The Aam Aadmi Party on Sunday demanded the Centre to come clean on whether its recent ordinance on land acquisition would render those living in unauthorised Delhi colonies homeless.
Addressing villagers at the second and final phase of the party’s Village Dialogue initiative at Chattarpur, AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal said several changes made in the 2013 law were particularly “detrimental to the interests of poor people of Delhi”.
“It removes the clause related to return of land to the owner in case the purpose for which it was acquired is not completed within five years. Does it mean that colonies which have come up on the land owned by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and not been regularised will go back to government agencies?” he asked.
Blaming the “wrong policies of successive previous governments” not regularising these colonies, Mr. Kejriwal asked the Central Government and the Delhi administration to clarify the status of ownership of land of unauthorised colonies following the changes.
The former Delhi Chief Minister also alleged that the Ordinance brought by the Narendra Modi Government to amend the Land Acquisition Act was against the interests of farmers and would adversely affect the rural population of Delhi.
“Another clause which has been removed is that which made it mandatory to seek a consent of around 70 per cent land owners of the area. The new ordinance states that no consent will be required for acquisition in five particular categories,” said Mr. Kejriwal.
He added that the ambit of these categories was so wide that government could now acquire land for private companies without caring for farmers.
“AAP is of the clear view that land owned by farmers can only be acquired by the government, if they are in favour of it. Forcible acquisition cannot be allowed,” he said.
