THE OPPOSITION parties are trying to corner the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government on the issues of price rise, inflation, land acquisition and Lokpal in the ongoing monsoon session of the parliament. Senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha was the first to move the motion under 184 on the issue of inflation and price rise followed by various MPs from other parties who came up with various data and sought an answer from the government as to what the government was doing to curb the price rise which has been affecting the middle class.

There was some serious concern shown by the members in the house who wanted to know the mechanism adopted by the government of India for fixing the prices of petroleum products and how the government can give some respite to the middle class, which is finding it difficult to make both ends meet. 

During the question hour on Thursday, Janta Dal United leader Sharad Yadav, while making his comments on the newly drafted ‘Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation & Resettlement Bill 2011’, said some 23 lakh hectare fertile land had been acquired recently under the present land acquisition act of 1894, and there were SEZ, which were given this fertile land. He told the House that there was nothing happening in these SEZ and so the government should consider taking the land back which was allotted at a time for certain purpose.

Sharad Yadav also wanted to know what steps the government has taken so far for protecting the fertile land and interests of the farmers and land owners.

While replying to Sharad Yadav, minister for rural development Jairam Ramesh said that infrastructure across the country must be expanded rapidly. Industrialisation and urbanisation was inevitable. “Land is an essential requirement for all these processes. The government also needs to acquire land for a variety of public purposes. In every case, land acquisition must take place in a manner that fully protects the interests of land-owners and also of those whose livelihoods depend on the land being acquired. Under our Constitution, land is a State subject but land acquisition is a Concurrent subject. So far, the basic law governing the land acquisition process has been the Land Acquisition Act, 1894. Although it has been amended from time to time, it is painfully evident that the basic law has become archaic, and while the government is looking into all the aspects of land acquisition, to protect the interest of farmers and land owners will be the top priority of the government,” said Ramesh.

He also told Yadav that there was a thought of putting a blanket ban on the land which produces multi-crops but then he got some reservations from the state of Punjab, Haryana, West Bengal etc. So the government can’t put a sealing on land acquisition that include even multi-crop land if it had to be acquire for some big project then the government would look into all the aspects before jumping to any conclusion, assured Jairam Ramesh.

Secondly, Janta Dal United leader and national president Sharad Yadav wanted the benefit of subsidy given in the diesel to be given to farmers and small peasants only who as per the statistics presented by the Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, were consuming some 12 per cent of the total diesel that the nation had to import.

Sharad Yadav said to the Finance minister that there was no need to give subsidy to mobile tower companies and to those who were moving in big luxury cars. Those who can afford big cars can also afford to pay more for the diesel. The government must think about the poor farmer and subsequently the subsidy can be further given to these farmers which would benefit lakhs of farmers economically.