Norms made stringent in draft of Land Acquisition Bill

Fresh changes have been made in the draft Land Acquisition Bill under which the consent of landowners for acquiring land for private purpose has been made stiffer following a suggestion from UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi.

The percentage of landowners, whose consent is a must for acquiring land for private purpose, has been raised from 67 per cent to 80 in the proposed bill.

Disclosing the changes in the measure, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, who heads Group of Ministers (GoM) on the bill, said consent of landowners was not required for acquiring land for public purpose.

The proposed changes will soon be circulated among 14 members of the GoM for their views and consent, he told reporters after a brief meeting with Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh on the issue.

"A detailed discussion was made in the last GoM. Some of them suggested changes and these were discussed and finalised today," he said.

The key changes include consent of 80 per cent of landowners if government acquires land for private purpose.

The changes come against the backdrop of recommendations of (Sonia) Gandhi suggesting raising the consent level of landowners for acquiring land for private purpose.

In the last meeting on October 16, GoM had approved for a provision for consent of two-third (67 per cent) of landowners for acquiring land for private purpose.