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Dr. Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, Union Minister of Rural Development has said that the major objectives of Land Reforms consist of reordering agrarian relations to achieve an egalitarian social structure, elimination of exploitation in land relations, realizing the age-old goal of “land to actual tiller”, enlarging the land base of rural poor, increasing agricultural production, diversification of agricultural economy etc. Dr. Singh was inaugurating the Revenue Ministers Conference of the States and Union Territories here today. ‘Re-distributive land reforms that provide a minimum level of land holding to the landless and a measure of security of tenancy are essential for securing rural agricultural poor against income fluctuations. As you are aware, most of the States have done excellent work in conferment of tenancy rights to the occupants but a lot of work remains to be done because clandestine tenancy in various forms is still prevalent resulting in land records that do not reflect ground realities’, he also added. Here is the full text of the speech:
“I am indeed happy to inaugurate this Conference to discuss various issues pertaining to implementation of Land Reforms programmes and Schemes of Computerisation of Land Records and Strengthening of Revenue Administration & Updating of Land Records. I would urge that issues relating to Land Reforms may be discussed with an open mind and a consensus may be arrived at for better implementation in your State.
As you are aware, the subject of Land Reforms is under the exclusive legislative and administrative jurisdiction of the States as provided under entry No.18 List II (State List) of VII schedule to the Constitution of India. The Central Government plays an advisory and coordinating role in this field.
The major objectives of Land Reforms consist of reordering agrarian relations to achieve an egalitarian social structure, elimination of exploitation in land relations, realizing the age-old goal of “land to actual tiller”, enlarging the land base of rural poor, increasing agricultural production, diversification of agricultural economy etc. The major components of the strategy of land reforms have been the abolition of Zamindari and intermediary tenures, tenancy reforms, ceiling on ownership of agricultural holdings, consolidation of holdings, distribution of Ceiling Surplus Land, Government wastelands including Bhoodan land to the land less rural poor, modernization and updating of land records system, special measures for prevention of alienation and restoration of alienated tribal lands, empowerment of women to ensure greater access to land and abolishing gender-bias in land legislation.
The implementation of ceiling laws on land holdings was done in two phases i.e. pre-revised ceiling laws during 1955-71 and post-revised ceiling laws after 1972. Since inception of the programme of distribution of ceiling surplus land an area of 73.67 lakh acres was declared surplus, of which 64.97 lakh acres was taken possession of and an area of 54.03 lakh acres was distributed to 57.46 lakh rural poor of whom 51% are SC/ST beneficiaries.
Under Bhoodan land a total of 39.16 lakh acres of land was donated out of which 21.75 lakh acres have been distributed to the rural poor. However, an area of 17.41 lakh acre remains to be distributed. Therefore States/UT have been advised to prepare an action plan and undertake a special drive for distribution of the remaining Bhoodan land expeditiously. Distribution of Government’s wastelands has been one of the key strategies of land reforms, but this has not received the attention it deserves. So far an area of 147.47 lakh acres of Government wastelands has been distributed amongst land less rural poor.
It would be worthwhile to mention that about 14,000 cases involving an area of 8.45 lakh acres under Ceiling Laws are pending in various Revenue Courts/High Courts/Supreme Court. Therefore, States are requested to take effective steps for early disposal of cases pending in various Courts. Moreover, a specific target may be fixed for disposal of ceiling surplus land cases pending especially in Revenue Courts so as to distribute such lands to the landless rural poor families who do not have any house site in rural areas.
Though lot of ceiling surplus land/Government wastelands were distributed to landless rural poor for agriculture purposes, however, many rural poor families still do not have adequate land for house sites. In this regard, the Rural Development Institute (RDI) Seattle, USA has conducted a study on allotment of Homestead-cum-garden land in the States of Karnataka and West Bengal and found that a practical and effective land reform alternative is to provide house and garden plots to the landless poor so that they can improve their economic conditions and social status. In this regard I would request all the States to chalk out a plan of action to allot at least 0.15-acre land as Homestead-cum-garden land to those who do not have any house site in rural areas.
Re-distributive land reforms that provide a minimum level of land holding to the landless and a measure of security of tenancy are essential for securing rural agricultural poor against income fluctuations. As you are aware, most of the States have done excellent work in conferment of tenancy rights to the occupants but a lot of work remains to be done because clandestine tenancy in various forms is still prevalent resulting in land records that do not reflect ground realities. Keeping in view the above facts, States have to launch a special drive to unearth all informal tenancies in order to recognize their rights as tenants/sharecroppers and bring their name on record of rights and provide all legal rights.
Article 46 of the Constitution enjoins upon the States the obligation to promote the interests of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and to protect them from social injustice and all forms of exploitation. State Governments have accepted the policy of prohibiting the transfer of land from tribals to non-tribals and for restoration of alienated land to tribals. The States with large tribal populations have enacted laws prohibiting alienation of tribal land and for restoration of alienated land. Though some results have been forthcoming in efforts undertaken by different States, the task still remains unfulfilled. As per the report received from various States, 3.75 lakh cases of tribal land alienation have been registered covering 8.55 lakh acres of land, of which 1.62 lakh cases have been disposed of in favour of tribals covering a total area of 4.47 lakh acres out of which an area of 4.33 lakh acres has been restored to tribals. I would like to emphasise that States should undertake a special drive so that alienated land may be restored to the tribals at the earliest.
Though the Constitution of India safeguard the rights and privileges of women, confers equal rights and opportunities on men and women and prohibits discrimination against any citizen on the ground of sex, religion, race and gender, however, laws relating to land favour men and are discriminatory to women. In most regions of the country, women constitute a disproportionate number of poor. They are also more dependent on agriculture for a livelihood than men. Yet, very few women have titles to land and even less control on it. I feel there is a need to address gender and land rights to provide the constitutional / legal safeguard to women with regard to their access to land.
This Ministry has already formulated a National Policy on Resettlement and Rehabilitation for Project Affected Families and sent to State Governments for its adoption. It is requested that this National Policy may be adhered to while dealing with the acquisition of land for large projects. Similarly, we have drafted a Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill, 2004 and circulated to State Governments for their comments. Therefore, it is requested that if you have any suggestions on this, it can be discussed during the Conference.
As you are aware the Scheme of Computerisation of Land Records (CLR) is being implemented since 1988-89. Many States have shown encouraging results. However, some States are lagging behind due to various reasons. Common Minimum Programme (CMP) of the Union Government, envisages that Revenue Administration should be thoroughly modernized and clear land title be established. Therefore, States are requested to undertake revisional survey for continuous updation of land records to reflect the ground realities on land records. This Ministry has reviewed the progress of implementation of Scheme of Computerization of Land Records and on the basis of the performance of the States set targets for various activities of the Scheme and same has been communicated to the States for effective and timely implementation. Therefore, I request once again to adhere to the target fixed by this Ministry for better implementation of the Scheme so that land owners can get updated computerized copy of record of rights without any hassles.
With these words I have great pleasure in inaugurating this Conference and wishing your deliberations all success. “
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