Bengaluru: Amid opposition from various quarters – political parties, farmers and other interest groups – the state government has decided to implement the cabinet decision on the purchase of farmland forthwith. It has decided to amend the Land Reform rules through an ordinance.
It may be recalled that the state government had decided to allow people from all walks of life to buy farmland. Accordingly, the government had decided to bring amendments to the land reforms act.
Briefing the media after the cabinet meeting which decided the issue a few days back, Law Minister JC Madhu Swamy said, “In Karnataka, we have land reforms with different sections. 79A says only those who are having less than Rs 2 lakh income can purchase land. B means only an agriculturalist allowed to purchase land. C means we have to file all sorts of documents while buying land.”
He said in the cabinet meeting a decision was taken to repeal all these provisions. “We are thinking that if there comes a man who can invest for good technology in agriculture, we have to facilitate him,” Mr. Madhu Swamy said Karnataka has also doubled the limitation for the holding of land.
As expected social activists including Padma Shri awardee Devanur Mahadev, Kadidal Shyamanna, etc opposed the move. They warned that this will lead to serious consequences in the future. However, trade and industry bodies welcomed the move saying it will help bring more investment into the farm sector.
Earlier, even though the state government had made it clear that it has no plans to opt for the ordinance route to notify the new rules as it is a sensitive matter, now the revenue minister R Ashok stated that ordinance is the only way forward.
“We don’t know when we can call the legislative session due to the COVID 19. This is an urgent matter. So, in the next cabinet meeting we will decide to issue an ordinance through the governor,” he said.
Meanwhile, state agriculture minister BC Patil stated that he is against converting the farmland into real estate sites.”I am in support of this Act. But I am against using farmland for real estate,” he said.
