Mangaluru: The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Resettlement and Rehabilitation Amendment Ordinance 2015, a key bill of the Modi Govt. that was promulgated twice and is now with a the parliamentary select committee for a detailed examination in all its dimensions would become an Act in the coming Monson session hoped Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Prakash Javadekar.
The Union Minister was addressing scribes on Thursday here at the upscale restaurant Ocean Pearl as a part of the nationwide publicity blitzkrieg by senior ministers of the Modi Government’s first anniversary of assuming power at the centre.
Prakash Javadekar, kick started the press conference with a brief about the achievements of the NDA regime in the one year they have been in office. The biggest accomplishment, according to the minister was winning ‘the trust’ of the people.
The minister’s words were designed to address the perception that the opposition parties seemed to have generated among the people that the BJP is anti-farmer and pro-corporate, with Javadekar repeatedly using words like pro-poor. “ The poor in India, for the first time felt their dream of leading a decent life could be fulfilled by the Modi government. The demands of poor for job have been met by with the union government providing employment for many in a short span”, the minister said. “The government’s policies are pro-poor”, he added.
He said the unbanked has been banked. As many as 15 crore citizens opened bank accounts under the Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana. This kind of financial inclusion scheme was the first of its kind in the world, the minister affirmed. “Many queued up to open accounts and it is another tremendous achievement of the government. The poor after independence feel they are secure in the nation. Around 8 crore individuals have paid the contribution and premium for government’s pension and insurance schemes”.
Touching upon the land acquisition bill, a legislation on which the Govt. has been on the back foot due to a united and concerted opposition, Javadekar said the government was hopeful of converting the ordinance into an Act of Parliament during the Monson session. When asked whether the BJP has agreed to add the consent clause for acquisition of land from farmers in the five elements now exempted by the ordinance (Industrial corridors, Public Private Partnership, Rural Infrastructure, Affordable Housing, Defense), he specifically said “that was not the issue”.
However on the sidelines of the press conference, while the minister and the scribes were enjoying a sumptuous buffet, NewsKarnataka.com, again posed the question on consent by farmers. Javadekar said farmers were not demanding consent but better compensation and rehabilitation and did not commit his Govt. on including the clause, as suggested by the opposition. When it was pointed out to the minister, that since 1951, around 75 % of displaced persons have not been rehabilitated, he assured that that his Government would handle these issues with sensitivity and the people would be looked after.
To a question on the Yettinahole project, he said diverting excess water going to the sea enhances the health of the nature. “The negative perception on the project was generated by foreign funded agencies to thwart developmental activities in the country”. It would appear that The Environment Minister was on the same page as the state Govt. on this project.
