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Industry chamber FICCI has supported the government’s amendments to the Land Acquisition Act, while RSS-affiliate Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM) criticised it while deposing before the Joint Parliamentary panel on the Bill here on Tuesday.
The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce (FICCI) supported exclusion of the social impact assessment for important projects and demanded that the list be expanded to include projects under ‘Make In India’. The chamber suggested that a social impact assessment must be done before the beginning of a project.
The industry representatives also demanded that direct land acquisition by private parties should be excluded from the proposed Rehabilitation and Resettlement packages in the Bill.
FICCI also objected to the clause of compulsory employment to one member of the affected family. It also demanded that land acquired for private educational and medical projects should be given the same status as that of a public project, and welcomed the definition of ‘private entity’ in the new Bill.
On industrial corridors, FICCI said the government should provide more clarity on the projects. “They largely preferred direct purchase of land. But said the government should provide the land records at the earliest to the investor,” a member in the panel said.
The Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM) accused the government of working for big business, adding that the Bill contained several “detestable and unacceptable” sections. SJM national convenor Ashwani Mahajan said the consent of farmers is a must before land acquisition and the government should do a comprehensive social and environmental impact assessment prior to land acquisition.
“RSS-affiliated organisations gave the best defence to the 2013 Bill,” a Congress member in the panel said.
The SJM said that social impact assessments are part of international norms.
“Why should the same not be followed by the government of India in public-private partnership infrastructure projects? This well-established practice has been violated in the new ordinance, which is against natural justice for those affected by the proposed land acquisition,” the organisation said.
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