Mangaluru, Feb 27: Stating that the Land Acquisition Bill recently introduced in the Lok Sabha through an ordinance by the NDA government was regressive and anti-farmer, MLC Ivan D’Souza said that the bill had caused outrage among people and urged that the proposed The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 should be withdrawn.
Speaking at a press conference here on Friday, he said that the Congress party would oppose the bill in the Lok Sabha and was awaiting a directive from the party chief in the state to oppose the bill at state and district levels. The proposed bill seeks key changes to the 2013 Act introduced by the previous UPA government by taking away the right of the farmers and land owners by exempting special category projects from prior consent of land owners and from social impact assessment study, he said, adding that the bill should be withdrawn as it did not protect the interests of the farmers.
The Modi government is displaying a Hitlerist tendency by bringing changes in the Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill through an ordinance which are against the interests of the people. Such amendments benefit only the corporate sector, and the Modi government is keen on implementing the bill with the sole intention of enticing corporate companies, he said, adding that the Modi government wished for ‘Achhe Din’ only for the corporate world.
He also pointed that the draft ordinance bill introduced in the Lok Sabha used the term ‘private institutions’ instead of private companies and expanded the list of projects that would not require a social impact assessment study and prior consent of affected families. This will severely affect the families affected by the land acquisition bill if it is passed, he said.
Mr D’Souza also urged that the Pashchima Vahini project should be revived with a special grant of Rs 3,000 crore by the state government for the benefit of the people. The long-pending Pashchima Vahini project proposes to link several West-flowing rivers including five major rivers—Netravati, Sharavathi, Chakra, Swarna and Kali.
He further said that the police quarters in various parts of the city were in a pathetic condition and the issue had been brought to the notice of the chief minister. A proposal has been submitted to the home ministry demanding new residences for the police personnel after demolishing the existing ones.
Mr Ivan also informed of a few proposals submitted to the government to earmark funds in the upcoming budget for important projects such as four-laning of Pumpwell-Padil stretch, suspension bridge from Sulthan Batthery to Bengere, new women’s polytechnic college and extension of runway at Mangaluru International Airport.
Comments
Add new comment