Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 150
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 151
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 148]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 181]
LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Land reforms next on Jairam’s agenda by Ashish Sinha

Land reforms next on Jairam’s agenda by Ashish Sinha

Share this article Share this article
published Published on Sep 12, 2011   modified Modified on Sep 12, 2011

AFTER introducing the land acquisition Bill in Parliament last week, rural development minister Jairam Ramesh now plans to address the vexed and sensitive issue of land reforms, including the revision of land ceiling limits, in a big way.

In a radical move, the minister has proposed that ‘ absentee landlords’ should own only half the quantum of land as compared to the ceiling fixed for normal landowners.

“ Absentee landlords and non- resident landowners may be clearly defined. This may be communicated to the states and Union Territories for consideration,” Ramesh has proposed.

This recommendation, along with many others, would be taken up at the first meeting of National Council for Land Reforms (NCLR), headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in early October.

The NCLR was set up in January 2008 for “ providing broad guidelines and policy direction on land reforms”. Although “ land reforms” and “ agriculture” are state subjects, the need for a ‘ National Land Reforms Policy’ has been felt for evolving a uniform approach to the issue.

Ramesh is the ex- officio chairman of the ‘ committee on state agrarian relations and the unfinished task in land reforms’, an issue the Prime Minister had asked to undertake a detailed study of.

Just distribution of land has remained an unaccomplished task in India although most states had enacted land reform laws in the 1950s with the twin objectives of abolishing ‘ lanlordism’ and providing ‘ land to the tiller’. An early ‘ task force’ of Planning Commission had identified lack of political will, inadequate land policy, legal hurdles, litigation, lack of correct land records and weak administrative machinery as the main reason for sluggish movement on the issue. It had, in fact, cited an apathetic bureaucracy as a major hurdle to speedy land reforms since elements of the post- Independence officialdom were closely aligned with the landed classes.

This class had turned into benami landowners and continued to illegally maintain its stronghold over large tracts of land in most states. Later, as these members migrated from rural areas, the phenomenon of “ absentee landlordism” and bataidari ( share- cropping) gained currency.

While West Bengal, Kerala, Tripura and Karnataka made significant strides in land reforms by putting it in the ‘operation’ mode, the position of ‘feudal’ states such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, etc., is far from satisfactory.


Mail Today, September, 2011, http://epaper.mailtoday.in/epaperhome.aspx?issue=1292011


Related Articles

 

Write Comments

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

Video Archives

Archives

share on Facebook
Twitter
RSS
Feedback
Read Later

Contact Form

Please enter security code
      Close