Finance Minister Arun Jaitley calls UPA’s Land Act ‘security threat’
Former PM Manmohan Singh had raised concerns on the Land Acquisition Bill
By : DC Correspondent
Update: 2015-02-27 02:49 GMT
NEW DELHI: Sources said the Samajwadi Party, that has 15 members in the Upper House, could stage a walkout from the Rajya Sabha if the Opposition demands voting on the Land Acquisition Bill. A similar strategy could be adopted by the BSP, which has 10 members.
Finance minister Arun Jaitley, participating in the Rajya Sabha debate on the motion of thanks to the President’s address on Thursday, cited former commerce minister Anand Sharma’s strong reservations on the measure in 2012 where he stated that the old land bill under UPA rule would have “adverse” long-term implications.
In a letter to then PM Manmohan Singh, Mr Sharma had raised concerns on the bill, saying it would not only make the cost of land exorbitantly high but also make acquisition proceedings almost impossible. He had also drawn urgent attention on serious concerns of industry on the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill 2011.
On the clause on insistence of consent of 80 per cent of affected families, he had said it would “seriously delay acquisition and in many cases halt essential infrastructure projects”.
Mr Jaitley said the UPA’s land law has had a “disastrous impact” on India’s national security as Pakistan could get information on critical defence projects coming up here.
Earlier, Union minister M. Venkaiah Naidu voiced confidence that the Centre will face no problem in pushing the measures and that all “friends, allies and supporting parties” will be on board. He said there was “no question of going back” on any of the Ordinances.