President Pranab Mukherjee on Friday gave his assent to the re-promulgation of the land acquisition ordinance, official sources said.The ordinance was set to lapse on Saturday. It was promulgated on December 31 last year to amend the earlier act passed by the UPA government in 2013.The union cabinet recommended re-promulgation of the ordinance on March 31 after the government failed to secure passage for it in the Rajya Sabha where the ruling NDA is in minority.The re-promulgated ordinance includes the nine amendments with which the bill was passed in the Lok Sabha.
The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Bill, that was passed by the Lok Sabha in the budget session, sought to replace the ordinance promulgated in December.The Congress and other parties have mounted a strong opposition to the ordinance.To enable re-promulgation of the ordinance, the government has got the Rajya Sabha prorogued.Under the constitutional provisions, at least one of the houses has to be prorogued for the government to issue an ordinance.Parliament went on a month-long recess on March 20 and would reconvene on April 20.