Updated
New Delhi, May 30 (PTI): Even as his Cabinet decided today to promulgate the Land Acquisition Ordinance for the third time, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that the legislation is not "a matter of life or death for me" and that he was prepared to accept any suggestions.
"This is not a matter of life or death for me. And neither was it the agenda of my party or the government," he said in an interview carried by The Tribune newspaper.
In a separate interview, Modi responded strongly to Rahul Gandhi's jibe that the government was "suit boot ki sarkar".
"Suit boot is definitely more acceptable than suitcase. After ruling for 60 years, the Congress has suddenly remembered the poor. People of this country have suffered and remained poor due to shortsighted policies of the Congress," he told ANI.
Hitting out at Congress, Modi said, "Did the coal and spectrum scandals or the CWG fiasco benefit the poor? Everyone knows who were the beneficiaries -- some chosen industrialists and contractors."
The Prime Minister also spoke about the controversy surrounding the 'One-Rank, One-Pension' (OROP) for ex-servicemen and told the newspaper, "We are committed to OROP, but we are in consultation with defence personnel regarding the definition of OROP.
"Our government is here for five years and we cannot do anything without consulting the people concerned. The dialogue is being actively pursued. There is no need to have any doubt on this."
Earlier Report
Land ordinance to be re-promulgated again
New Delhi, May 30 (PTI): The Union Cabinet today recommended re-promulgation of the controversial Land Acquisition Ordinance.
The land ordinance will be issued for the third time.
The Ordinance was promulgated for the first time in December last year to amend the 2013 Act. Despite being passed in Lok Sabha, the government did not take it to Rajya Sabha as it lacked numbers there.
The Ordinance was re-promulgated in March this year and will lapse on June 4. The recommendation of the Union Cabinet will be sent to President Pranab Mukherjee for its approval.
The government, which had promulgated the ordinance twice on the bill since December after it faced continuous resistance especially in Rajya Sabha, where it does not have the numbers, had agreed to refer it to the committee, during the recently concluded Parliament session.
The first meeting of joint Committee of Parliament on the contentious land bill yesterday saw a number of Opposition members raising questions over the rationale of the government changing provisions of the 2013 land law.
Expressing dissatisfaction over the government's arguments in favour of the bill, the members had demanded a "composite" inter-ministerial reply on the issue.
At the meeting, the Rural Development Ministry and Legislative department in the Law Ministry had made a presentation to members on the amendments made to the The Right To Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.
As the officials of the two ministries explained the amendments, members from the Opposition parties including Congress, BJD, TMC and the Left had raised questions over the rationale of doing away with the consent clause while acquiring land.
While the 2013 law required that the consent of 80 per cent of land owners was obtained for private projects and that the consent of 70 per cent of land owners be obtained for PPP projects, the present bill exempts the five categories from this provision of the Act.
These categories include defence, rural infrastructure, affordable housing, industrial corridors and infrastructure projects including public private partnership (PPP) projects where the government owns the land.
The 2013 Act also required that a social impact assessment be conducted to identify affected families and calculate the social impact when land is acquired. This provision has been done away with.