Ministry officials want Modi govt to look at land laws

Agriculture ministry wants review of clamps on holdings; rural development ministry seeks centralisation of records

With Narendra Modi set to take over as prime minister in the next few days, the department of agriculture is proposing a comprehensive review of land ceiling laws as a first major reform in the sector.

Land also figures in the to-do list of the rural development ministry. It has proposed centralisation of land records to enable smooth operation of the Land Acquisition Act initiated by the outgoing government.

Officials said though issues related to land and agriculture primarily come within the domain of state governments, the Centre can advise and suggest changes.

And, any changes in agricultural land ceilings have to have Centre's concurrence.

The agriculture ministry has in a presentation to cabinet secretary Ajit Seth called for a comprehensive review of the land ceiling laws, to stop fragmentation of farms and promote consolidation. At present, most states have a ceiling of 10-20 acres in holdings of irrigated land with two crops, which hampers leasing and also stops large-scale acquisition (see chart).

Some officials said the farm ministry has also proposed amendments to the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) Act and boosting irrigation as other big proposals.

If initiated, the proposed measures could turn out to be big reforms in the farm sector. Repeated attempts by the UPA government to review land ceiling laws and to create a centralised database of land records failed due to inadequate cooperation from state governments.

The Bharatiya Janata Party's poll manifesto talked of a national land use policy. This would, it said, look at the scientific acquisition of non-cultivable land and its development, protect the interest of farmers and keep in mind the food production goals and economic goals of the country.

"The idea mooted by the department of agriculture is a good one. Agricultural land has become highly fragmented, with average holdings dropping below two hectares. This makes farming uneconomical for growers and also sometimes leads to reverse tenancy, like by small farmers in Punjab and Haryana," Gokul Patnaik, chairman of Global AgriSystem, an agribusiness consulting group, told Business Standard.

He said in some states tenancy laws were very outdated, which stymied any substantial land reform. "In the interest of mechanisation of farming in India and also for growth of irrigation, government should initiate steps to reform the ceiling Acts," Patnaik said.

S Mahendra Dev, director of the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai, said the move would ensure small and marginal farmers got productivity benefits and more acres could come under mechanisation. "In some states like Maharashtra, legally there is no tenancy; in others like Andhra Pradesh, much of tenancy is only oral. So, there are a lot of discrepancies in land-related issues in states which need to be corrected," he said.

However, some also say the Centre's move would unnecessarily muddle land issues. "Land is primarily a state subject and the Centre has a very limited role. So, there is no point in making suggestions," said Ajay Jakhar, chairman of Bharat Krishak Samaj, a farmers' advocacy group.

With inputs from Nitin Sethi