Centre to enact new Land Acquisition Bill: Moily

Bangalore, Jul 9: Against the backdrop of rising protests from farmers over acquisition of their land, the Centre has decided to bring in a new legislation governing the exercise with a focus on farmers' welfare, Law Minister M Veerappa Moily said today (Jul 9).

The Bill, being fine tuned currently, was expected to be introduced in the coming monsoon session of Parliament, he told reporters here.

"The focus of the new legislation would be on protecting the interests of farmers, their welfare and also on sustainable development. We need to balance farmers'' welfare and sustainable development," Moily said.

The proposed law would also address issues concerning rehabilitation of farmers after acquisition of their lands.

Government was keen on passing the legislation in the next Parliament session as it cannot afford delay in the wake of conflicts over land acquisition increasing day by day, he said when his attention was drawn to Rahul Gandhi's padayatra in Uttar Pradesh where farmers have been protesting land acquisition by the Mayawati government.

Moily also referred to the recent protests in Karnataka and also land scams, allegedly involving some ministers in his home state.

"Farmers' interest will be fully protected", he said.

Moily said the Communal Violence Prevention Bill would also be introduced in the monsoon session of Parliament. The National Advisory Committee has cleared the draft and it was expected to soon come before the Cabinet for approval, he said.

"We need a strong bill. Mere sections of the IPC are not enough to capture the real problem of what happened in Gujarat, in many places and in Karnataka. To meet all contingencies, we need a strong bill," he said.

"The Lokpal bill would also be introduced in the next session," he said.

PTI