National Development Action Committee (NDAC) led by the Prime Minister Sushil Koirala has directed the Ministry of Land Reforms and Management (MoLRM) to prepare Land Acquisition Act Amendment Bill and table it in the parliament for endorsement within three months.

The committee took the decision as problems in land acquisition have become stumbling blocks for mega development projects. It is because of this fact that mega projects are reporting slow work progress.

Speaking at the NDAC meeting on Monday, Govind Raj Pokharel, vice chairman of National Planning Commission (NPC), said problem in land acquisition is one of the reasons behind zero work progress of some development projects.

All the ministers and secretaries were present in the meeting of the central body for coordinating and resolving the problems faced by development projects.

MoLRM has to coordinate with the Ministry of Home Affairs for preparing the draft of the amendment bill.

The committee also held discussion on reasons behind sluggish performance of different national pride projects, including Sikta Irrigation Project, and several other hydropower and transmission line projects.

Chandra Mani Adhikari, member of NPC, said the apex policy making body of the government will coordinate with line ministries for preparing draft of the amendment bill. Among others, the draft will have clear provisions on paying appropriate price to landowners as well as checking unlimited demands placed by landowners.

“The main objective of making amendment to the Land Acquisition Act is to arrange required land for development projects without any hassles and help in the completion of such projects,” Adhikari added.

The draft will also include a specific provision on resettlement of people displaced by development projects.

Likewise, the Ministry of Finance is also working on another bill that will determine price of land in a bid to check uncontrolled rise in land price.

The meeting also held discussions on various problems including the contract awarding process that mega projects are facing.

During the meeting, vice chairman Pokharel said the government was losing track of most of the development projects because of the growing tendency of delaying submission of progress report. “Most of the progress reports that we get include nothing more than transfer of letters. Such reports lack details of project development,” added Pokharel.

Likewise, the meeting has also pointed out several problems in implementation of projects like indecisiveness of ministries on pressing issues.

source: republica,15 sept 2014