AAP protests land acquisition ordinance

Gurgaon, Jan 8 (IANS) The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Thursday protested here the central government ordinance amending the Land Acquisition Act of 2013.

The protest was held near the office of Deputy Commissioner (DC) at mini-secretariat and was led by senior AAP leader Yogendra Yadav.

The protest was joined by some farmers from nearby areas.

Later, a memorandum regarding the ordinance amending the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi was handed over to the deputy commissioner.

"We are shocked that the government of India has drastically amended the RFCTLARR by ordinance without even a modicum of debate, thus setting the clock back to the British colonial era by allowing land to be taken away from farmers and adivasis without any process of obtaining consent or even an assessment of who exactly is getting impacted by the land acquisition and to what extent," the AAP said in its memorandum.

The party said, "We strongly opposes the amendments made to the act and demand that the government immediately withdraw the ordinance, and bring any proposed amendments to the floor of parliament for a full debate."