New Delhi, Sep 16 (Inditop.com) The railways ministry Wednesday said it would not resort to forceful acquisition of land for railway projects, and that it would review its land acquisition policy.
“The ministry of railways has decided that there shall not be any forceful acquisition of land for railway projects,” the ministry said in a statement.
“Accordingly, it has been decided to comprehensively review the railways’ land acquisition policy to ensure that forceful acquisition of land, including agriculture land, is completely avoided,” it said.
“The focus of this review will be to facilitate acquisition of land directly from the land owner with complete transparency. All existing land acquisition cases shall be critically examined in the light of the above review within a period of one month.”
The statement came in the wake of allegations from Left parties that the ministry was acquiring land “forcibly”.
Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee has already dismissed the allegations saying the charges were “false”.
“The Left is engaged in false propaganda against the railways. My ministry will never acquire land forcibly. For our project requirement, we would purchase the land only if people came forward to sell,” Banerjee told reporters earlier this week.
“Also, if there is any dispute, we will not acquire (the land) forcibly,” she had maintained.
