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The Union Home Ministry is pushing the Communal Violence (Prevention, Control and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2005 for consideration and passing in the budget session of Parliament, even though it was summarily rejected by the National Advisory Council, which is currently drafting an entirely new law.
Expressing surprise, NAC sources told The Hindu that Chairperson Sonia Gandhi had communicated to the government that the Council was drafting a new Bill, and they had assumed that until it was ready, the government would not move ahead.
Asked about this, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Bansal said the list of government business identified for the session was the outcome of discussions with various Ministries. Pressed on the Communal Violence Bill, he said, “The government can come up with amendments — it is for the Ministry of Home Affairs to decide.”
The NAC Working Group on the Communal Violence Bill, soon after the Council meeting on July 14, 2010, placed on the NAC's website the “key elements” of what it wished the law to contain, and invited public comments, adding it would be ready by February 2011. The sources confirmed to The Hindu that at the next NAC meeting on February 26, the new Bill would be taken up for discussion.
The NAC felt that the government Bill would empower the State and Central Governments rather than ensure action and accountability on the part of public authorities. It wanted to widen the scope of the law to include sectarian violence, definitions of new crimes, a National Authority, national norms from rescue to restitution, compensation norms and provisions for victim-witness rights.
The Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill, 2011 and the Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011, both of which the NAC is in the process of critiquing, have been listed for introduction in the session, the sources said. The government wanted to bring in the Land Acquisition Bill in the winter session itself after Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi pushed for its early introduction, but the session itself got washed out.
Trinamool stand
The Trinamool Congress was not keen on having the Land Acquisition Bill introduced in the House until after the Assembly elections in West Bengal, scheduled for May, are over, as it is opposed to the 70:30 formula — that 70 per cent of land should be acquired by private industry and 30 per cent by government. The TMC wants the private sector to acquire all 100 per cent for any project.
The TMC, which opposed land acquisition in Singur and Nandigram in West Bengal, does not want to be seen as accepting a dilution of the position it had taken.
However, the Congress and the TMC, it is learnt, have come to an understanding — the Bill will be introduced towards the end of the session so that it comes up for consideration only in the monsoon session.
Expressing surprise, NAC sources told The Hindu that Chairperson Sonia Gandhi had communicated to the government that the Council was drafting a new Bill, and they had assumed that until it was ready, the government would not move ahead.
Asked about this, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Bansal said the list of government business identified for the session was the outcome of discussions with various Ministries. Pressed on the Communal Violence Bill, he said, “The government can come up with amendments — it is for the Ministry of Home Affairs to decide.”
The NAC Working Group on the Communal Violence Bill, soon after the Council meeting on July 14, 2010, placed on the NAC's website the “key elements” of what it wished the law to contain, and invited public comments, adding it would be ready by February 2011. The sources confirmed to The Hindu that at the next NAC meeting on February 26, the new Bill would be taken up for discussion.
The NAC felt that the government Bill would empower the State and Central Governments rather than ensure action and accountability on the part of public authorities. It wanted to widen the scope of the law to include sectarian violence, definitions of new crimes, a National Authority, national norms from rescue to restitution, compensation norms and provisions for victim-witness rights.
The Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill, 2011 and the Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011, both of which the NAC is in the process of critiquing, have been listed for introduction in the session, the sources said. The government wanted to bring in the Land Acquisition Bill in the winter session itself after Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi pushed for its early introduction, but the session itself got washed out.
Trinamool stand
The Trinamool Congress was not keen on having the Land Acquisition Bill introduced in the House until after the Assembly elections in West Bengal, scheduled for May, are over, as it is opposed to the 70:30 formula — that 70 per cent of land should be acquired by private industry and 30 per cent by government. The TMC wants the private sector to acquire all 100 per cent for any project.
The TMC, which opposed land acquisition in Singur and Nandigram in West Bengal, does not want to be seen as accepting a dilution of the position it had taken.
However, the Congress and the TMC, it is learnt, have come to an understanding — the Bill will be introduced towards the end of the session so that it comes up for consideration only in the monsoon session.