CM defends new land acquisition rates

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, AUG. 2.

Accusing the Centre and the Delhi BJP leaders of trying to create obstacles ``minute by minute'' in the process of raising land acquisition compensation rates, the Delhi Chief Minister, Ms. Sheila Dikshit, today announced notification of new increased rates with effect from April 1, 2001. The changes in the Stamp Duty Act had also been made effective from July 31, she added.

Addressing her first press conference after her bypass surgery, the Chief Minister showed no signs of strain during the meeting. Despite prompting by Ministers, MLAs and officials to wind up the proceedings, Ms. Dikshit carried on with the briefing.

Proving her critics wrong, she said her Government had fulfilled the promise made to farmers in the presence of the party president, Ms. Sonia Gandhi, during a Kisan Rally in the Capital on February 25. Sitting besides Ms. Dikshit were Cabinet colleagues, Mr. Mahinder Singh Saathi, and the Development Minister, Dr. Yoganand Shastri.

Stating that the Delhi Government was well within its rights to increase the land compensation rates, Ms. Dikshit said the low land acquisition rates had led to the mushrooming of unauthorised colonies and had strengthened the hands of the land mafia. Taking the Union Urban Development Minister, Mr. Jagmohan, to task for interfering in the affairs of the elected government, she said all this was being done with a political purpose. ``The Delhi Assembly had passed the hike during the Budget session. In fact, the Lieutenant-Governor, who is the representative of the Central Government, has given his approval for the hike. Then what is the need for Mr. Jagmohan to question our right to hike the land rates,'' she asked.

``We have not done anything illegal. We have given the farmers their due which should have been done long back. But the BJP leaders created problems at every stage. There were objections over silly things like some alphabetical letters missing. This is the reason it took more than five months to complete the process. Our committee on land rates headed by Mr. Saathi and Dr. Shastri had given its report well in time. But all these nittygritty resulted in long delays which was unfortunate,'' she remarked.

Charging the BJP leaders with unleashing a misinformation campaign against the Delhi Government by stating that the State Government had no powers to raise the land rates, Ms. Dikshit said now this should silence everybody including her critics. The Chief Minister said the Stamp Duty had also been increased which would plug the revenue loss to the Government exchequer. ``Despite bids by the BJP and those sitting at the Centre to stall the move for the last four months, we have gone ahead and notified the new rates. Their actions were always unethical and I strongly condemn this conspiracy to deny the farmers their due,'' she added.

At the same time, Ms. Dikshit announced that a provision has been made to effect a 12 per cent automatic hike every year without going through the whole process again.

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