After Parliament recently passed the Land Acquisition, Rehabili-tation and Resettlement Bill, rural development minister Jairam Rame-sh said if implemented well, the new law would also defeat Maoist insurgency in India.
The minister claimed that public sector undertakings had grossly exploited the old 1894 law to acquire land by displacing tribals in large numbers, saying this in a way had helped Naxal influence to grow. Mr Ramesh singled out NTPC in particular in this regard. Mr Ramesh said the new law, that will be notified in three months’ time, would also help defeat Naxalism as there could not be any more forcible acquisition of land.