Transcript Document

Workshop on
Land for the
Poor
24.02.2005
Taking a fresh look at land question
Why ?
• Land reforms and other land issues have come to the
center stage now under the UPA supported by the Left
combine.
• Land reforms find a place in the CMP also as the Govt.
is committed to economic reforms with a human face.
• Extremist outfits making vociferous demands for
radical changes in the land policy of the state.
And ultimately
Land is critical for poverty reduction.
Land- Why critical for poverty reduction ?
Agriculture remains the prime source of livelihood for a vast majority
of people living in rural areas.
About 70% of the India’s population lives in the rural areas, of which
more than 3/4ths derive their livelihood from land, wholly or partially.
Land is still the pivotal property in terms of both income and
employment, around which socio-economic privileges and
deprivations revolve.
Not only an economic and social but also a psychological capital.
Issues involving land rights and land access may be complex –
but they are too critical for long term development goals and
cannot be ignored.
So • Can the demands placed on the State for land
reforms get translated into objective policies
and programmes?
• What is the most feasible way in which the
Govt. of AP can shape the land relations in the
State to contribute to equity and efficiency in
future?
• Are we taking sides with the most
disadvantaged sections of the poor in
promoting and protecting their rights with
regard to the control and use of land?
Taking sides with the poor
What has been ?
The Govt. has been striving to promote the rights of the poor with
regard to land
• through land reforms and allied measures (as provided in the Preamble
and under Part IV of the Constitution).
• also included in the 9th Schedule to ensure speedy and unhindered
implementation of various legislative measures.
• shown interest in land redistribution, and formulated legislative
measures to allot land as well to protect it from being transferred to
non-poor.
• abolition of intermediaries, ceiling on landholdings and tenancy
reforms were considered as 3 key elements.
• Simultaneously emphasis has been given to distribution of govt. waste
lands and surplus lands
The largest body of land reform legislation ever to have been passed
in so short a period in any country was in post independent India.
Taking sides with the poor…
• Governments since inception in 1956 made efforts towards equitable
distribution of lands through various acts of legislations and policy
decisions like
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AP Land Reforms (Ceiling on Agricultural Holdings) Act, 1973
The AP (Andhra Area) Tenancy Act, 1956
The AP (Telangana Area) Tenancy And Agricultural Lands Act, 1950
The AP Assigned Lands (Prohibition Of Transfer) Act, l977
A.P (Telangana Area) Abolition Of Inams Act, 1955
AP (Andhra Area) Inam Abolition Act, 1956
The Andhra Pradesh Rights In Land And Pattadar Pass Books Act, 1971
The Andhra Pradesh Occupants Of Homesteads (Conferment Of
Ownership) Act, 1976.
 AP Land grabbing Act, AP encroachment Act etc.
Taking sides with the poor…
But- the process of linking the land to the poor is
far from completed though there are pro-poor
Acts to facilitate land ownership by the landless
poor .
Despite the continuing efforts
of
government, even today, several field
experiences and studies indicate that the
end results have not been commensurate
with the expectations.
And the poor got disillusioned.
Taking sides with the poor…
Land Reforms- An unfinished agenda
Started with a great enthusiasm with an aim to make more rational
use of scarce land resource with equity as the basis for its three key
elements- abolition of intermediaries, ceiling on landholdings and
tenancy reforms.
• The first of these could be implemented with a relative degree of
success to the extent of doing away with the Zamindari and
Inamdari systems, but not in improving the lot of the poor.
• Initially 16.63 lakh acres were declared as surplus, later reduced to
8.01 lakh acres. 5.71 acres have been taken possession. Still 2.29
lakh acres are yet to be taken over.
Taking sides with the poor…
Out of the 789911.40 acres declared surplus, 582374.42 acres
are stated to have been distributed to the poor. 207536.98
acres are not distributed due to the following reasons.
• Under litigation in Courts - 147384 acres
• Unfit for cultivation
- 10291.18 acres
• Reserved/ Transferred for public purpose - 16690.85 acres
• Covered under Misc. reasons/ administrative delay31234.40 acres
• Readily available for distribution - 1936.01 acres
Taking sides with the poor…
Why the surplus land is not available for distribution ?
• the large landholders have avoided the ceiling laws by
partitioning their families in the land record while cultivating
the land jointly.
• Higher limits of ceiling keeping in view ‘local’ considerations.
• litigation withholds a major part of the land in almost all the
states.
• Sizeable area in AP has gone out of the total quantum of surplus
land as a result of court decisions.
• a significant portion of the area declared as ceiling surplus is
either unfit for cultivation or not available for distribution due
to ‘miscellaneous reasons’.
Taking sides with the poor…
• No. of cases were filed on wrong determination of
surplus by the land reforms authorities by not verifying
the status of legal heirs, gift deeds (Pasupu kumkuma to
the married daughters), already transferred by sada bai
nama to another party by declarant, non deletion of such
lands covered by tenancy, Inam etc.
• A huge no. of cases are being ordered by the Courts in
favour of the declarants due to delay in filing the
counter by authorities, not furnishing the required
documentary evidences to the Courts.
Taking sides with the poor…..
The Planning Commission Task Force and also a no. of studies
mentioned the following, as the principal reasons for poor
implementation of land reforms•
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lack of political will
absence of pressure from below
the escaping attitude of the large landowners
the inherent loopholes and ambiguities in the legislative measures
apathetic attitude of the bureaucracy- slow proceedings at all
levels
• absence of up to date land records and
• legal hurdles in the way of implementation.
Taking sides with the poor…
Issues of Tenancy
• Two separate laws govern rural land tenancy in AP.
• Both laws regulate the landlord-tenant relationship by
setting a maximum rate of rent and a standard lease period
of 5 or 6 years.
• Both acts attempt to protect tenants from exploitative
tenancy relationships.
• The Telangana Act is more radical prohibiting the creation
of new tenancy-relationships, with some exceptions, and
creating a class of PTs who have the right to purchase the
land they work.
• In 1974, the Andhra Act was amended to bring it more in
line with the Telangana Act. The Telangana Act, however,
continues to grant tenants greater rights and protections.
Taking sides with the poor…
Issues of Tenancy
The extent of Tenancy has increased sharply during the last 10 to 15
years due to
• the migration of the rich farmers and landlords who preferred to lease
out the land and charge exorbitant rents. (In Telangana, due to
extremist problem)
• some small and middle peasants suffering due to high costs of
production, unremunerative prices etc. leasing out their lands.
• in many parts of the delta area about 80% of the land is leased out.
The poor tenants suffered as
• Provision was made for the termination of the tenancy and eviction of
the tenant during the currency of the lease in case the tenant failed to
pay the rent due or misused the land.
• The landlord was also permitted to take back the land from his tenant
for “personal cultivation”, which was defined loosely.
Taking sides with the poor…
Issues of Tenancy
• large-scale eviction of tenants took place in the guise of personal
cultivation.
• No formal credit is available to the tenants, since tenancy was not
recorded. So they have to borrow from the informal sector with
usurious interest rates.
• Whatever crop insurance amounts paid for crop failure, went to the
landowners.
•
Insecure tenancies give rise to uncertainty. The tenant is not sure
whether he will retain operation control over the leased parcel
Limitations on capacity to undertake durable investment
lower productivity of land.
Taking sides with the poor…
Bhoodan Lands
• 195509.7 acres had been received in donation out of which
122682.56 acres were fit for cultivation. 112600.7 acres
were distributed so far. 10081.38 acres are yet to be
distributed.
(A.P.Bhoodan Yagna Board, 2002.)
• About 40% of land collected through this scheme i.e.
about 70,000 acres had been found either unsuitable for
cultivation or under dispute.
• The donated lands were by and large of inferior types
requiring substantial investment to make them worthy of
cultivation
Taking sides with the poor…
Unsettled Inam Lands
•
9,08,575 acres are settled so far under AP (AA) Inam Abolition Act, 1956,
AP (TA) Inam Abolition Act, 1955, AP (TA) Inam Abolition Act 29/85.
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In Telangana area, thousands of acres are still waiting to be settled.
•
Settling of Inams is not proactive. Only those who apply for the settlement
get the occupancy rights and the land title settled in their name.
•
Wherever special drives were conducted, the occupancy rights are not
leading to final settlement due to non-payment of premium. As a result
pattadar pass books are not being issued to the holders of ORCs.
•
several decades have passed since the original inams were given. The only
way of settling the Inam is by enquiry. It is only the older generation who
are in the know of the family tree, legacy of land and other issues like
transfer and sale of lands etc. In another 5-10 years time they may not be
alive to give the total picture.
Taking sides with the poor…
Land Distribution among Scheduled Castes and Tribes
The poorest among the poor in Indian society are largely
from these groups.
• The incidence of landlessness is more pronounced among
these groups, the bulk of whom are agricultural laborers
having minuscule holdings/ sharecroppers/ insecure
tenants.
After 50 years of planned initiatives and policy
measures, what is the landholding status of scheduled
groups?
Taking sides with the poor…
Land Distribution among Scheduled Castes and Tribes
•
A majority of SCs (77 %) and STs (90%) are landless, without any
productive assets and sustainable employment opportunities.
(Ninth Five-Year Plan Draft 1997-2002, Planning Commission).
•
Around 87% of the landholders of SCs and 65% of STs in the country
belong to the category of small and marginal farmers
(Agricultural Census 1990-91).
•
64% of SCs and 36% of STs’ main workers are agricultural laborers as
against 31% of others.
(Census of India, 1991)
•
The scheduled castes, with 16 per cent of the state’s population control
only 7.5 per cent of the operated area in Andhra Pradesh. Compared with
1980-81, in 1990-91 the increase is less than 0.5 per cent.
Taking sides with the poor…
What is the Status of the land distribution to the SCs ?
• Out of the 4321376.37 acres of Govt. land distributed
so far, 979315.91 acres were distributed to the SCs
i.e. 22% of the total land distributed.
• 6,51,725 SCs got land assignment out of a population
of 1,23,39,496 i.e. only 5% of the SCs were covered
under the land assignment programme of the Govt.
• According to one estimate, about 5.00 lakh acres only
are held by the SCs now though about 10.00 lakh
acres had been distributed to the SCs from 1969 to
2000.
Taking sides with the poor…
Status of the land holdings of the SCs
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1961 Census
1991 Census
SC Population
49,73,000
1,05,00,000
People able to work
30,62,000
51,71,920
Land owners/cultivators
7,59,000 (23% of
the able
workers)
6,60,585 (12% of
the able
workers)
Agricultural laborers
17,56,908 (57%)
37,26,590 (72%)
About One Lakh SCs lost land.
Of the people who are able to work, only 12% are holding lands. It has
decreased from 23% in 1961.
The % of agricultural laborers has drastically increased from 57% in
1961 to 72% in 1991.
50% of the holdings of the SCs do not have any irrigation facility.
Taking sides with the poor…
How average holding has decreased?
Average Holding of the SCs
Average holding of the STs
1975-76
1.19 hectare
2.33 hectare
1980-81
1.06 hectare
1986-87
0.9 hectare
1990-91
0.91 hectare
1995-96
0.83 hectare
1.44 hectare
* As per the Agricultural Census of 1995-96 which is published recently.
• In the Land distribution programme from 1969 till date, “others”
were benefited more in terms of numbers and extent compared to
SCs/STs/BCs.
• Whether it is allotment of Govt. land/ ceiling surplus land/ bhoodan
land, ensuring physical possession of it becomes a major problem.
• In many places pattas were not issued even after several years of
allotment of land which invariably leads to several kinds of
litigation.
• Substantial extents of lands, which had been assigned to the
landless poor, have actually been alienated and ended up in the
hands of non-poor.
Though Act 9 of 77 prohibits transfer and restores the possession
back to the assignee evicting the encroacher, this option is rarely
resorted to.
Taking sides with the poor…
Tribal Land Issues
• Tribals cultivating land cleaning forest within their customary norms
and practices without any experience of landlessness, were compelled
to work as laborers in their own land.
• Strong discontentment and the simmering tensions culminated in
rebellions one after another.
• Despite the provision for prevention of land transfers from tribals to
non-tribals, land alienation through debt mechanism, tenancy and other
dishonest practices continued unabated.
• The survey and settlement regulations of the Govt. had given scope for
the non-tribals to claim legal right over the lands
• About 3.00 lakh acres is estimated to be under the occupation of
tribals from ages which is claimed to be forest land.
Taking sides with the poor…
Tribal Lands Alienation
• In Andhra Pradesh land alienation among the tribals is remarkably
higher both in terms of area and number.
• Lot of manipulations have been done from 1917 onwards from which
time the Govt. had started making special enactments for the agency
tracts.
• Despite Land Transfer Regulations, non-tribals hold as much as 48%
of the lands.
• During the survey and settlement period i.e. 1970 – 76 in the agency
areas, most of the land belonged to tribals was surveyed in the name of
non- tribals under Ryotwari Settlement Regulations 2 of 69 and 2 of
70. Non- tribals managed to get settlement pattas over the land of
tribals.
Taking sides with the poor…
Tribal Lands Alienation
•
A large number of registered land alienation cases have been rejected and
many of them are also pending in court.
•
In AP, out of the cases filed 48.18% (involving 52.2% of area) have been
rejected and went against the tribals. 11.63 are pending in Courts.
(Annual Report 1999-2000, Ministry of Rural Development, Government
of India)
•
Moreover, many of the land alienation cases are also unreported and
unregistered.
•
In many cases though the land is owned by a tribal it is occupied and
cultivated by non-tribals.
•
In cases where orders were issued in favor of the tribals, the orders were not
implemented and the lands continued to be under the virtual control of the
non-tribals.
8,27,076 STs out of a population of 50,24,104 i.e. only 16.46% of the STs were
covered under the land assignment programme of the Govt.
Taking sides with the poor…
Status of LTR implementation
Sl. No.
Item
1
No. of cases detected
Extent (in acres)
2
No. of cases disposed
Extent
3
Land Restored to tribals
4
Balance to be restored
* TCR&TI
2003-04
74876
329961
63172
274598
31111
298850
Taking sides with the poor…
Sada bainama Transactions
• Thousands of poor have bought the lands from the landowners
about 30-40 years ago, on plain paper (sada bai nama) and are in
physical possession of these lands
• As the purchase transaction has taken place on plain paper these
lands are not registered in the names of the poor.
• The cut off date for filing application for regularizing such
transactions was 31.10.1998. Due to ignorance of the provision or
lack of resources, the poor could not regularize their purchase of
lands.
• Thousands of acres are involved in Sada bainama transactions in
almost all the districts. Guntur is reported to have 45,000 acres
involved in such transactions.
Thousands of poor are not legal owners of the lands they bought.
Taking sides with the poor…
Lands of the poor locked in Courts
•
At Hyderabad, the capital city of AP there are at least 8,000-10,000 land cases
and issues of the poor in the various courts- the High Court and other Apex
Courts at the Govt.level.
•
At District Level, a conservative estimate is that there will be another 5000
cases pending in the Courts of MRO/RDO/JC in each district.
•
The average age of a case is 10 years. Each case travels through the various
lower courts to arrive at Apex court, adding another 5-10 years to the age of
the case.
•
Due to time pressure and the multifarious tasks, the revenue magistrates are
not able to hold the courts regularly, leave alone dispose of the cases.
•
Increasing interference of civil courts in revenue issues is further
compounding the issue.
•
Many of the land cases will be eventually leading to a criminal case. There
many instances where people are approaching the police for getting relief in a
land dispute.
A poor man waits nearly 15-20 years for justice
Taking sides with the poor…
Lands of the poor locked in Courts
• technicalities with regard to the management of cases are
not taken care of.
• Lists of pending cases are not available in these offices and
sometimes the old case files are not traceable.
• The improper maintenance of files leads to one case being
in different files leading to parallel orders, two to three
cases found in one single file etc.
• There is no standard format to maintain case files and
categorize them.
The poor lose out because of lack of legal awareness, an
indifferent system, long pendency and non-availability
of legal assistance
Taking sides with the poor…
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Other Land Issues
About 38 categories of land are available in the villages.
Thousands of acres of Endowment lands are under the
occupation of non-poor.
Thousands of acres of Lanka lands are under the
occupation of poor.
CJFS lands.
Updation and Maintenance of land records and making
them available to the public.
(It has been estimated by reputed agencies that
India loses 1.3 per cent economic growth annually
as a result of disputed land titles, which inhibit
supply of capital and credit for agriculture)
Fair distribution of land is not possible
through mere legislative measures. The law,
however well framed cannot succeed in the
absence of an active socio-political
organization to help the underprivileged
assert their rights over land.
What Next ?
Elements of Sub-division Plan
STAGE I
Mapping Land Issues
a.
The first stage in the sub-divisional action plan will be to
map comprehensively the land issues in the subdivision.
For this village-wise details of various types of land
issues shall be captured.
b.
Time period required : 1 month. By march 25th this
exercise shall be completed for the subdivision.
Elements of Sub-division Plan
c. Physical Inventory of Lands in the subdivision:
Details of land issues in the subdivision shall be captured
from village wise detailed physical inventory of lands.
(Proforma enclosed)
i. A time bound plan forming special teams of revenue,
survey and members from NGOs working on land issues to
cover all villages in the sub division shall be prepared.
ii. These teams shall be trained in doing physical inventory of
lands in the village.
iii. Following details shall be captured .
Elements of Sub-division Plan
d.
Details of Village wise land issues in the sub division :
i. Government lands (Poramboke lands ,Bhoodan lands, )
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
Extent of Government lands
Extent of Government lands assigned
Extent of lands in possession of the original assignee
Extent of lands not in possession of eligible encroachers
Extent of lands in possession of the ineligible encroachers
Extent and status of lands not assigned
Extent of lands available for assignment
Details of pattas issued but physical possession not shown
Eligible Shivaijamadars in cultivation of lands
Extent of lands under the ‘un assignable category’ in occupation of the
poor
Elements of Sub-division Plan
ii. Inam Lands / Estate Lands
Extent of Inam/Estate lands
Extent and details of unsettled Inam/Estate lands
iii. Endowment lands
Extent and details of endowment lands in occupation of the poor
iv. Revenue –Forest Border dispute lands
Extent and details of lands under forest-revenue disputes.
Elements of Sub-division Plan
v. Ceiling Lands
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Extent of lands declared surplus in form 10
Extent of lands taken possession
Extent of lands assigned to the poor
Extent of lands not assigned
Extent of lands not taken possession
Extent of land which is ceiling surplus but not declared
surplus.
vi. Forest Lands under occupation of poor
Extent of lands under occupation of the poor
Elements of Sub-division Plan
vii. Lands of poor under sadabainama transactions :
Details of lands of poor under sadabainama
transactions
viii . Extent and details of Lanka lands :
ix.
Extent of lands in the Revenue courts:
x.
Extent of lands in civil courts
xi.
Details of Common Property resources
:
:
Stage II
Physical Verification
Stage III
Action Plan for resolving issues