'Land Acquisition Bill not passed due to flaws'

New Delhi: Rahul Gandhi may be keen on finalising the Land Acquisition Bill before the UP Assembly polls, but the government failed to get it passed in the winter session due to "several flaws" in the proposed legislation prepared by Rural Development Ministry in a "hurried fashion".

A delayed Standing Committee report added to government's failure in getting the Bill passed in this session, sources said.

They said a section of MPs in the Standing Committee examining the Bill feel that the report could have been submitted in the Winter session had the Centre formulated it after taking views of all the states.

"The government had not completed the process of consultations with all states. They prepared it in a hurried fashion. Now, the standing committee is in the process of taking views of the state governments. It is a time consuming process," a source said explaining the reasons why the report on the landmark legislation could not be tabled in the just concluded session.

"There are many flaws in the bill. It seems to be prepared in a hurried manner," he said without elaborating.

However, a Rural Development Ministry official said states were given "enough time" to present their views before finalising the bill. "The states which did not respond at that point of time are now responding to the Standing Committee".

The panel chaired by BJP MP Sumitra Mahajan is expected to meet twice next month to examine the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill 2011, prepared just 55 days after Jairam Ramesh assuming charge as the Rural Development Minister.

Sources said the bill introduced in the Lok Sabha during monsoon session of Parliament will be finalised before the budget session this year.

The bill was prepared drawing lessons from Rahul's agitation against land acquisition in Uttar Pradesh where the Mayawati government had used force to acquire village land.

Before commencing the Winter Session, Ramesh had reached out to BJP leaders Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley with a request that their party leader Mahajan should expedite the standing committee report, eager to get it passed before the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.