Nagpur: In a major reform measure, the Congress Government in Maharashtra today decided to repeal the urban land ceiling law brought by Indira Gandhi in 1976 to help the poor and landless people when the state Assembly passed a resolution for the purpose.

Amidst slogan-shouting by Shiv Sena members, the resolution moved by Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh was passed by voice vote. Winding up a two-day discussion on the issue, Deshmukh justified the repealing of the Urban Land Ceiling Act of 1976 and said Sena's opposition towards the passage of resolution was "unfortunate".

Mentioning the chronology of events, Deshmukh informed the House that the issue was initiated by Sena-BJP alliance in 1997 when Chief Minister Manohar Joshi had chaired a Cabinet meeting to repeal the law. Later, the then Union Minister for Urban Development Ram Jethmalani, who got elected on Shiv Sena support, succeeded in repealing it at the Centre during NDA rule in 1999, he said.

Parliament while passing the repeal law had noted that "the Act has failed to serve the purpose." Deshmukh said that the Maharashtra Cabinet had approved a draft resolution on January 11, 2001 and he himself convened a meeting of opposition leaders on October 26, 2006 and decided to adopt a resolution to repeal the Act on April 13. It was first introduced in Maharashtra Assembly on April 16 this year.

Source : PTI