Farmers and activists have patently denounced the Centre's ordinance amending the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (LARR) Act, 2013, stating that it is bound resurrect the despotism of British era, when land was acquired forcibly without the consent of land owners.

Farmer leader Vijay Jawandhia demanded to know how plots could be seized in the name of infrastructure and affordable housing without the acquiescence of those who own them. "The BJP government has brought back the British-period law, which was abandoned by the Congress. The only thing the party kept unchanged is the compensation, which is four times that of the market price in rural areas, and two times in urban areas. This is shocking and will lead to land-grabbing. We had voted for BJP hoping for good days, not for bringing back the pre-independence exploitative British era," Jawandhia said.

The ordinance gives the central government the right to acquire land for public purpose - essentially for five key sectors including security and defence, infrastructure, power, and affordable housing - without seeking consent of landowners. Earlier, the nod of 80% of landowners was mandatory, besides a fourfold compensation.

It is nothing but dictatorship, feel farmers.

Jawandhia is in favour for developers approaching farmers or landowners directly if they want to set up a factory. "The government has no business meddling in negotiations between farmers and developers. This law will create unrest among farmers, leading to Singur- and Nandigram-like incidents," Jawandhia said.

Nothing but land-grabbingUlka Mahajan, social activist, said that 20 years ago, textile mills in Mumbai were closed down and subsequently sold to developers on the pretext of constructing affordable housing, which remains a fantasy. "What happened? The property rates sky-rocketed instead of coming down. The common man cannot buy the dream home now. The land acquisition ordinance is nothing but grabbing of farmers' land and natural resources in the name of development," Mahajan alleged.

She also cited how hundreds of acres were acquired by industrial houses for setting up special economic zones. "What happened? In the last 10 years, no business and no adequate foreign currency came to India. The motive behind this ordinance is to gobble land. This move needs to be opposed vehemently, otherwise the country will face a serious crisis.

'May lead to agri crisis'Mahajan said the BJP government has decided to acquire irrigated and multi-crop land as well. "This move will lead to a food crisis as well as and global warming due to heedless development. We have decided to oppose this arbitrary move," Mahajan added.