The Government has a proposed timeline for the award of compensation under the Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill. This timeline was not in the draft of the Bill posted on the Government's Web site on July 29 for comments from stakeholders and the public. After these responses and consultation with the stakeholders, seven changes have been made, the Rural Development Minister, Mr Jairam Ramesh, said. The Minister said that the...

-The Indian Express   With UPA constituent Trinamool Congress today joining the Opposition in critising the Communal Violence Bill, the Union government said that the legislation as drafted by the National Advisory Council (NAC) was not final. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was among the eight CMs who stayed away from the National Integration Council (NIC) meeting held in Delhi today, with communal violence on its agenda. Narendra Modi (Gujarat), Nitish Kumar...

-The Indian Express   Seven farmers on Wednesday sat on a hunger strike in Dharamheri village to protest the construction of Hansi-Butana toe wall and to demand measures to check floods in the area. BKU (Ekta Dakaounda) Patiala district president Darshan Pal said that chain hunger strike would be observed till September 16 where alternate group of farmers would observe the strike daily. He added that if their demands were not met,...

-The Economic Times   The government has defended its new land acquisition bill as industry-friendly, refuting criticism that provisions contained in the legislation were retrograde and would push up costs for state-run and private companies. Industry groups had slammed the new Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill (LARR) 2011, cleared by the cabinet earlier this week and tabled in parliament on Wednesday, saying it was "burdensome" and "anti-development". But Rural Development Minister...

The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government on Wednesday introduced the politically crucial land acquisition Bill in the Lok Sabha, less than two months after the ministry of rural development began drafting it. The National Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation & Resettlement Bill, 2011, aims to address rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) by providing safeguards for both landowners and livelihood losers while clearly defining the “public purpose” for which land can be acquired...