Niti Aayog firms up Model Act on leasing of land for farming

Even as fate of land acquisition law hangs in the balance, government think-tank Niti Aayog has firmed up model guidelines that will encourage leasing of land between farmers and farming cooperatives to boost farming.
The Model Act will soon be available in the public domain and state governments will be able to use the guidelines as well as modify them as per their socio-economic and political requirements, a senior government official said.
"The act will legalise land leasing of farmlands between farmers and farming cooperatives, which will not only protect the rights of sharecroppers, but also promote occupational mobility in rural areas," the official added.

Another major feature in the proposed act is that now sharecroppers will be able to get compensation for the loss of crop on account of inclement weather among other causes and will also be able to take farming loan from banks, he said.
"Banks will be able to give loan to tenant (sharecropper) based on the expected output of the crop from the leased land as well as the proposed act will give lessee cultivator access to insurance without mortgaging the land," he added.
In September last year, Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Arvind Panagariya had set up an expert committee, chaired by former Commission for Agricultural Costs & Prices (CACP) Chairman T Haque.

The Expert Committee was to review existing agricultural tenancy laws in states and prepare a model agricultural land leasing act.

The expert group has also batted for giving flexibility to the land owner and tenant to decide upon the term of lease and the rent besides proposing automatic resumption of land on the expiry of agreed lease period.
The group has also mooted legalising land leasing in all areas to ensure complete security of land ownership for the land owner as well as the security of the tenure for the lessee cultivator for the lease period.
In case, the land owner plans to sell the land while it has been leased to a cultivator, the proposed act stipulates that the transaction has to be done without affecting the interests of the lessee cultivator.

The act will also provide for a multi-stage provision of settlement of disputes between the owner and the lessee cultivator.
"At first, the dispute will be tried to be settled at the level of the gram panchayat, if it fails there then it will go to the level of Tehsildar after which it can go to a tribunal or the court," the official said.
India has around 150 million hectares of cultivable land with a majority of it with small and marginal farmers having less then 2 hectares.