Modi government warned of "stiff resistance" in case it moves to liberalize new land acquisition law

By A Representative
Around 30 mass organizations, attached with the National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM), have strongly protested against the Government of India (GoI) move to bring about changes in the new land acquisition Act, saying any move in that direction will be met with “stiff resistance.” Asking the GoI to ensure its “strict implementation”, the NAPM, which is led by Narmada Bachao Andolan’s (NBA’s) Medha Patkar, said, “The news that two of the key provisions of the Act, consent and social impact assessment (SIA), are to be amended is completely unacceptable.”
“It may well be recalled that the new Act was framed in the wake of protests across the nation at places like Nandigram, Singur, Kalinganagar, Kakrapalli, and Bhatta Parsaul, where many people died”, the statement said, even as recalling anti-special economic zone (SEZ) protests in Raigarh, Jhajhar and other places for repeal of old land acquisition law, which was a “colonial remnant.” It added, the new Act was passed as a mark of “people's participation”, with strong provisions related with “livelihood-based resettlement and rehabilitation (R&R).”
“Provisions of consent and SIA were introduced to do away with the anomalies in the colonial Act, since farmers and those dependent on the land would never be consulted or made participants in the process of development planning”, the NAPM said, adding, “Huge tracts of fertile land used to be acquired at throw away prices and given to private and public corporations in the name of public purpose and industrialization. Stiff opposition to this type of land grab led to cancellation of numerous SEZs and other projects.”
The NAPM insisted, “The Ministry of Rural Development should work on implementing the Act by drafting rules for its implementation and get states to do the same. It is shocking that most of the states are demanding an amendment, and have not bothered to frame rules for the new Act.” As of now, Karnataka and Maharashtra are the only two states that have framed draft rules for new Act.
Saying that it will be “a retrograde step if we go to back to the colonial process of forced land acquisition”, the NAPM insisted, “If any amendment has to be made to the Act, it needs to be made more stringent.”
If it all, the NAPM said, changes should be made to strengthen the provisions related with “consent for the public purpose projects” by making it mandatory for “government projects too.” Then, the definition of public purpose should be clarified, as infrastructure “does not equal development”. “We have seen how Reliance has been creating infrastructure for nation -- it works for profit alone and in the process loots the citizens and arm-twists the government, prime example being Delhi and Mumbai Metro and KG Basin Gas projects”, NAPM said.
Then, SIA should be mandatory “for irrigation projects as well, given the huge displacement in the case of the Sardar Sarovar dam, where the sword of displacement is hanging on 2.5 lakh people even after three decades”, the NAPM said, adding, “There is also an urgent need to establish a National resettlement and Rehabilitation Commission to deal with the grievances of 10 crore people who have sacrificed their land and livelihood in the process of development.”
Apart from NBA others who signed the statement included Odisha’s Lok Shakti Abhiyan and Niyamgiri Suraksha Parishad, Madhya Pradesh’s Kisan Sangharsh Samiti, Chhattisgarh’s Nadi Ghati Morcha, Tamil Nadu’s Uorganised Sector Workers Federation, Delhi’s Jan Sangharsh Vahini,Uttar Pradesh’s Upbhokta Samiti, Uttarakhand’s Matu Jan Sangathan, Jharkhand’s Ghatwar Adivasi Mahasabha, Gujarat’s Paryavaran Suraksh Samiti, Bihar’s Jan Jagran Shakti Sangathan, and NAPM branches of large number of states.

Comments

Gujarat Information Commission issues warning against misinterpretation of RTI orders

By A Representative The Gujarat Information Commission (GIC) has issued a press note clarifying that its orders limiting the number of Right to Information (RTI) applications for certain individuals apply only to those specific applicants. The GIC has warned that it will take disciplinary action against any public officials who misinterpret these orders to deny information to other citizens. The press note, signed by GIC Secretary Jaideep Dwivedi, states that the Right to Information Act, 2005, is a powerful tool for promoting transparency and accountability in public administration. However, the commission has observed that some applicants are misusing the act by filing an excessive number of applications, which disproportionately consumes the time and resources of Public Information Officers (PIOs), First Appellate Authorities (FAAs), and the commission itself. This misuse can cause delays for genuine applicants seeking justice. In response to this issue, and in acc...

'MGNREGA crisis deepening': NSM demands fair wages and end to digital exclusions

By A Representative The NREGA Sangharsh Morcha (NSM), a coalition of independent unions of MGNREGA workers, has warned that the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is facing a “severe crisis” due to persistent neglect and restrictive measures imposed by the Union Government.

A comrade in culture and controversy: Yao Wenyuan’s revolutionary legacy

By Harsh Thakor* This year marks two important anniversaries in Chinese revolutionary history—the 20th death anniversary of Yao Wenyuan, and the 50th anniversary of his seminal essay "On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique". These milestones invite reflection on the man whose pen ignited the first sparks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and whose sharp ideological interventions left an indelible imprint on the political and cultural landscape of socialist China.

Gandhiji quoted as saying his anti-untouchability view has little space for inter-dining with "lower" castes

By A Representative A senior activist close to Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) leader Medha Patkar has defended top Booker prize winning novelist Arundhati Roy’s controversial utterance on Gandhiji that “his doctrine of nonviolence was based on an acceptance of the most brutal social hierarchy the world has ever known, the caste system.” Surprised at the police seeking video footage and transcript of Roy’s Mahatma Ayyankali memorial lecture at the Kerala University on July 17, Nandini K Oza in a recent blog quotes from available sources to “prove” that Gandhiji indeed believed in “removal of untouchability within the caste system.”

Targeted eviction of Bengali-speaking Muslims across Assam districts alleged

By A Representative A delegation led by prominent academic and civil rights leader Sandeep Pandey visited three districts in Assam—Goalpara, Dhubri, and Lakhimpur—between 2 and 4 September 2025 to meet families affected by recent demolitions and evictions. The delegation reported widespread displacement of Bengali-speaking Muslim communities, many of whom possess valid citizenship documents including Aadhaar, voter ID, ration cards, PAN cards, and NRC certification.

Subject to geological upheaval, the time to listen to the Himalayas has already passed

By Rajkumar Sinha* The people of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, who have somehow survived the onslaught of reckless development so far, are crying out in despair that within the next ten to fifteen years their very existence will vanish. If one carefully follows the news coming from these two Himalayan states these days, this painful cry does not appear exaggerated. How did these prosperous and peaceful states reach such a tragic condition? What feats of our policymakers and politicians pushed these states to the brink of destruction?

India's health workers have no legal right for their protection, regrets NGO network

Counterview Desk In a letter to Union labour and employment minister Santosh Gangwar, the civil rights group Occupational and Environmental Health Network of India (OEHNI), writing against the backdrop of strike by Bhabha hospital heath care workers, has insisted that they should be given “clear legal right for their protection”.

Rally in Patna: Non-farmer bodies to highlight plight of agriculture in Eastern India ahead of march to Parliament

P Sainath By A Representative Ahead of the march to Parliament on November 29-30, 2018, organized by over 210 farmer and agricultural worker organisations of the country demanding a 21-day special session of Parliament to deliberate on remedial measures for safeguarding the interest of farm, farmers and agricultural workers, a mass rally been organized for November 23, Gandhi Sangrahalaya (Gandhi Museum), Gandhi Maidan, Patna. Say the organizers, the Eastern region merits special attention, because, while crisis of farmers and agricultural workers in Western, Southern and Northern India has received some attention in the media and central legislature, the plight of those in the Eastern region of the country (Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Eastern UP) has remained on the margins. To be addressed by P Sainath, founder of People’s Archive of Rural India (PARI), a statement issued ahead of the rally says, the Eastern India was the most prosperous regi...

'Centre criminally negligent': SKM demands national disaster declaration in flood-hit states

By A Representative The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) has urged the Centre to immediately declare the recent floods and landslides in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand, and Haryana as a national disaster, warning that the delay in doing so has deepened the suffering of the affected population.

Counterview

Search This Blog