LUDHIANA:

Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting today said that the Food Security Bill and the Land Acquisition Bill were two landmark legislations which hardly had any parallels in the Indian history or the world. He said, it was for the first time in the history of the country that the poor will have the right to highly subsidised food and nobody will remain hungry anymore.

Addressing a series of meetings in Dakha assembly segment here today, Tewari pointed out, although the opposition parties had tried their best to scuttle these bills just for the partisan reason that the Congress will get the benefit, still the UPA government ensured that these laws were passed as these concerned over 81 crore Indians. “It is so shameful that for the petty partisan reasons the opposition parties tried to scuttle these bills”, he asserted while asking, otherwise who will like to oppose such a legislation that seeks to eliminate hunger from the country.

Referring to the Land Acquisition Bill, Tewari pointed out, there will not be any forcible land acquisition in the country. He said, wherever the land is needed for any private project the consent of 80 per cent people is mandatory. Besides, he said, land will be acquired at a price that would be four times of the prevailing market price in the rural areas and twice the market price in the urban areas. Not just that, those affected will get employment, rehabilitation and adequate compensation. “There cannot be a better law on land acquisition than this”, he remarked.

By:IANS