AITC urges Centre to scrap 1894 Land Acquisition Act

New Delhi, Jun 10 (UNI) The All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) supremo Mamata Banerjee has urged the Centre to scrap the age-old 1894 Land Acquisition Act as it has become obsolete in the present day.

Addressing newspersons here today, Ms Banerjee said what has happened in Singoor and Nandigram should be an ''eye opener'' for the Centre.

Because of the presence of this Act, the State government forcefully stepped into these illegal activities, she claimed.

She said the law says that the State government could acquire the private land only for public use such as for the construction of roads, bridges, schools and hospitals but not to help few individual private industrial houses.

Alleging that at the time of independence the condition of Left Parties was very poor but now they are the ''Capitalists of the Capitalists''.

Responding to a question on whether her party was for the industrialisation, on which she made it very clear that the party was 100 per cent for industrial progress but not at the cost of agriculture.

Agriculture and industry are the two sisters of the economy and both should work side-by-side. One should not be allowed to crush the other to bring sufferings for millions of people, Ms Banerjee added.

In response to another question on whether her party was supporting NDA or not, she replied that the AITC was maintaining equidistance from Congress and BJP as the Congress was encouraging and fueling the Left to fight against the people and in case of BJP, it was party's unilateral decision.

When asked about the recent developments in Darjeeling where the Gorkhas had again started agitation for securing the Statehood of Gorkhaland, Ms Banerjee said it was an unfortunate development and should not have taken place but these problems would be overcome once we come to power in the state, Ms Banerjee added.

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