Union rural development minister Jairam Ramesh on Saturday assured chief minister Mamata Banerjee that the Centre would not ignore her concerns about land acquisition and rehabilitation of people who lose land.
In a late evening meeting in the city, which took place a day after the Union government made public the draft of the land acquisition bill, which the government is keen to table in the coming session of Parliament, Mr Ramesh tried to take Ms Banerjee onboard.
According to sources, he flew to the city on the instruction of Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
After the meeting, Mr Ramesh said, “We had a discussion on the details of the draft bill with Ms Banerjee. Her concerns have been taken into account. Although she could not go through the entire draft she has assured me that she would send her comments to me once she reads it thoroughly. She appeared to be happy with the approach of the bill and the compensation package offered in it.”
Reiterating her known stand, Ms Banerjee made it clear to Mr Ramesh that she would never agree to any law which left any room for coercive acquisition of land. She told him that the state government should have no role in land acquisition for private players.