New Delhi: Speculation mounted on Saturday that the BJP government was planning to tweak the Land Acquisition Ordinance to accommodate the concerns of farmers two days ahead of the beginning of the Budget Session of Parliament.
Speculation about the possible move by the government came after members of a farmers’ delegation met senior ministers Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj and Birender Singh, among others.
The government has been facing flak from both the Opposition parties and farmer outfits for the changes it brought to the Land Acquisition Act, 2013. However, the government had earlier indicated that it might not make any changes to the ordinance that it brought in December last year.
While the ministers refrained from speaking to the media, farmer leaders Yudhvir Singh of Bharatiya Kisan Union, Krishan Bir Chaudhary of Bhartiya Krishak Samaj and Punit Singh Thind of Rashtriya Kisan Sangathan told reporters they are confident that the BJP government will listen to their grievances and make suitable changes in the law.
“We (farmer groups) were assured by ministers that the government will take into account our concerns. We have told them that the ordinance was brought in haste and interests of farmers were ignored. Ministers heard us patiently. From our talks today, we are confident that our voice will be heard. The ministers said the voice of farmers should have been heard,” BKU general secretary Yudhvir Singh said.
Farmer leaders said their main concerns include doing away with the consent clause and social impact survey in the land acquisition process. There was no official word from the government on the speculation about tweaking the land ordinance.
Opposition parties like the Congress have announced protests against the land ordinance and almost all non-NDA parties have said they will oppose it.
