send mail to support@abhimanu.com mentioning your email id and mobileno registered with us! if details not recieved
Resend Opt after 60 Sec.
By Loging in you agree to Terms of Services and Privacy Policy
Please specify
Please verify your mobile number
Login not allowed, Please logout from existing browser
Please update your name
Subscribe to Notifications
Stay updated with the latest Current affairs and other important updates regarding video Lectures, Test Schedules, live sessions etc..
Your Free user account at abhipedia has been created.
Remember, success is a journey, not a destination. Stay motivated and keep moving forward!
Refer & Earn
Enquire Now
My Abhipedia Earning
Kindly Login to view your earning
Support
As many as 570 million Indians, or 47.1% (including 6.7% in urban areas), still depend on agriculture, which contributes 15% to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), according to this 2011-12 National Sample Survey Office 2011-12 report and 2011 census data. South Korea and Taiwan—and Japan before them—implemented sweeping land reforms before transforming agriculture and moving their people to manufacturing, Jayati Ghosh, a professor at the Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, Jawaharlal Nehru University, wrote in this 1997 column for the Economic and Political Weekly. As agriculture’s importance diminished, agricultural productivity kept rising. “This was not only because of the institutional changes which released productive energies, but also because of the role of the government in increasing public investment levels in agriculture, providing subsidised fertiliser and pesticide inputs, supporting agricultural research and extension services, assisting in the organisation of co-operatives, and similar measures,” Ghosh wrote. Five facts, gleaned from the 2011-12 agricultural census and 2011 socio-economic caste census, summarise the failure of India’s land reforms: • No more than 4.9% of farmers control 32% of India’s farmland. • A “large” farmer in India has 45 times more land than the “marginal” farmer. • 101.4 million–or 56.4%–of rural households own no agricultural land. • Only 12.9% of land marked–the size of Gujarat–for takeover from landlords was taken over by December 2015. • Five million acres—half the size of Haryana—was given to 5.78 million poor farmers by December 2015.
What has largely failed nationwide—with the exception of West Bengal—over 54 years since a land-redistribution law was passed is not likely to improve, according to data in a response received to a right-to-information (RTI) application filed with the Department of Land Resources of the Indian government’s Ministry of Rural Development. The average land given to the rural landless is small and falling, from 0.95 acres in 2002 to 0.88 acres in 2015—a 7.4% drop over 13 years–and a slowdown is evident in the process of taking land away from rich landlords, the RTI data reveal. As of December 2015, land declared “surplus” (meaning, it could be taken away from landlords) across India stood at 6.7 million acres; the government took over 6.1 million acres; and distributed 5.1 million acres—less than half the area of Haryana, or five-and-a-half times the area of Goa—to 5.78 million people. Similarly, the land declared surplus has fallen over the years. Between 1973 and 2002, an average of 150,000 acres was declared surplus, and an average of 140,000 acres was distributed every year. In contrast, between 2002 and 2015, the land declared surplus every year was 4,000 acres, while land in government possession and distributed declined by 29,000 acres and 24,000 acres per year, respectively. This means that there is less land declared surplus every year over the past 13 years and what was once a growing trend of government possession and distribution has reversed
The slowdown and fluctuations in land-distribution data over the years are usually because of disputes over how much is to be taken away; courts restored some land to original owners; and some land was unfit for cultivation, according to this 2009 report from the Centre for Rural Studies, Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), Mussoorie.
The surplus land under litigation increased by 23.4%, from 920,000 acres to 1.14 million acres between 2007 and 2009. Some states, such as Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Gujarat and Maharashtra, created land tribunals to quickly settle such cases. Irrespective of the fluctuations, the land declared surplus, up to 2015, is 12.9% of 51.9 million acres—almost the size of Gujarat—the land that should be taken away from landlords, the LBSNAA estimated as cited in the report of the Committee on State Agrarian Relations and Unfinished Task of Land Reforms from 2009. The land in government possession and land distributed is 11.7% and 9.8%, respectively of the 51.9 million acres that should be declared surplus. According to World Bank, around 60.3 % of India's land area is agricultural land. However, farming is the least productive sector of the economy, accounting for only 15% of India's GDP, while employing more than half of its workforce. So India's scarcest resource is also its least productive which is a fundamental reason for India's poverty.
Issue related to land in India • Scarcity of Land Resources: As per Agriculture Census 2010-11, small and marginal holdings of less than 2 hectare account for 85 % of the total operational holdings and 44 % of the total operated area. The average size of holdings for all operational classes (small & marginal, medium and large) have declined over the years and for all classes put together it has come down to 1.16 hectare in 2010-11 from 2.82 hectare in 1970- 71. • Stalling of Projects: A report by Land Disputes and Stalled Investments in India found that 5,780, or 14%, of the more than 40,000 projects announced between January 2000 and October 2016 were stalled due to land acquisition conflicts. It negatively impact investment cycle in economy and employment generation capacity of sector.
Issues with Land Acquisition in India
• NITI Aayog in its three-year action agenda said that high compensation fixed under Land Acquisition Act, 2013 makes land acquired for affordable housing expensive and contributes to high costs. • Increasing Litigations: The cases under LARR Act, 2013 have been on the rise and the Supreme Court has invalidated acquisition in 94.6 % of these cases thus stalling the process. • Unclear land titles: According to Standing Committee on Commerce, there are delays in acquiring land and getting necessary permissions to use it. These delays are on account of multiple reasons including the availability of suitable land and disputes related to land titles. It has been noted that land titles in India are unclear due to various reasons including legacy of the zamindari system, gaps in the legal framework and poor administration of land records. • Marginalisation: Instances of poor implementation and enforcement of FRA and PESA ACT for diversion of forest lands and in case of acquisition of any land (private or common) in the scheduled areas has adversely affected the livelihood of people. • Gross Underutilisation Of Land: CAG report on Special Economic Zones shows that as much as 31,886 hectares, or 53% of the total land acquired by the government for these zones, remains unused, leading to land hoarding in country.
Steps taken by Government for Sustainable usage of Land
Model Agricultural Land Leasing Act, 2016: It seeks to permit and facilitate leasing of agricultural land to improve access to land by the landless and marginal farmers. The Act provides recognition to farmers cultivating the agricultural land on lease to enable them to access loans through credit institutions, insurance, disaster relief and other support services provided by the government. Security of Ownership: It suggests legalizing “land leasing in all areas to ensure complete security of land ownership right for land owners and security of tenure for tenants for the agreed lease period. o It also seeks to remove the clause of adverse possession of land in the land laws of various states as it interferes with free functioning of land lease market. It also proposes the automatic resumption of land after the agreed lease period without requiring any minimum area of land to be left with the tenant even after termination of tenancy. It proposes quicker litigation process in case of disputes. Rights and responsibilities of land owner: The land owner will give possession of the leased-out land to the cultivator on the first day of the lease. He will be entitled to automatic possession of the land on the expiry of the agreed lease period. He can put the leased out land for use such as sale, gift, mortgage, etc. However, this should not affect the cultivator’s right to cultivate the land till the end of the lease period. He will also be responsible to pay all taxes and cess on the land. Rights and responsibilities of cultivator: The cultivator, to whom the land has been leased out, will be entitled to an undisturbed possession and use of this land. He can use the land only for agriculture and allied activities. Further, he cannot sub-lease or mortgage the land. He will be eligible to raise loans from banks and other financial institutions without mortgaging the leased in land. He will be entitled for compensation from landowner for any improvements or fixtures that he makes on this land. He will also have the right to surrender land to the land owner within a time period as specified in the lease agreement. Advantages • It had the potential to put to use millions of hectares of fallow land in the country. • It will provide landless poor, small and marginal farmers a means of livelihood and protection through access to bank credit and insurance cover. • It would encourage large land owners to lease out land without fear of losing their land ownership rights and invest in non-farm enterprises. • It will allow consolidation of farmland so that small plots that are economically unviable can be leased.
Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement act, 2013 It provided for land acquisition as well as rehabilitation and resettlement by replacing Land Acquisition Act, 1894. The process for land acquisition involves a Social Impact Assessment survey, preliminary notification stating the intent for acquisition, a declaration of acquisition, and compensation to be given by a certain time. Compensation has to be up to 4 times the market value in rural areas and 2 times the market value in urban areas. Share in appreciated land value: Where acquired land is sold to a third party for a higher price then 40 % of the appreciated land value (or profit) will be shared with the original owners. All acquisitions require rehabilitation and resettlement to be provided to the people affected by the acquisition including large tracts of land acquired by private companies. Monitoring Committees at the National and State Level to ensure that R&R obligations are met have also been established. Caps on Acquisition of Multi-Crop and Agricultural Land: To safeguard food security and to prevent arbitrary acquisition, the act directs States to impose limits on the area under agricultural cultivation that can be acquired. The new law stipulates mandatory consent of at least 70 % for acquiring land for public-private partnership (PPP) projects and 80 % for acquiring land for private companies. Exemption: The provisions of this act shall not apply to acquisitions under 16 existing legislations including the Special Economic Zones Act, 2005, the Atomic Energy Act, 1962, the Railways Act, 1989, etc. Retrospective Operation: To address historical injustice the, it applies retrospectively to cases where no land acquisition award has been made and in cases where the land was acquired five years ago but no compensation has been paid or no possession has taken place. Return of Unutilised Land: In case land remains unutilised after acquisition, the new Bill empowers states to return the land either to the owner or to the State Land Bank. Special Safeguards for Tribal Communities and other disadvantaged groups: No land can be acquired in Scheduled Areas without the consent of the Gram Sabhas. The Law also ensures that all rights guaranteed under such legislations as the PESA, 1996 and the Forest Rights Act 2006 are taken care of.
GIS-Enabled Portal Maps
Land-Related Information It’s an online database of more than half a million hectares of land for pushing government goal of creating a manufacturing hub in the country by 2020 for which initiatives such as Make in India and Skill India have been launched.
GIS- enabled Database • Through it, industries could access information related to industrial parks or clusters, Special Economic Zones, National Investment and Manufacturing Zones as well as area wise availability of agricultural and horticultural crops and mineral production. • It will also provide details about government approved technical institutions and availability of skilled and semiskilled talent. • The portal will be highly beneficial for Industrial sector as: o It will eliminate information asymmetry. o Improve industrial policy making and investment in manufacturing sector. o Improve employability of labour in specific job profiles
Government Land Information System (GLIS) It records total area, geo-positioning maps, and details such as ownership rights. According to the portal, the railways is the biggest landowner among Union ministries. The defence ministry, which owns a large share of the government’s land holding, has given only partial details citing security concerns.
Way Forward With land being a State subject, States can take specific legal reforms to ease land acquisition process by consulting every stakeholder. • Furnish details about usage of acquired land: People have the right to know about usage of land acquired by government by way of compensation. For e.g.- in Britain, the government has pledged to provide details of ownership, location and intended use for all properties. Also citizens are invited to contest official land use and suggest alternatives under a ‘right to contest’. • Comprehensive inventory of land resources and usage patterns: A comprehensive inventory of land resources and usage patterns should be made with information on the location of each property, its dimensions, legal title, current & planned use etc. to enable effective identification of land usage pattern. • Use of surplus land: Surplus land should be utilised to meet the growing demands for services such as water and waste disposal, housing and transportation projects etc. and land intended for future use should be rented out, through a transparent bidding process, till such time it is needed. • Early Finalisation of National Land Reforms Policy • Adopting Innovative approaches like Land Bank, land pooling etc to improve the functioning of sector.
By: Abhishek Sharma ProfileResourcesReport error
Access to prime resources