New Delhi, Feb 27: Prime Minister Narendra Modi riding against a tide of opposition on the land acquisition bill today assured the lok sabha that government was ready to make changes in the law if there is anything against farmers in it.
“There is a lot of discussion on the land acquisition issue. We knew you were hurrying passage of the bill for political gains, yet we stood with you, he told the opposition parties.”
The Prime Minister said that in an era of co-operative federalism, one could not stay arrogant. We have to listen to the chief ministers of the states, Modi said while replying to the motion of thanks to the President’s address to Parliament in the Lok Sabha.
Even as the opposition mounted a stiff opposition to the passage of the bill by the government’s move to amend Land Acquisition Act, Prime Minister Modi categorically stated there was no going back on the legislation.
The BJP was, at the same time, preparing for discussions with NDA partners to make the legislation more “effective” and “farmer-friendly”, he said according to reports from the lok sabha.
BJP president Amit Shah has also formed an eight-member committee to seek farmers’ suggestions on the Land Acquisition Bill.
It may be recalled that the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley also stoutly defended the government’s move to amend the land acquisition act and denied that it was anti farmer and loaded in favour of the corporate sector or the industry.
He had wanted the opposition not to mislead the people with their interpretation of the amended act as being pro industry and anti-farmer and said infrastructure and industry were not bad words. If the act made ease of doing business easier, it was also providing jobs to the farm sector along the line raising their economic prosperity.
