Dhaka: The cabinet on Monday gave the final approval to the draft of The Immovable Asset Acquisition and Requisition Law, 2017, according to which government can acquire land of place of worships like mosques, temples, pagodas.

The revised law increased the amount of compensation for acquired land and kept a provision for acquiring land of place of worships like mosques, temples, pagodas, graveyards, crematorium for ‘indispensable public interest’.

The approval was given at the regular weekly meeting of the Cabinet held at Bangladesh Secretariat with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.

Briefing reporters after the meeting, Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam said that the existing law was an ordinance promulgated in 1982, and the Ministry of Land placed the draft law before the Cabinet in line with its the earlier decision to transform all the ordinances into acts after translating those into Bangla following the higher court verdict.

The cabinet secretary said that it was earlier mentioned in the Ordinance that the land of place of worships like mosques, temples, pagodas as well as graveyard and crematorium could not be acquired.

But, as per the Section 4(13) of the proposed law, such land could be acquired if it is indispensable for public interest and the persons and organizations willing to acquire land would relocate or rebuild those with their own fund.

The cabinet secretary said that the organizations concerned will to acquire land would get some 120 days timeframe instead of the existing 60 days to provide the amount of compensation to the concerned Deputy Commissioners for land requisition.

He said that if the government acquires land, then the affected person would get compensation of three times higher than that of the market price of the land.

Besides, if any private organization acquires land for public interest on purposes like setting up a school, the affected person would get compensation of four times higher than the market price.

Alam said that the market price of the acquired land is being calculated on the average selling price of land of that area for the last 12 months.

The cabinet also approved the draft of ‘The National Film Policy, 2017’ aimed at promoting making of healthy films by upholding the spirit, ideology and history of the War of Liberation as well as country’s culture and tradition.