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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Do bigha zameen by Mahesh Rangarajan

Do bigha zameen by Mahesh Rangarajan

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published Published on Aug 7, 2011   modified Modified on Aug 7, 2011

The Land Acquisition Bill is a key issue before Parliament this monsoon session. A look at history would be useful. The concern with the extent and spread of agricultural land is not new. But the way in which it is being addressed certainly is.

Much of the criticism of the Land Acquisition Bill has been about the provisions to safeguard irrigated, double cropped land. It is true these provisions will be reworked and will have to take into account areas like the Indus basin or Kaveri delta where irrigation is so very extensive. But at a macro level, they do make sense. Such land is vital for the food security of not just the household but for India as a whole.

The past was so very different. Scholars reckon that, around 1900, savannah and forest covered half the landmass of the British Indian empire. Land was abundant. In such a milieu, governments and landed elites struggled to find labour to clear the land. Prosperity meant expanding the farm at the expense of forests.

This made sense given how few people there were. Today, India has a density of over 400 to a square kilometre, but in 1881 the figure was just about 70. Fewer people, more land: it is difficult to imagine but the records are clear enough.

The present picture becomes clearer if one factors in that little less than half the land mass is cultivated. In effect, cultivated arable land is now a scarce resource, more so if it is fertile, irrigated and capable of yielding two or more crops a year.

The Bill comes just over three decades after a similar enactment, which also sought to regulate land use. The Forest (Conservation) Act of 1980 sought to brake (not halt) the denudation of forests. Forest cover was seen as a vital ecological, livelihood and scientific resource. Deforestation was permissible but after federal sanction.

The picture with cultivated lands and agriculture is very different. Forests were on the Concurrent List, while agriculture is a state subject. Further, governments own about 75 million hectares of forest, while private cultivators own farmland.

But there is a further parallel. The proposed Bill has a proviso for 80% of the owners giving consent to transfer of land for non-agricultural use. Here, the draftsmen have taken a leaf out of the Forest Rights Act of 2006. The transfer of forest land requires under rules of the latter Act consent of the overwhelming majority of the concerned gram sabha. This makes for better transparency, and also reduces manipulation of the process by a favoured few.

For the cultivators, this is a significant milestone. Debates on displacement and rehabilitation are commonplace. Few realise that those who are displaced have virtually no rights of redress. The new Bill will give them such rights that can be upheld by law.

Even those unfamiliar with the minutiae of the legislation or of by-laws will be familiar with the fate of the indebted small holder who sells his land and ends up in penury in the city. This was the story of the award-winning movie Do Bigha Zameen. Balraj Sahni`s portrayal in Bimal Roy's film touched our hearts.

It is only now that the problem is being addressed in the law. That those who are displaced from cultivation or from work in the fields should have rights of redress sounds commonplace. But there is no legal cover for such rights. Cultivators of the fertile plains are worse off than adivasis and other traditional forest-reliant people of the hills.

In fact, it is the rumpus over land acquisition in a host of sites - from Nandigram to Bhatta-Parsaul - that has made it imperative to enact a new law. It is a response to the issues raised by such protests. The debate will have to now come face to face with how far back in time the provisions of the new law will apply. As it turns out, there are evacuees from projects of the early years post-Independence who are still to be resettled.

It is unlikely their concerns can be addressed, but any cut-off date will have to be retros-pective to some measure if in moderation. The key will be to strike a balance between acknowledging past injustice and having a mechanism to redress it that ensures oustees a better life today.

None of this will be easy. But an advantage of democracy is that vesting the have-nots with rights will impart a greater degree of stability in the future. Both forest and land rights issues need to be addressed in a sustained manner. Law and policy can work towards this end and help create a more inclusive economy.

The question is not whether but how they will do so. The debate has to move beyond polemics to the nitty-gritty of practice. It will call for sustained engagement with a complex issue with many dimensions. The touchstone is much simpler. Can we try ensure that no one meets the fate of Balraj Sahni`s character in Do Bigha Zameen? India`s democracy will have to deliver on that dream.

The writer is professor of modern Indian history, Delhi University.

The Times of India, 6 August, 2011, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Do-bigha-zameen/articleshow/9497097.cms


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