India, being a predominantly agricultural society, has a strong linkage
between land and social status of an individual. The fact that close to 70 % of the
population is dependent on land, either as farmers or farm laborers, means that it is
imperative to address the issue of land in such manner that it provides livelihood,
dignity and food security to millions of Indians. India has the largest number of rural
poor as well as landless households in the world. Landlessness is a strong indicator
of rural poverty in the country. Land is the most valuable, imperishable possession
from which people derive their economic independence, social status and a modest
and permanent means of livelihood. But in addition to that, land also assures them of
identity and dignity and creates condition and opportunities for realizing social
equality. Assured possession and equitable distribution of land is a lasting source for
peace and prosperity and will pave way for economic and social justice in India.
(a) Creation of land pool
i. In order to provide homestead land, minimum agricultural land, and shelter
to every family, it is essential that a land pool is created. The smallest unit in
this case will be a village or a cluster of villages, as the case may be, because it
is not realistic to expect people to migrate long distances for obtaining their
rights. The utilisation of the land pool for the purpose of homestead land or
agriculture shall begin as soon as the pool is created at the village / cluster
level.
ii. States shall work towards the creation of a land pool within a specified
timeframe comprising of, amongst others –
(a) agricultural waste land, whether illegally encroached or otherwise;
(b) restoration of land acquired, purchased and/or leased out to industries
etc. or acquired for development purposes/ projects but remaining
unutilised,
(c) surplus ceiling land by removing illegal occupation on those,
(d) Bhoodan land by removing illegal occupation on those ,
(e) Land being made available by correction of land records following
reconciliation of forest land and revenue land and
(f) Panchami land in Tamil Nadu/assigned land in Andhra Pradesh/ Gairan
land in Maharashtara also by removing illegal occupation on those.
(b) Assignment policy –
The States shall explore all available opportunities to create and maintain a
land pool in every village. For this purpose, the States shall
i. Conduct an inventory of government, ceiling surplus, bhoodan and other
categories of lands with the help of landless poor, Gram Panchayat, SHGs of
women, and Civil Society Organizations, under the supervision of Revenue
Authorities. As part of the inventory, comprehensive details about these
lands including details of current enjoyers should be collected and the
details should be made available to people.
ii. Evict ineligible encroachers of government lands, ceiling surplus and
bhoodan lands and distribute to the landless poor
(c) Time-bound assignment of land
i. Distribute/Assign/Allot the available land to eligible land less poor,
particularly the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other marginalized
and deprived landless in a time bound manner both for agriculture and
house sites. The allotment of land should be made in the name of women
member in the eligible family. The list of beneficiaries should be prepared
with the approval of Gram Sabha. The list of beneficiaries should be made
available to the public.
ii. Settle all the pending applications for regularization of unobjectionable
occupations of government land by conducting a special drive in a time
bound manner.
(d) Ceiling surplus lands
There is an urgent need to re-visit the land ceiling limits in different
categories. Excluding the achievements of some States like West Bengal, Kerala, and
Jammu and Kashmir, the imposition of land ceilings has not led to any worthwhile
redistribution of agricultural land in the rest of the country. Some of the suggestions
are:
i. Every state should revise its ceiling limits, if the existing limit is more than 5-
10 acres in the case of irrigated land and 10-15 acres for non-irrigated land.
ii. Exemptions to religious, educational, charitable, research and industrial
organizations as well as plantations and aqua farms should be strictly
discontinued. These institutions shall not be allowed to use more than one
unit of 15 acres.
iii. States shall adopt ‘single window’ system for re-distribution of ceiling surplus
land within a specified time frame.
iv. All States shall impose ceiling not only on ‘Ownership’ of land holdings but
also on ‘Operational’ land holdings to prevent concentration of large tracts of
land through lease-in. Under no circumstance shall a
person/institution/organisation be allowed to own more land than the ceiling.
v. For the purpose of curbing and monitoring evasions of ceiling laws through
fraudulent land transactions, the Benami Transactions (Prohibition of the
Right to Recover Property) Act, 1989 shall be appropriately amended.
vi. All the ceiling surplus lands, which are stated to have been distributed to the
landless poor, shall be physically verified to see whether the assignees are in
possession and enjoyment of these lands. If not, steps shall be taken to see
that the assignees are given possession of lands.
vii. States shall prepare and maintain an inventory of all ceiling surplus lands and
make it available for public scrutiny.
