Even as thousands of farmers from western Uttar Pradesh marched to the capital demanding better recompense for their land, Rashtriya Lok Dal MP Jayant Chaudhary has moved a private members Bill, his own version of the land acquisition Act.
The Bill, which is with the President for her permission, looks at a narrower definition of public purpose, for which land can be acquired by the government among other things.
?There are some significant departures from the draft amendment to the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, which the government tried to move earlier,? he said. ?In my version of the Bill, 30% of land, which can be acquired by the state governments for private sector, have to retain upto 51% government ownership,? he said.
Chaudhary has also called for a mandatory social impact assessment of proposed projects on the local population. ?At least 100 families where the population is mostly non-tribal and at least 25 families in tribal areas have to cosntitute the sample size,? he said.
?If for five years after land acquisition no work is seen on the ground, farmers should be given first right of refusal to buy back the land at compensation prices,? he added.
He added that an important point he had made in the Bill is that notices under section 4 of the Bill be sent individually to all households rather than just an adverstisement appearing in the newspapers. ?This will make a huge difference,? he said. ?I also want the urgency clause, clause 17 in the Bill to be restricted,? he said.
While he is moving this Bill, Chaudhary appeared phlegmatic about the prospects of it being adopted by the government.