-The Indian Express The NDA government's Ordinance to amend the land acquisition Act does not merely expand the list of projects that would be exempted from requirements of consent and Social Impact Assessment but also quietly makes other provisions in the law less stringent. It dilutes the requirement that unused acquired land be returned to the original owners, makes it tougher to prosecute defaulting civil servants, reduces the scope of the...

-The Hindu When the National Democratic Alliance government amended the land acquisition Act through an Ordinance last week, it promised to set farmers and industry on an amiable path to mutual benefits and development. Land acquisition under the 1894 Act had been marked by violent protests, even police firings at farmers. The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (LARR) Act, 2013, is the first law on...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: Rural development minister Birender Singh today said he could not be traced on Wednesday when President Pranab Mukherjee asked the government to clarify the need for an Ordinance to amend the land acquisition law, explaining why it was left to other ministers to justify an Ordinance brought by his ministry. The minister ruled out speculation that he was unhappy with the amendments being made to the Right to...

-The Hindu When a law is enacted after considerable debate and consultation, it will be wise to study the experience of its implementation for some time before it is amended, in order to address perceived difficulties. Any such amendment within the first year of its entry into force, especially one pushed through as an Ordinance, will be inevitably perceived as hasty, even if on the positive side it is meant...

-The Indian Express The first nine months of the new BJP government has only underscored its anti-poor, anti-rural image. The substantive and substantial changes in rural development have been restrictive in nature. The new government has worked to undermine the legal and financial framework of MGNREGA, substantially weakened the provisions of the land acquisition act through an Ordinance and, through year-end budget cuts, they have undermined almost every social sector programme, reportedly...