Govt to amend Land Reform Act

In a high level meeting here on Thursday at the secretariat, it was decided to bring amendment in the existing Land Reforms Act of the state in order to legalise share cropping. The state government had banned the system since 1975.

“To give the tenants their rights and help them avail agriculture loans we have decided to bring an amendment in the Orissa Land Reforms Act 1965”, said state Revenue Minister Surya Narayan Patro.

As per the amendment, both the landlord and the share farmer can reach an agreement before the Tehsildar which will include the area of land, tenure of tenancy, and the profit sharing ratio among the two.

“While the agreement will help the landlord to get their actual share in time and legitimise its possession over the land, it will enable the tenant to invest on the land and avail various opportunities like bank loans, subsidies and relief packages in case of crop loss due to natural calamity by producing the agreement paper”, Patro added.

The reformed bill is expected to be tabled in the Assembly after getting approval from the cabinet.

It may be noted that the state government had announced Rs 900 cr package for the farmers hit by the untimely rain and were facing trouble as neither the landlords nor the tenants turn up for the package. As the earlier Land rule prohibits tenancy, farmers fear that their land may get confiscated if the government comes to know that tenancy was there.

Hence, concerned over the issue, the state government wants to bring amendment in the existing rule.