The government was all set to bring in a new land acquisition law for better compensation and rehabilitation to farmers, Home Minister P. Chidambaram said Thursday as unrest on the issue continued in parts of Uttar Pradesh.

The new legislation, he said, would be introduced in parliament in the next session likely in July. He did “not rule out” the possibility of an ordinance laying out the new land acquisition rules till then.

Chidambaram said the government had earlier drafted the law but failed to build political consensus on the issue, which is why the bill could not be tabled in parliament.

“We must have a new land acquisition act. Consensus building has taken some time,” the home minister told reporters after the meeting of the newly constituted Group of Ministers (GoM) to communicate the government’s policies and decisions to the public through the media.

Chidambaram heads the panel that includes union ministers Ambika Soni, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Kapil Sibal, Salman Khursheed, Pawan Bansal and V. Narayanasamy.

The home minister said the government had made some amendments to the land acquisition draft bill. “I can say with a fair degree of certainty that there is consensus now. It is the government’s intention to introduce that law in the next session.” he added.