Union home minister P. Chidambaram on Thursday stated that the government intends to introduce the Land Acquisition Bill in the forthcoming Monsoon Session of Parliament. With the Parliament Session still two months away, the minister didn’t rule out the option of bringing in an ordinance.
The home minister said the law and order was “not in a happy situation” in Uttar Pradesh, with farmers protests continuing against the acquisition of land in several parts of the state.
While expressing distress on the lives being lost during the agitation, he also criticised Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati’s handling of protests. The minister, however, ruled out sending a Central team to assess the situation there in view of recent clashes in Bhatta Parsaul in Greater Noida where two farmers and as many policemen were killed. “We must have a new land acquisition law. Government has drafted a new act that has provisions for better compensation, rehabilitation and other measures. Consensus building took some time. Now we are at a point when there is a fair degree of certainty that there is a consensus on the law with some amendments,” he stated at the first meet of a group of ministers formed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for briefing media.