Select Commtt decides to defer Land Ceiling Reforms(Amend) Bill

Kolkata, Jul 24(UNI) In a move that could tell upon the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee Government's industrialisation process, the West Bengal Select Committee for land today decided to defer the controversial Land Ceiling Reforms(Amendment) Bill, 2006 till March next year.

Land and Land Reforms Minister Abdur Rezzak Molla told reporters that the decision had been taken following differences among the Select Committee members over legislation of the bill.

"It has been put in incubator till the next budget," Mr.Molla said.

The bill, seeking to relax the upper limit of land for industry, commerce and infrastructure projects, was presented in the last session of the state Assembly. But it failed to see the passage of legislation following stiff resistance by the opposition as well as a few partners of the ruling Left Front.

The Bill was about to lapse, with the failure of the Select Committee to submit a report in the ongoing Assembly session after lack of consensus among the allies.

All the previous three meetings of the Select Committee members proved to be inconclusive as the allies refused to budge.

The Bill is crucial for projects like SEZs or the proposed Barasat-Raichak road by the Salim Group and the biotech park as only mills, factories and tea gardens are exempted from land ceiling under Clause 14Y of the existing Act. The new provisions would have allowed a person seeking to establish industry, commerce and infrastructure with prior permission of the state government to acquire, hold and transfer in excess of land ceiling which is 24 acres for non-agricultural land.

The CPI-M has failed to convince its allies about the necessity for removing land ceiling for industry, commerce and infrastructure purposes even after bipartite meetings with the CPI, the RSP and the Forward Bloc.

UNI