The Karnataka government on Tuesday passed the controversial Land Reforms (Amendment) Act in the Legislative Council with support from the Janata Dal (Secular). The act paves the way for non-agriculturists to buy farmland and also removes all income limits for people to own farmland.
The bill was passed in the Assembly in September this year after retaining the existing land ceiling limit (10 units, or 54 acres, for individuals and 20 units, or 108 acres, for a family of over five members), owing to pressure from the JD(S) and other farmer organisations over any hike in the land ceiling. However, the bill had been defeated in the Upper House (where the BJP does not have majority). In the 75-member house, the BJP has 31 seats, the Congress 28 and JD(S) 14.
This time, the bill was passed by 37 votes to 21, even as nine members of the Congress were absent and the 10 votes of the JD(S) proved to be crucial.
The passage of the Land Reforms Act has put the JD(S) in a spot. A party that identifies with the farming and landholding community drew flak from the community for supporting the land bill in the Upper House on a day when farmers from across the country were protesting against the three farm acts passed by the Parliament. The JD(S) had also staged a protest against the Centre's "anti-farmer" laws, in front of the Gandhi Statue inside the Secretariat complex on Tuesday.
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Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa defended the land bill in the council saying, "We have barred the purchase of irrigated land for non-agriculture purposes. In fact, the Sections 79A and B have been scrapped in Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra and Kerala too."
The chief minister also dismissed the fear of industries and corporates taking over cultivable land. "It is imprudent to say the farmers will indiscriminately start selling all their lands just because the law now permits the sale of farmland. The farmers are knowledgeable. Moreover, this land reform hopes to encourage industries in the rural areas and to generate jobs. There is no need to panic as hardly two per cent of the land in the state is being used for industries," he added.
