Fear was instilled about land Bill among farmers, says Modi

Girja Shankar Kaura

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 30

In a decision that is being seen as an attempt by the BJP to counter a united opposition in the crucial Bihar Assembly elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said the government would not re-promulgate the controversial land ordinance, set to expire tomorrow. 

The Prime Minister said the government would instead include 13 points in the land acquisition Bill to provide direct financial benefits to the farmers. The NDA government had repeatedly failed to get the Bill passed in Parliament due to stiff resistance from the Opposition, particularly in the Rajya Sabha.

“We had brought in an ordinance (on land acquisition) which is lapsing on August 31, and I have decided to let it lapse. It would mean restoration of the situation that prevailed before my government took over,” the Prime Minister said in his monthly radio programme ‘Mann ki Baat’.

Referring probably to his political opponents, he said lots of doubts had been created over the Bill and fear instilled among the farmers, which was confusing them even though states had suggested amendments to the Act of 2013 for the benefit of villagers. Modi said the government would ensure that farmers did not suffer due to the lapsing of the Bill. “Thirteen points will be added to the Bill today to amend it, which will allay their apprehensions,” he said.

The government’s move drew strong reactions from rival parties with the CPM saying the “Prime Minister had made a mockery of governance by promulgating the ordinance thrice and now letting it lapse”. Party leader Sitaram Yechury alleged that in the government it seemed the left hand did not know what the right hand was doing. 

Bharatruhary Mahtab of the BJD said, “Better sense has prevailed in the government... but with this, the amendments proposed to provide jobs to the farmhands have also gone”. In his 20-minute radio address, the Prime Minister also remembered the martyrs of the 1965 India-Pakistan war. “For us, ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan’ is not a mere slogan but a mantra for the welfare of villages, farmers and the poor," he said. Modi said the Jan Dhan Yojana was a huge success as 17.74 lakh bank accounts had been opened under the scheme.  He said over Rs 22,000 crore had been deposited in banks under the scheme.

In his first reaction on the recent Gujarat violence over the quota issue, the Prime Minister said the incidents, which claimed at least 10 lives, had upset the entire nation. “Whatever happens to the land of Gandhi and Sardar Patel, the nation is shocked and pained first,” he said, appreciating the people of Gujarat for controlling the situation. 

Observing that interviews were possibly the reason for corruption at lower levels, he said the government was working to end requirement of interview at certain levels of government jobs.