While Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi is on Bharat Bhraman assuring Dalits, tribals and other unprivileged their share in growth, rural development minister Jairam Ramesh has tasked himself with ensuring party scion’s mark in the government policy. Livelihood compensation for displaced landless on a par with landowners, share in the price appreciation of land with the project, acquisition in strict accordance with the tribal and forest dwellers acts are the...

The UPA government has decided to consult all the Chief Ministers, political parties and other stakeholders after posting on the web the draft Land Acquisition and rehabilitation and resettlement Bill by Saturday. Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh told journalists he would be sending a copy of the draft legislation to all the Chief Ministers and seek their comments. He will also be conferring with some of them personally. Mr. Ramesh...

-The Hindu   Amid growing protests over Land Acquisition, the government on Wednesday indicated that it could re-visit the subject of land ceiling of 5,000 hectare for the special economic zones (SEZs) and the matter could be taken up by the Group of Ministers (GoM) headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee for policy changes. “Land issues are critical and I think the minimum size is something that needs to be looked at...

-The Telegraph   The government plans to revisit the minimum space criterion for special economic zones as developers are facing problems in acquiring land. “Land issues are critical... I think the minimum size is something that needs to be looked at again definitely. You are not going to find 5,000 (hectares) of land area, it is a pipe dream. It’s not going to happen... I think that’s something we need to talk...

-The Economic Times   In a move aimed at getting theTrinamool Congress on board, the Centre's draft Land Acquisition and rehabilitation bill has suggested giving states the leeway to decide on who acquires the land. At the same time, in an effort to strengthen its aam aadmi quotient, the Congress-led UPA government's draft states that irrespective of who acquires the land, affected persons of all acquisitions of 100 acres or more...