The much-talked about Land Acquisition Bill, which provides for enhanced compensation to land owners and other benefits, was Monday approved by the Union Cabinet notwithstanding reservations from some senior ministers on some aspects.
The Land Acquisition, Relief and Rehabilitation Bill, 2011, which was fast-tracked in the backdrop of a number of agitations in parts of the country, will be introduced in Parliament on Wednesday, Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh said after the Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Various aspects of the bill, said to be the brainchild of Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi, came in for extensive discussion that lasted over 90 minutes.
It is learnt that former chief ministers in the Union Cabinet including Veerappa Moily, Vilasrao Deshmukh, Virbhadra Singh had strong views on certain aspects of the Bill and favoured that the same may be ironed out in the standing committee.
One of the concerns of a former chief minister reportedly was that the measure could result in shooting up of land prices across the country.
The Bill is believed to have a proposal for compensation four times higher than market rate to the owners.
It also proposes government help for acquisition of 20 per cent of the land for a private project in case the firm acquires 80 per cent of the land needed for a project.
The bill proposals include a subsistence allowance of Rs 3,000 per family per month for a year and an annuity of Rs 2,000 per family per month for 20 years.
