Balancing Reform And Responsibility: Rethinking Land Conversion Policies
The Gujarat Tenancy and Agricultural Land Act, 1948 (hereinafter referred as “the Act”) was enacted with the primary objective of protecting the rights of the tenants by ensuring equitable land distribution in the state. The act regulates the use of agricultural land in Gujarat. Section 63 of the Act bars the transfer of agricultural land to non-agriculturists. However, there is an...
The Gujarat Tenancy and Agricultural Land Act, 1948 (hereinafter referred as “the Act”) was enacted with the primary objective of protecting the rights of the tenants by ensuring equitable land distribution in the state. The act regulates the use of agricultural land in Gujarat. Section 63 of the Act bars the transfer of agricultural land to non-agriculturists. However, there is an ongoing discussion regarding the relaxation of agricultural land laws in Gujarat, and whether non-agriculturists should be allowed to purchase agricultural land? The reason for such discussion is to promote organic farming and attract more investment to the agricultural sector. There are two types of agricultural land viz: firstly, old tenure land and secondly, new tenure/restricted tenure land. Old tenure land refers to agricultural land that was acquired by a tenant; on the Tiller's day i.e. 1st April 1957, this usually means that the land is now unrestricted and is entirely owned by the tenant. On the other hand, New tenure/Restricted tenure land refers to agricultural land which is subject to specific restrictions on its transfer. The new tenure land needs approval from the government, only after which it can be transferred, unlike the old tenure land. Currently, if a non-agriculturist wants to purchase a land, the agricultural land needs to be converted to non agricultural land (hereinafter referred to as “NA”) with the permission of the collector after all the prerequisites, like payment of premium, are complied with.
Critical Analysis Of The C.L. Meena Report
Suppose, a person “Mr. A” who is a non-agriculturist wants to purchase agricultural land, the original owner (who is an agriculturist) “Mr. B” will have to convert the new tenure land into old tenure land by paying the conversion fee and after that through the permission of the District Collector needs to grant NA permission i.e. the agricultural land will need to be converted into non-agricultural land after payment of premium, only after which the sale deed can be executed in favor of Mr. A. However, Section 65 of the Gujarat Land Revenue Code, 1879 states that if the collector fails to inform the applicant of his decision within a period of three months, the permission shall be deemed to have been granted. Moreover, after the Gujarat Tenancy and Agricultural Land Laws (Amendment) Act, 2024, through the Government Notification dated 8th February 2024, if the tenant has used the land for agricultural purposes for more than 15 years, the land would be converted (with conditions) from new tenure to old tenure without paying any conversion fee, even then the premium for conversion of the land to non agricultural land needs to be paid.
In contemporary times, the debate pertains to whether a non agriculturist should be allowed to purchase agricultural land without converting it into non agricultural land and use the land for agricultural purposes only, in Gujarat. The reason surrounding this debate is to attract more investment in the agricultural sector by those who have genuine interest in farming. Another reason for this debate is the rapid pace at which the land is getting converted to NA, there is a high chance that Gujarat may face a shortage of agricultural land in the future. In states like Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Rajasthan, the agricultural land laws are relatively more relaxed, and even non agriculturists are allowed to purchase agricultural land. According to the Additional Chief Secretary of Gujarat (Revenue Dept.), Dr. Jayanti Ravi, the state will be reviewing the report by the committee chaired by C.L Meena, after which the decision of the state will be announced. The report suggests possible modifications to the current laws governing the conversion of agricultural land and land reforms in Gujarat, with emphasis on the purchase of agricultural land by non agriculturists.
With regards to the current debate, criticism is placed on the current suggestions made in the report due to various reasons which are discussed further in the blog.
Firstly, if non agriculturists are permitted to purchase agricultural land, then a constant check would have to be kept by the authorities regarding the usage of the land. Further, the rigorous due diligence mechanism which will have to be implemented by the authorities will be one of the important factors in deciding the effectiveness of the changes. However, implementing the said due diligence mechanism will be burdensome, and there will be a lot of drawbacks of the same.
Secondly, if non agriculturists are permitted to purchase agricultural land, then in the economic realm, the prices of the agricultural lands will face an inevitable price hike. The rationale behind this is, if the said suggested reforms were to be implemented, then the people willing to purchase the land would increase and thereby the quantum of demand would rise, however, the supply of agricultural land would be limited which will result in increase in the price of the land due to simple demand-supply relation. Pursuant to this, it is highly likely for agriculturists to sell their land in return for the artificially inflated amount, and even though it may seem like a heavy incentive, the benefit from this would be short-term. Owing to this the farmers would lose their livelihood and their sole source of income in exchange for the short-term benefits arising from the sale.
Thirdly, if the reforms are implemented, the non agriculturists would purchase agricultural land and will be the owners of the said land. However, to use the land for agricultural purposes they would have to employ a person having a nuanced agricultural skill-set. Such reforms would bring more investment in the agricultural sector, but it would also bring back the zamindari system as the landowners and the employed personnel working on the agricultural land are separate and there would not be any equitable distribution of the land. The big money holders will be able to monopolise their holding on the agricultural land and the divide between the holdings of the top holders and the average agriculturist will be very high, which is not the ideal case scenario in an agrarian state.
Fourthly, the purpose of the enactment of the Act was to promote agriculture by regulating ownership of the land and enhancing the equitable distribution of agricultural land. So, if the said reforms are implemented in Gujarat, the major objective behind the enactment would be defeated and the reforms would go against the contours of the Act.
Based upon the above analysis on the reforms for relaxation of the agricultural land law, though these reforms suggest an incentive-loaded scheme, and even if it seems that a categorical change can be brought in the agricultural sector, these said benefits are just a mere illusion due to a variety of reasons as discussed above. A complete discard of the idea of implementation is not suggested, but the government should formulate a well-defined and structured model for the effective administration of agricultural lands. If a well-rounded model is implemented, then these reforms will bring about a major change in the agricultural sector. With that being said the fiery debate surrounding the relaxation of laws for allowing the purchase of agricultural land by non-agriculturists in Gujarat, is still in its nascent stage and thus requires thoughtful deliberation for it.
Views are personal.
