President Pranab Mukherjee on Friday gave his assent to the Land Acquisition Bill, which was passed by Parliament during the Monsoon Session. With the presidential assent, the law has replaced a 119-year-old Land Act. The legislative bill, which was later renamed “The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilita-tion and Resettlement Bill, 2013” is considered a major fulfilment of the promise made by Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi to the farmers of Uttar Pradesh, who were agitating against forcible acquisition. The new law has made stringent provisions to ensure that there is no forcible acquisition under the “emergency” clause. The law stipulates mandatory consent of at least 70 per cent for acquiring land for public-private-partnership (PPP) projects and 80 per cent for acquiring land for private companies. The rural development ministry, which is framing rules for the new Act, hopes that the law will address the concerns of both the farmers and the livelihood losers. The rules are expected to be framed in three months’ time.
