By India Tomorrow News,
New Delhi, 01 Jan 2014: Minister of Rural Development, Jairam Ramesh said that if the new Land Acquisition Act 2013 is implemented honestly, it will help curb the Maoist menace in states like Jharkhand, Odisha and Chattisgarh.
The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act 2013 has come into force on 1st January 2014 and the old Land Acquisition Act 1894 has been repealed and cannot be invoked in any other acquisition proceedings from this day forward.
According to Minister Ramesh, under the old Act of 1894, the tribals in these states were not given adequate compensation even after large scale displacements. It is said that the non-payment of adequate compensation by the government led to the Naxalite uprising in these regions.
The Minister also commented that the 13 other Central Acts under which land can be acquired have to be amended within one year to bring them at par with the Land Acquisition Act as far as compensation to the land losers are concerned.
