PRESS INVITE

5^th June 2015, 4:00pm

Indian Women’s Press Corp (IWPC), 5, Windsor place, Ashoka Road, Delhi

Deadline must be extended to submit comments on “The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Second Amendment Bill, 2015)”

The Joint Parliamentary Committee constituted to make recommendations regarding “The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Second Amendment Bill, 2015)”, has given only a two week notice to make submissions, which we feel is extremely insufficient for many groups and mass organisations to detail threadbare and bring out their comments.

The Land Ordinance has been fiercely opposed and debated in past three months across the country. After consistent pressure and opposition, the NDA government has referred this to the Joint Parliamentary Committee consisting of members of both the houses. The current deadline of June 8^th is grossly insufficient to carry out any meaningful exercise in reaching out to the farmers and workers of this country who have come together across affiliations as ‘Bhumi Adhikar Andolan’ to collectively oppose the Land Ordinance which threatens the livelihood of the majority of Indian citizens.

We feel that it is an urgent priority to hold wider consultations, public meetings and public hearings to discuss the current draft in rural areas, especially where local communities have been affected by past or present experiences of land acquisition, rehabilitation and resettlement. From Kalinga Nagar, Dhinkia and Bolangir to Narmada, Sompeta, Raigarh, Nilgiris, Madurai, Mundra, Kanhar, Bhatta Parsaul, Jashpur, Dholera, and many others, people resisting illegal land acquisitions will welcome such a move of the Committee and democratic spirit of engagement.

We understand that the Committee wants to complete its deliberations at the earliest; however, a matter of this importance can’t be dealt away with in a hurry. We believe that the 2013 Act, amended after 114 years, and having vetted by two Parliamentary Standing Committees and debated over seven years inside and outside the Parliament should be given more time for deliberation.

Few representatives from the Bhumi Adhikar Andolan will be holding a press conference on 5^th of June 2015 at 4:00pm at IWPC to address the media regarding their concerns. The PC will be addressed by Hannan Mollah (All India Kisan Sabha, Canning Lane), Roma (All India Union of Forest Working People), Bhupinder Singh Rawat (NAPM) and others.

We demand that the Committee give due recognition to our concerns and extend the deadline for submissions until wider public consultations and hearings in affected areas take place, as has been done on previous occasions by the other Committees.

Hannan Mollah, Medha Patkar, Dr. Sunilam, Roma, Sanjeev, Shweta

On Behalf of:

Bhumi Adhikar Andolan

For further details please contact: Sanjeev (9958797409), Krishna Prasad (9560120964) and Shweta (9911528696)

With regards,

Shabnam