The Trinamool Congress government in the state is considering to bring a new land acquisition Bill in the Assembly, following the Centre’s new Bill on the subject, which is expected to be placed in Parliament during the ongoing session.
The consideration of a new land Bill stemmed from chief minister Mamata Banerjee?s announcement that industry would require to buy 100% land for setting up a unit and that the government would not get into land acquisition for the industry. But the difficulty lies in the West Bengal Land Ceiling Act, where an individual cannot own more than 24 acres and the industry often needs more than that.
State public health engineering minister Subrata Mukherjee, who is also the Assembly standing committee member on commerce and industry, told FE that since the CM was serious about bringing industries to the state, she had taken up the issue with urgency. “Even if we ask the industry to buy the entire required land, it cannot buy more than 24 acres. But the government, in-principle, has decided not to acquire land for industry. So a way has to be worked out so that the industry can get more than 24 acres. For that there can be a new land Bill, if needed,? said Mukherjee. The government, he said, would also look into the option of bringing an amendment to the West Bengal Land Ceiling Act, for providing land to the industry.
While the Centre?s land former deputy chief minister MK Stalin was arrested along with scores of supporters as he led demonstrationsBill, which would replace the existing Land Acquisition Bill of 1894, has favoured government acquisition up to 100%, Banerjee, in her first interaction with the industry, made clear that there would be zero acquisition from the state.
Mukherjee said the government took up the issue in the first meeting of the Assembly standing committee on commerce and industry. ?The standing committee would meet every week to sort out problems relating to industrialisation in the state,? Mukherjee said.
If the state brings a new land Bill, it would be the second Bill on land initiated by the new government after having passed the Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Bill, 2011. The Bill, presently an Act, has been challenged by the Tatas in the High Court. According to Saugata Roy, union minister of state for urban development, Trinamool Congress’ first stand was to ask the industry to buy at least 70% of the requirement and source the rest from the state . ?But just before taking over the government’s charge, Mamata Banerjee changed her mind and made it to 100%,? Roy said.
A TMC MP said since the Centre was introducing a new Bill, the state should have made its announcement after getting the details of the Bill. Since land is a subject in the concurrent list, the state can also make its own law provided that it is not contradictory to the central Act (according to Article 25).