efforts to finalise the proposed food security bill, which was a promise made by the Congress in its election manifesto.

Party president Sonia Gandhi had pitched in to expand the scope of legislation after a group of ministers worked out a draft.

The bill is being examined by the National Advisory Council (NAC), which has formulated proposals dealing with inclusive and enhanced Public Distribution System (PDS), child and maternal nutrition and special programmes for destitute and vulnerable groups.

The issues being examined by the government include the scope of increasing the quantity of foodgrains per month to entitled families from 25 kg per month to 35 kg and also prices, official sources said.

There is also a debate whether the proposed law should have a universal approach or be aimed at the below poverty line population.

The government has faced attacks from the opposition over the “delay” in bringing the food security act as also over the Supreme Court’s order over free distribution of grain to the poor instead of allowing it to rot in warehouses.

(Prashant Sood can be contacted at prashant.s@ians.in)