NEW DELHI: India's most powerful politician Sonia Gandhi on Thursday promised a change of law to reform land acquisition laws after deadly clashes near the capital.
"We will soon bring a bill in parliament on land acquisition," Gandhi told a Congress rally in the city of Varanasi in northern Uttar Pradesh state.
The national Congress government is planning to replace the 1894 Land Acquisition Act introduced during British colonial rule with new legislation aimed at cutting down conflicts over the valuation of land and seeking to minimize social disruption caused by projects.
Earlier this month, two policemen and two farmers died in clashes in Uttar Pradesh state close to the outskirts of New Delhi during protests demanding greater compensation for land.
Farmers have been staging protests for over three months to push for more money for the land which is to be used for a new 165-kilometre (100 mile) expressway to the city of Agra in Uttar Pradesh.
Agra is home to the Taj Mahal, India's famed monument to love and the country's biggest tourist draw.
"I am ashamed at what happened there," Gandhi said, referring to the clashes.
"There is anarchy in Uttar Pradesh and I call upon the people to fight unitedly for their rights," she told cheering Congress supporters.
The farmers say they were paid a pittance for fertile land acquired by Uttar Pradesh state.
Disagreements between India's farmers and business have hampered industrial development aimed at creating jobs as well as efforts to build infrastructure, vital to easing transportation bottlenecks and boosting economic growth.
The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry has calculated that disputes over land have held up over $100 billion worth of projects across India.
The new land legislation, still being worked out, would ban state governments from buying land at rock-bottom prices on behalf of private developers.
The legislation which the government has said should be introduced in the next session of parliament would set out guidelines for valuing land and ensure that social impact studies were conducted before land was acquired.
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