Laws dealing with land and property have led to a maximum number of constitutional amendments and litigation in the Supreme Court over the decades. Even after these, the law and its interpretation are hazy. Some of the Supreme Court’s judgments are awaiting reconsideration by larger Benches — one was in the files for nearly 15 years and another for six years. Successive chief justices have avoided opening the chamber of...

The rural development ministry has put out a draft of the proposed National Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation and Resettlement (LARR) bill for public comment. There is no doubt it is a big improvement on the 1894 colonial law that was long overdue for repeal; in particular, it is intended to be far more farmer-friendly. Yet, in several respects the Bill is patently inadequate, both in its objectives and the mechanics...

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The Seed Bill 2010 -- which stayed in controversy because its initial draft seemed to favour agri-business rather than the farmer -- is now ready to get debated and passed in the current session of Parliament. Despite consultations, first in a Parliamentary Standing Committee and later in an all party meeting, a large number of farmers’ unions, opposition parties and civil society groups believe that the Bill fails to protect...

-PTI   All major Agrarian states are facing shortage of farm labourers due to factors like implementation of NREGA and migration of labours to urban areas for better job prospects, Parliament was informed today. "All major agricultural producing states where rural employment generation programmes are being implemented are facing this problem (labour shortage)," Minister of State for Agriculture Harish Rawat said in a written reply to Lok Sabha. Factors such as implementation of Mahatma...