Land Bill has Rahul Gandhi's signature on it: Jairam Ramesh

Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh has said Rahul Gandhi should get full credit for the law on land acquisition and rehabilitation passed in Parliament two weeks back. According to him, Rahul’s visits to trouble-torn districts such as Bhatta-Parsaul that made him think through this piece of legislation carefully. In an interview to Rupashree Nanda on CNN-IBN, he said, “Rahul Gandhi was of the idea that we should have one bill - for acquisition and rehabilitation. He advocated that, he canvassed for that. The second good idea which we incorporated in the bill is that not only land owners should get compensation , but livelihood losers also. They should also get priority. And, third in my view, is the most significant intervention he made which did not come from the NAC (National Advisory Council) by the way, or from any other source, he changed the title of the bill completely.” [caption id=“attachment_1110027” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] ![Jairam Ramesh. AFP.](https://images.firstpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/jairam-ramesh_380a.jpg) Jairam Ramesh. AFP.[/caption] The original bill as Jairam Ramesh had introduced was called the Land Acquisition Bill 2011. Rahul Gandhi changed the title to Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement, Ramesh added. However, he also said that there were several recommendations made by opposition parties like BJP that were incorporated in the bill even after the passage of the bill. Crucial among them was the suggestion made by Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan that irrigation projects be kept out of the mandate of this bill. He said, “When the Lok Sabha had actually passed the bill, obviously, he (Shivraj Singh Chouhan) got it studied by people and they told him that this could affect ongoing irrigation projects - all the irrigation projects that had been completed in the past. I think, it was (a) legitimate amendments and secondly (b) it brought us a lot of political good will.” But will land acqusition become difficult and altogether impossible in this climate of economic slowdown? According to Jairam Ramesh, land acquisition will become equitable but will not be delayed if the concerned authorities stuck to the time frame. “Will land acquisition become more expensive, the answer is yes. What you are paying, you will pay four times more in rural areas and two times in urban areas. Right now, land acquisition is being done on terms which are highly detrimental to farmers. Farmers have become immeserized through a process of land acquisition - forcible land acquisition,” he said. However, he brushed aside the allegation that Congress’ alleged silence in Robert Vadra’s land dealings would botch the positive effects of this bill. He said, “I don’t think there is any linkage between Robert Vadra’s so called land dealings and the land acquisition bills. I have just brought a land acquisition bill. As far as Mr Robert Vadra’s dealings are concerned, I think the chief minister of Haryana has already responded to it.” For a full transcript of the CNN-IBN interview of Jairam Ramesh, click here.

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Land Bill has Rahul Gandhi's signature on it: Jairam Ramesh

According to Jairam Ramesh, Rahul’s visits to trouble-torn districts like Bhatta-Parsaul that made him think through this crucial piece of legislation.

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