UPA's land act was against rural areas: Arun Jaitley

5 Dariya News

New Delhi 22-May-2015

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday said the land law enacted by the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government was against rural areas and expressed confidence that the NDA's land bill will be passed in parliament's monsoon session."The law brought in 2013 stops (creation of) rural infrastructure, irrigation, rural roads, rural industrialisation, rural housing. The 2013 law is against the rural areas. The 2015 bill has made the corrections," he said at a press conference held here ahead of completion of one year of the National Democratic Alliance government, which took power on May 26, 2014.He said the government's roadmap was clear and expressed confidence that land bill and Goods and Services Tax would be passed in the monsoon session.Referring to the Congress's opposition to the land bill, he said no political party has a right to say it will not allow the bill to be passed."Numbers will decide whether it will be passed or not. The numbers are very clear," he said.

The land bill is being examined by a joint committee of the two houses.The minister's assertions came during his comments on Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi's barb that the NDA government was a "suit-boot ki sarkar" (government of the suited-booted) and his opposition to the pending land bill.Jaitley hinted at the support of regional parties for passage of crucial bills and contended that the government's commitment towards cooperative federalism and empowering the states has made a clear political impact.He said decisions have been taken fast and the country was not prepared to accept slow decision-making. "Decisiveness in the face of obstructionism (by the opposition) has been an important hallmark (of this government)," he added. Referring to the ordinances brought by the Modi government, the minister said there had been criticism by those "uneasy with the pace of governance".

"There is speed with decisiveness. There is absolute clarity about the direction. The direction is towards growth and development," Jaitley said.Referring to Congress criticism about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's foreign tours, Jaitley took a dig at Gandhi over his 55-day absence from the national political scene and said "going on vacation was different from going on state visits".Rejecting the Congress charge that the NDA government was "pro-corporates", he said the earlier UPA government's economic policy was not clear and "crony capitalism" led to its fall. On the other hand, he said, the Modi government was reforming and liberalising the economy and there was no place for crony capitalism.He said the government was "pro-growth", with strong emphasis on social security, and it would keep itself at arm's length from individual companies in policy-making.He asserted that the government had been effective in tackling corruption.Referring to the peaceful assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, he said it had expanded the space for mainstream parties.