Rural development minister Jairam Ramesh has written to more than a dozen states to amend their land ceiling laws . Ramesh wants states to lower the maximum land that can be held by various categories of owners. The move, coming as it does ahead of parliamentary elections likely by early 2014 , is aimed at creating the ?ceiling surplus? for redistribution to the landless poor.
Ramesh?s National Right to Homestead Bill, which many states had earlier said was impractical and impinged on their rights, proposes to provide rural families the right to land holdings not less than 10 cents. The advisories to states is in conformity with the Bill?s intent.
Sources said Ramesh has asked the politically crucial state of Uttar Pradesh to revisit the ceiling limit for educational institutions as large tracts of land in their possession are not utilised. He has also suggested that instead of a blanket exemption from the Land Ceiling Act for charitable and religious trusts, plantations, sugar mills and the like, relaxations for them could be considered on a case -by -case basis. ?Revisit the ceiling limit for educational institutions since large tracts of possessed land remain unused,? the minister?s advisory to the UP government said.
?The land that remains unused for more than three years should be declared ?ceiling surplus? and redistributed to the landless poor, with priority given to marginalised women,? the advisory said. It may be noted that the Congress has recently reached out to the Samajwadi Party by pledging all support to the UP government?s development efforts. The SP, which has 22 seats in the Lok Sabha, is seen to be ambivalent towards the UPA government at the Centre.
The minister has also asked Bihar to revisit the current status of khasmahal land ? where the government owns the land that is leased out ? in terms of its utility and make it available for distribution among the homestead landless households under the state’s Mahadalit Vikas Mission.
The move, if implemented, will generate land for the UPA government’s ambitious homestead Bill that promises every landless and homeless poor family in rural areas a homestead ?of not less than 10 cents? (0.1 acre or 4,356 sq ft), much on the lines of its flagship Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Act (MGNREGA) that promises 100 days of employment to each rural household every year.
From Andhra Pradesh, the ministry has sought a change in the classification of land newly brought under irrigation and accordingly implement the land ceiling Act, while Maharashtra has been recommended distributing the excess land left after the land ceiling to the landless, whose ownership should be given to both men and women.
?Evict all illegal occupants of rural evacuee agricultural land, ceiling surplus land, benami land, excess land with religious trusts, and distribute it to the SCs, OBCs and other marginalised communities like nomads and religious minorities. 50% of such lands must be exclusively distributed to marginalised women,? said the advisory to Punjab.
Similarly, Tamil Nadu has been asked to amend the existing ceiling laws to eliminate loopholes and minimise exemptions and secure more land for distribution among the landless poor.