Rural development minister hits out at opposition over land bill

New Delhi, March 10 (IANS) Hitting out at the opposition, Rural Development Minister Birender Singh said here on Tuesday that certain parties opposing the land bill have been selective while espousing farmers' causes.

Amid uproar by opposition parties in the Lok Sabha, Birender Singh said: "You don't have courage to say the right things."

Singh, a former Congressman, said farmers' issues were important as far as Bhatta Parsaul was concerned. "But when farmers are being looted in Haryana then it doesn't matter. This can't go on."

"The party which has created the biggest ruckus over this amendment bill have ruled the country for nearly 50 years and during this time, the number of people dependent on agriculture has gone down from 70-80 percent to 60 percent," the minister said, replying to a nearly eight-hour debate on the Land Acquisition Bill.

"People who are speaking on behalf of farmers today have been in power for 50 years. In 1972, there was a demand to fix the lower land ceiling for farmers so that farming remains a viable vocation. This was not accepted," he said.

Birender Singh countered the Congress charge of having taken away the soul of the 2013 law, saying: "We have not taken away the soul of the legislation ... you have. We have put the soul back."