Changes being brought in the 2013 land law are alarming, farmers groups tell parl panel

New Delhi: Leaders from five farmer organisations on Tuesday attacked the Modi government over provisions of the land ordinance saying the changes being brought in the 2013 land law are “alarming” and urged a parliamentary panel to recommend their withdrawal. The farmer leaders, appearing before the Joint Committee of Parliament on land acquisition bill headed by SS Ahulwalia, voiced their strong reservations to a number of clauses in the ordinance including those pertaining to farmers’ consent and retrospective aspect. [caption id=“attachment_2287270” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. AFP[/caption] Representing Rashtriya Kisan Union and Kisan Mazdoor Sangathan from Uttar Pradesh, Kisan Jagriti Manch and Bhartiya Kisan Union from Haryana and Khet Bachao Jeewan Bachao Sangharsh Samiti from Bihar, the farmers questioned the rationale behind replacing the 2013 land law. The panel, which started its meetings on 29 May, met for the third time today to hear views of the stakeholders. Those who met the panel included farmers from Bhatta Parsaul from where Rahul Gandhi had begun his agitation against their forcible land acquisition in 2011. Rejecting government’s claim that procedural difficulties in the acquisition of lands for important national projects needed to be mitigated and hence changes were required, the farmers said the clauses seeking exemption from consent and social impact assessment in five categories are “alarming”. When some members of the ruling party interrupted and tried to reason with the farmers about the need for the bill, Opposition members objected saying the farmers should be allowed to express their views openly, sources said. At this, Ahluwalia asked the BJP MPs not to interrupt saying the representatives of farmers bodies have been called as the panel wants to hear them out thoroughly. He also decided to send a questionnaire related to the provisions of the ordinance to the witnesses so that they can give their views on all the relevant points concerning the bill when the committee meets again on Monday. The farmer leaders said that any amendment or change in section 24 (2) of the Act will cause great loss to the farmers, whose land have been acquired under the old Act of 1894 and they have not accepted any compensation till date. They said that if there is an amendment in section 24 (2) of 2013 land law, those farmers will be forced to accept compensation as the 1894 Act. The leaders also said the committee should recommend that no change should be made in the retrospective clause under section 24 (2) of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013. A leader from the NCR region, who appeared before the panel, said that the section 24 (2) provided a window of opportunity to farmers in Noida, Gurgaon to claim compensation on a much higher scale in case their land was acquired some years ago before the passage of the 2013 land law but either its possession was not taken or they were not paid compensation. Members of Opposition parties had yesterday slammed the government for re-promulgating the ordinance, saying if it has decided to press for the same clauses then the committee report will be of little value. They had also sought clarity on terms like national security and affordable housing which are exempted from the consent clause saying ambiguity could lead to misuse of provisions. Industrial corridors, public-private partnership projects, rural infrastructure, affordable housing and national security related projects are exempted from consent clause in the ordinance re-promulgated recently. The panel has received 300 memoranda on the land ordinance issue so far of which 75 have already been circulated to members. The first meeting of the panel took place on May 29, when the members had demanded demanded a “composite” inter-ministerial reply on the issue, which was given to them a few days ago. PTI