The perceived populist appeal of the bill saw BJP seeking more stringent norms for acquiring land in the Lok Sabha.
NEW DELHI: The government has won the Lok Sabha's backing for the Land Acquisition Bill, another of Congress' trophy legislations viewed by many as a potential vote-catcher and derided by sceptics as a roadblock to industrialisation and faster growth.
The bill, described by Congress as one that "addresses the concern of farmers and those whose livelihood is dependent on the land being acquired", was passed late on Thursday after the main Opposition party BJP gave its approval.
Second Success for Congress after Food Bill
For Congress, which got the food guarantee legislation passed in the lower house earlier this week, its success in seeing the land bill through represents tangible action on two key promises made in its 2009 election manifesto.
The legislation, officially called the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2012, seeks to replace a1894 British law, and had been aggressively pitched by Congress President Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi. It was first introduced in 2011, but the multiplicity of views within the party and elsewhere saw its provisions being progressively hardened.
Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh, who shepherded the bill in Parliament, said: "We have moved 158 amendments, of which 28 are crucial... These amendments are to give farmers, tribals and scheduled castes their due."
The bill, described by Congress as one that "addresses the concern of farmers and those whose livelihood is dependent on the land being acquired", was passed late on Thursday after the main Opposition party BJP gave its approval.
Second Success for Congress after Food Bill
For Congress, which got the food guarantee legislation passed in the lower house earlier this week, its success in seeing the land bill through represents tangible action on two key promises made in its 2009 election manifesto.
The legislation, officially called the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2012, seeks to replace a1894 British law, and had been aggressively pitched by Congress President Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi. It was first introduced in 2011, but the multiplicity of views within the party and elsewhere saw its provisions being progressively hardened.
Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh, who shepherded the bill in Parliament, said: "We have moved 158 amendments, of which 28 are crucial... These amendments are to give farmers, tribals and scheduled castes their due."
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The perceived populist appeal of the bill saw BJP seeking more stringent norms for acquiring land during the debate in the Lok Sabha. "We feel that if the farmer does not agree to acquisition of land under agriculture, it should not be done under any provision. We could soon face a food shortage.
Under no circumstances should you acquire irrigated land and agricultural land. You should make do with wasteland," BJP President Rajnath Singh said while initiating the debate in the House. "The farmer has an emotional attachment to his land. In our culture, we give land the status of mother."
Analysts said Singh's arguments pointed to his party's uneasiness over displacement for development projects and support for traditional jobs. But for some, these do not sit well with the party's claim that it believed in urban centres being growth engines or improved infrastructure and rapid industrialisation to ensure higher growth.
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