NDA MPs objects the presence of Medha Patkar and Actor Prakash Raj

Parliamentary committee members on the other day opposed the presence of activist Medha Patkar and actor Prakash Raj during a meeting held to discuss issues related to fair compensation and transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.

The meeting was later called off after 11 MPs, majority of them from National Democratic Alliance staged a walked out after objecting the presence of Patkar and Raj citing that they had not been informed of their presence. The next meeting is expected to be held on July 14.

The committee, headed by Congress MP Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka from Odisha’s Koraput, has 29 members, including former prime minister HD Deve Gowda, who was present on Tuesday.

The person cited above said some of the NDA members objected the presence of Medha Patkar in particular, given her role in the Narmada Bachao campaign. “They felt that she was responsible for trying to block the Narmada project which would have left one-third of Gujarat parched and drought affected…” the person said.

The Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 regulates land acquisition and lays down the procedure and rules for granting compensation, rehabilitation and resettlement to the persons affected by the acquisition. The Act has various provisions to provide fair compensation to those whose land is taken away and assures rehabilitation of affected people.

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