By IANS,
New Delhi : Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi Thursday pressed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to introduce a draft land acquisition bill in parliament in the monsoon session and get it passed in the winter session, a statement said.
Rahul Gandhi, leading a group of 16 Congress MPs, submitted a memorandum to the prime minister here in which they made the demand.
The memorandum noted that the rural development ministry had circulated a draft Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill for public debate as well as for inter-ministerial consultations.
“We welcome this bill and believe it is in keeping with the interests of the people of India and the priorities and policies of the Congress party.
“We understand that this bill has received broad support from across a wide cross-section of society. We urge that this bill be introduced in this monsoon session of parliament itself,” it said.
The memorandum also noted that after the bill is introduced, it will, of course, be referred to the standing committee at which time there will be more opportunities for the public to send in their comments and suggestions.
“We urge that the government take steps to ensure that the bill may be brought for debate and passage in the winter session of parliament,” it added.
The memorandum has been signed by MPs Arun Yadav, Bhakta Charan Das, Pradeep Majhi, Thokchom Meinya, Harish Choudhary, Sachin Pilot, Uday Pratap Singh, Deepender Hooda, Vikrambhai Madam, Raghuvir Singh Meena, P.T. Thomas, Ravneer Singh Bittu, R. Dhruvanarayana, Raj Babber, and Anantha Vekatarami Reddy, apart from Rahul Gandhi.