Inter-ministerial meeting on land leasing bill today

Bhubaneswar: Odisha government is likely to take a final call on the draft bill prepared to safeguard the interests of sharecroppers in the inter-ministerial committee meeting today.

The committee headed by Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Maheswar Mohanty will decide on the new legislation. The draft has been sent to the Law Department for consideration after the last inter-ministerial meeting remained inconclusive.

Issues like sharing pattern of produce between sharecroppers and landlords, process of financial compensation for farmers and other features of the bill will be discussed in meeting.

As the sharecroppers who cultivate huge chunk of cultivable land in the state do not get government assistance during natural calamities, crop loans from banks and fertiliser at subsidized rate, input subsidy, insurance cover and other benefits, there has been continuous demand from all quarters to protect the sharecroppers in distress.