New Delhi, May 5: The Narendra Modi government today said it was in a fix on changes in the land acquisition law, unable to "move forward or go backward".

"The land acquisition (amendment) bill has come under controversy. We are not able to move forward or go backward," parliamentary affairs and urban development minister Venkaiah Naidu told the Rajya Sabha while answering a question on slum policy.

The Centre has put in all efforts to amend the UPA-piloted Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, including doing so through an ordinance that was repromulgated a couple of times. It was first promulgated in December 2014, within seven months of the Modi government taking charge.

The amendment bill was passed by the Lok Sabha but ran into opposition in the Rajya Sabha where the Modi government does not have the numbers. Social activists also raised objections.

A joint committee of 30 MPs from both Houses of Parliament was then constituted in the budget session of 2015 to examine the bill. The committee met frequently till Prime Minister Modi said in his Mann ki Baat radio programme on August 30, 2015, that the amendments would be withdrawn.

Some members then cited Modi's announcement to question the relevance of the panel. Its meetings have been erratic since then. The last was in February this year.

Sources said the panel later decided to seek more time to submit its report in view of the ongoing elections in five states. It was then decided that the report would be handed in before the monsoon session.

The panel has asked states about encroachments on public land by private individuals, but only a few states have sent the information so far.

The committee has agreed to reject six of the nine amendments proposed by the government, including exemptions for certain projects from social-impact assessment and consent clauses. These waivers were part of the ordinance.

The panel has also decided that social impact assessment should be mandatory for all projects, except those covered under urgency clauses. It has also resolved to retain the 70 per cent consent requirement for public-private partnership projects. The Centre wanted this waived.

However, consensus has eluded the panel on three points, including provisions on return of unutilised land and retrospective implementation.

Although the Centre has stopped repromulgating the ordinance, it has through an executive order continued better compensation and rehabilitation packages for land-losers in case of plots acquired under 13 other central laws. These were part of the ordinance.