-The Telegraph New Delhi: NDA-ruled states cannot "wait indefinitely for consensus" on amendments to the Centre's land bill and want to pass their own laws for smooth acquisitions, finance minister Arun Jaitley said today. Some lawyers said while many states have framed amended rules in the past, these were at variance but not in "complete contradiction" to the central land law. Jaitley was speaking after a meeting of the governing council of the...

-Business Standard This could help bypass central legislation and break the land Bill deadlock Ten big states, most of those ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its alliance partners, on Wednesday sought to unshackle themselves from the logjam over amendments to the contentious land acquisition Bill, 2013, by proposing to bring their own laws for boosting infrastructure development. At a NITI Aayog meeting to discuss the land Bill (the Right to...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: In an attempt to placate the belligerent opposition over the contentious land bill, the government is weighing the option of incorporating new provisions to protect agricultural land. According to indications, the changes could include largely exempting acquisition of irrigated multi-cropped land for developing industrial corridors or industrial hubs, building dams etc. Sources said the government is in favour of acquisition of such land only in 'extreme conditions'...

-The Indian Express   Socio-economic census data provides valuable pointers — and reality checks — for policymakers    The socio-economic and caste census (SECC) 2011 paints a picture of rural India weighed down by landlessness and lack of non-farm jobs. More than 60 per cent of the 17.91 crore rural households covered under the census qualified as deprived on 14 parameters. This is a set of people who do not own a two-wheeler...

-The Hindu ‘The options will allow both sides to claim victory’ Following directions from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), “thinking heads” in the Modi government have begun to formulate a strategy for breaking the impasse in the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) over the controversial Land Acquisition Bill. Options are being discussed to find a meeting ground for the government and the Opposition parties on three contentious provisions of the Bill — the consent...