Hyderabad: Alleging that the NDA government is anti-farmer, Congress leader and former Union Minister Jairam Ramesh on Friday said his party would fight against the proposed land bill both within and outside the Parliament. "The reason why these amendments (to land acquisition act) are being pushed is because, the (Narendra) Modi government is basically anti-agriculture, anti-farmer. Our fight will be in Parliament and outside Parliament," he said.
Congress is opposed to the land bill primarily on five counts, he said. "One, no consent (of farmers) required. Two, no social impact assessment required. Three, no return of land after five years. Four, acquisition of land for industrial corridors one km on left and one km on right for private developers. Five, no retrospective clause to benefit farmers who have not taken compensation under the old Act. These are the five fundamental reasons why the Congress party is opposed to the amendments tooth and nail," he said.
Ramesh took exception to the government saying that it is ready to incorporate any useful changes in the proposed bill. "Government first issues ordinance. Then it carries out amendments. Then it gets bill passed in Lok Sabha. Then it hits the obstacle of Rajya Sabha. Then it says, we are ready to pass amendments. What sort of a democratic functioning is this?," he said.
"What are those changes? Are they prepared to bring consent back? Are they prepared to bring aside the five points I mentioned," Ramesh said. The former Union Minister, who was instrumental in drafting the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act passed last year, alleged that the NDA government has "betrayed" (new) Andhra Pradesh on giving special category status.
"If Mr Modi wants to give special category status, he can do so tomorrow. He does not have to call any Cabinet... All that is done. The question is, does he want to give special category status or not ? It is clear that the Modi government has no intention of giving special category status and all the promises Mr Modi made during election campaign in Tirupati and Visakhapatnam were false promises," he said.
Noting that the Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee has launched a one crore signature campaign in support of the demand for fulfilling the promises made to AP, Ramesh said Congress would continue its fight on the issue. "Yes. We are (committed to fulfil the promises made to AP during bifurcation). The Congress president has raised this issue in the Lok Sabha in her speech. She has spoken only once. That only speech she has made is on Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act," he said.
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