Goa’s Comunidades, traditional agrarian cooperatives, played an essential role in ensuring food security through managing common lands and natural resources. Comunidade is a private village in Goa having absolute land ownership rights or absolute dominium and functioning independently as self-governing establishment, institution or a co-operative.
Comunidades are similar to village communes, yet having sui generis distinct characteristics as regards structure, functions, tenure contracts and ownership rights.
Transitioned from the Gaunkari or the Gramsanstha system which is thousands of years old and later codified to the Comunidades in early 1500, all cultivable lands were owned by the Comunidade and were leased out for fixed periods by auction to farmers.
The institution of Comunidade went through various transitions during the Portuguese colonisation of Goa from 1510 to 1961, but land ownership remained largely with the respective Comunidades.
When Goa joined the Indian union in 1961, there were political pressures on the popularly elected government to provide security of land tenure to tenants and the government passed the Agricultural Tenancy Act in 1964. Thereafter, tenants cultivating lands were given land titles.
The administration of village affairs was handed over to the Panchayats, which had a more democratic membership open to all residents of the village. In the traditional system only the Gaunkars were allowed to participate in the decision-making process.
An important function of the Comunidades was to maintain the embankments, which protected the village lands from inundation.
The administration of Comunidades is governed by Legislative Enactment Number 2070 dated March 15, 1961, and is known as the ‘Code of Comunidades’.
Recognising the vital role played by these Comunidades at the village level, and the interests of the village communities in the institution of the Comunidades and its properties, Article 5 of the said Code, has made it clear that the Comunidades shall be under the administrative tutelage of the State, in terms established in the said Code, and its immovable properties may be granted on contract and alienated in the manner provided in the Code.
The scheme of the Code of Comunidades suggests that the Comunidades are not free to deal with their properties in the same manner as a private individual or entity.
The Comunidades have to deal with their properties following the provisions contained in the said Code. There are checks and balances provided in the said Code to ensure that the Managing Committees of the Comunidades do not fritter away Comunidade’s properties for their private gains or without regard to the interest of the Comunidades and its members.
However, Comunidades are facing numerous challenges including declining productivity, rising input costs, and competition from other States and not to mention, instances of illegal encroachments. These have in turn threatened the agriculture sector.
If these weren’t enough, the Goa Legislative Assembly passed The Goa Legislative Diploma No. 2070 dated 15-4-1961 (Amendment) Bill, 2023, by a voice vote on the last day of the recently concluded session. What is the reason for this amendment and the possible impact on ground?
Tulio de Souza, President, Comunidade of Guirim said, “These amendments have been approved in a hurried manner. Comunidades and the Gaonkars are not in favour of these amendments because as per Article 652 in Code of Comunidades, a convention has to be held at least once in five years on the first Sunday of January. It is desirable that before proposing such amendments, these are to be circulated, discussed and vetted during the convention.”
The Code of Comunidade was codified by the erstwhile Portuguese regime from 1904 and then in 1933. The final notified code legislative diploma 2070 was approved on April 15, 1961. This last code is in force and the current management and administration of Comunidades happen based on this code.
“The government brought these amendments at the very last stage of the session without in-depth study and also without giving enough time for the legislators to comprehend the issue. They approved an amendment which nobody demanded. Our Comunidades are agricultural cooperative bodies. As per Code of Comunidades, development was never envisaged,” de Souza said.
All 222 Comunidade lands are either orchards or cultivable agricultural lands. Agriculture was the main objective in this entire exercise of Comunidades.
“It looks like the government under the garb of development is just trying to do business. As per one of the amendments, they are telling the Comunidades to do development works by floating tenders, finalising quotations and taking government’s approval. If the government intends to revive agriculture in Goa then there is no better organised set-up other than the Comunidades,” he said.
As per the Code, Comunidades are autonomous bodies and have the right to decide on the affairs and the management of its own assets. But, there are administrators, collectors and revenue department above us who are, as per the Code, supposed to provide administrative tutelage to Comunidades.
“The government is only bringing clauses in which they can enter the micro-management of Comunidades, rather than bringing legislation in the form of reforms. These amendments are basically against the charter of Comunidades,” he said.
Article 334 c states, “Notwithstanding anything containing this Code government may with a prior consent of the concerned Comunidade grant land by way of long lease for any public purpose for such a period on such terms conditions as it may deemed fit to any government department, undertaking or statutory body constituted by the government.”
The government is not buying the land as it will have to pay four times the market price as per the Land Acquisition Act. So the apprehension about giving up on a long lease is that the government may set up a public project through the Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) model. Do you think this is an attempt from the backdoor to grab land?
Sandip Khaunte, President, Comunidade of Bandora said, “I feel this is a big conspiracy of the government to grab lands. This law should have been applicable to others as well. Law should be uniform. Tomorrow it can acquire the land. It has not been done yet because the government doesn't have the money.”
Manoj Borkar, Attorney, Comunidade of Borim, said, “In a way it’s a warning. The Comunidade system has sustained till now because our State is an agriculture-oriented one. Our motive should be taking agriculture ahead. Tulio has already made some apt points. Whether it’s me as a landowner or someone else, land is limited.”
“I am with the government on certain points. If the government wants land for something, they should have a system in place. They need to ask us properly. In ancient times of monarchy, there were proper systems in place. But today what is happening is that the Assembly members are sidelining us and taking decisions the way they want. It’s either my way or highway, which shouldn’t be the case,” Borkar said.
“The bill needs to be re-thought. When we go for zoning most of our land is shown as agricultural and orchards. Some of the lands are also shown as institutional. When it’s institutional, the government has the right to bring in some development. In such cases, the thought of development is acceptable,” he said.
“However, my doubt is that what if they are trying to convert the agricultural lands through this Bill? Because on one hand they are bringing a Bill that bans transfer of agricultural land, while on the other hand they are bringing a Bill which contradicts the former one,” the Attorney of Borim Comunidade said.
“If a common man like me owns a small land as an orchard, we are burdened with laws and made to run to TCP to check zoning, etc, just to ensure land conversion does not happen. And through this Bill, they are aiming for a sixer by keeping the Comunidade bodies outside,” he said.
“If they genuinely want the land for the future of the State and the welfare of the public, then they should approach the Comunidade, take us into confidence. Comunidade has never said no to the welfare of the people. But they need to have a proper channel. Division of vote is now a part of the law, but keeping mum is also injustice meted out to the public,” he added.
The new Article 334-c that has been added through the amendment has the provision of acquiring land on long lease for public purpose. Long lease itself is a dangerous word.
Giving thoughts on how he perceives the word ‘long lease’, Savio Correia, President of the Comunidade of Margao, said, “Comunidades have always cooperated with the government in the sense that whenever a new project has come the Comunidades have voluntarily given their lands and sometimes even at free of cost right from Portuguese time for building government schools. Many of the Material Recovery Facilities such as the Saligao garbage plant are standing on Comunidade land.”
“Land of Comunidades has been historically ceded for public welfare before. So what was the need for this amendment now? This is because it puts a leash on the Comunidades. This Article 334-C should be read with amendment of Article 70 where there is a sword left hanging on the heads of the concerned managing committee of Comunidade,” Correia said.
The article says that decisions are to be taken regarding parting with land, the general bodies of Comunidade should come together and express their opinion on whether the land should be given or not. The option is with the Comunidade to refuse without even citing any reason.
“The government cannot possibly proceed with the proposal under Article 334-C although there is scope for reprisal under amended article 70. Looking at the overall view of 334-C, this was not necessary at all as existing provisions are there to grant land for public purposes. It looks like the government wants to have indirect control over Comunidade,” President of the Margao Comunidade said.
Right from when the Legislative Assembly has started amending the Code, emphasis has been on land. None of the other provisions of the Code, such as development of agriculture or elections and administration of the Comunidade, has been touched.
“We had two world wars, during which the rest of the country and world faced famine. But Goa was always self-sufficient and we never heard that Goa went hungry. The reason behind that is Comunidades. If you really want to make Goa ‘Swayampurna’ in a real sense, then you have to revive Comunidades and its agricultural potential,” he said.
As per the amended Clause 70, the government may inquire and suspend the Comunidade committee and appoint an officer of the government to take charge of affairs of such Comunidade. What could be the motive behind this clause?
“As per code of Comunidade, there are enough provisions to take care of a malfunctioning committee or any committee which is facing allegations of corruption. Administrative tutelage of the Comunidades is still resting with the government. It’s not as if the Comunidades can do whatever they want to. What is the need for more provisions, when you can use the existing ones to take an action against any Comunidade,” Tulio de Souza said.
Comunidades are looked at as a land bank and the government is trying to bring it under their control to give it to their cronies, he said.
“Yes, in urbanised areas, the zoning of some Comunidade lands has been categorised as institutional or even commercial as per needs of regional or ODP plan but even that has been with a procedure by Comunidades. Even this requires government approval. So there was absolutely no need to introduce Article 334-C,” he said.
A decade ago, the High Court in a case regarding Margao Comunidade, ordered to constitute a Comunidade Commission. Despite the order, the Government did constitute a Commission.
“I, Savio, senior advocate Usgaonkar and many others had contributed in making the report on the Comunidade Commission, which took us almost three years. This was presented to the government, which is still in their possession. But they have not paid any attention to it. The report was drafted after talking to all 222 Comunidades and the issues were discussed,” de Souza said.
No matter how old the system is, it requires reform. Our Constitution has been amended so many times, but it has not changed its core frame and basic objectives.
“We had suggested reforms in Comunidades in our report as it is a very old institution and young people may not be well aware of its core objectives. This was to make Comunidade more vibrant and viable,” he said.
The government kept aside the report on the Comunidade Commission and brought these amendments. If tomorrow the government says they are going to inquire into the functioning of a Comunidade, threaten to remove the committee and appoints its own administrator, what kind of situation would this create?
Sandip Khaunte replied, “Our major common problem today is illegal encroachment. Everyone tries to battle these encroachments by filing a complaint with a panchayat and so on. Comunidades don’t have the mechanism to remove these encroachments. So, it ultimately goes to the administrators. My honest opinion is that the administrator does nothing.”
“The government doesn’t help us in this and the blame is put on the Comunidade Committee, which is hand in glove with the encroachers. Of course, there are exceptions but most of the people feel that they want to preserve and pass on the land to future generations, which we have inherited from our ancestors,” Khaunte said.
“Some of us had given a proposal to the government for a meeting with all three administrators of south zone, north zone and central zone, along with both the Collectors and Deputy Collectors to discuss why these matters are not resolved in time. Had the issues been settled at this level, then there would have been no question whatsoever to remove the committees,” he said.
Manoj Borkar said that Comunidade has no role in this because encroachers are someone else. In some cases, if someone has built a house in Comunidade land for a genuine shelter then we can turn a blind eye to that with humanitarian approach.
“But sometimes it’s found that people have straight away grabbed thousands of meters of land. In such cases, the government then just ends up giving them house numbers and water connections. Of course, we are not against that but such things are done by bypassing Comunidades. They could have taken Comunidades in confidence through the proposed Comunidade Commission,” Borkar said.
“The houses built before February 28, 2014 and whose House Tax has been registered with the panchayats, were told to regularise the houses by the revenue department. What happens is up to 300 sq meters, land is allowed but there are cases where they have exceeded that mark. I don’t know how far morally it would be right to demolish these houses,” he said.
“The government should take a strict stance to only regularise the houses and give back the rest of the land to Comunidade. But, the government doesn’t say anything about that. We all are Goans here. We know each other’s lives well. No Comunidade president or attorney would intentionally put someone’s shelter at jeopardy but the government will make it look like Comunidade is the villain.
Savio Correia said that as far as regularisation of the Comunidade land is concerned, the government in 2001 had brought an amendment which allowed regularisation of encroachments built before June 15, 2000 in consent with the respective Comunidade.
Many Comunidades consented to it, while some Comunidade, such as Comunidade of Margao, moved the High Court. There are huge slum areas in Motidongar and Tolsazor.
“The encroachers under this amendment had applied for regularisation of the slums to which the High Court asked for Comunidade of Margao’s opinion, whether it wanted regularisation or not. A general body meeting of the Comunidade members was called, which was well attended and there was a unanimous opinion that regularisation shouldn’t be accepted,” Corriea said.
This was communicated to the High Court, following which, it disallowed regularisation.
“The problem arose in 2021, when the government wanted to bring an amendment to change the cut-off date for regularisation from 2001 to 2018. They wanted to extend the date. That is where the Comunidade put their foot down saying that if this is how you’re going to keep extending the dates every five years, then there would be no sanctity left to the whole exercise,” he said.
“Because people will keep encroaching in the hope that one fine day some government will keep extending the date and it will get regularised. That particular amendment fortunately did not see the light of the day. In some cases, they were regularised depending on the merits of the case while in some cases such as Margao Comunidade it was rejected,” Corriea said.
As per Article 339-A, “The Comunidade may entrust the work of development of land, to any private agency, by public auction and/or by inviting bids subject to the approval of the Government so that it can grant sub-divided plots of land as per the provisions of this Code". Will this encourage the real estate lobby to take over Comunidade land?
Corriea rejected any such possibility. “If you ask me, I don’t think there is anything wrong with this particular article. If your property is landlocked and you need access to it through the land of Comunidade, there is a provision in Portuguese Code or original Comunidade to give a maximum of 5 meters of land. The width of 5 meters was fixed in 1961,” he said.
The President of Comunidade of Margao said that today building regulations require a minimum of 6 meters.
“Article 327 is to ease access to your private property. Earlier the restriction was 5 meters, which the government has increased to 10 meters. This has to go through the normal course. The person has to submit a proper application and Comunidade has to consent to it,” he said.
“Then it comes to the general body and if the applicant has asked for 10 meters and the body feels 5 meters is enough, then they give consent to 5 meters. In principle, I do not find anything wrong in article 339-A. There may be a Comunidade, which has got land but doesn’t have funds and wants to develop land into various plots,” Corriea said.
“One way is to invest in the development cost and develop that land. The work can be entrusted to a private party like a contractor, who may be interested in having 10 plots out of 50. Another contractor may seek nine plots. So whoever is more beneficial for the Comunidade, will be allotted that work,” he said.
“Now the question here is why does one need approval of the government, when you already have an administrator representing the government? He or she should be empowered to grant the approval if all the formalities are followed,” Corriea said.
Tulio de Souza said that Article 339A, which is read with another article, through which the Comunidade committee can be disqualified and a government officer can be appointed to take over the affairs, can be seen as a nexus to facilitate these types of projects.
“The government is relentlessly revising regional plans and ODP. The Comunidade lands will be recklessly zoned as settlement zone, industrial zone and institutional zone and so on. But are we going to leave behind anything for our future generations?” de Souza asked.
Comunidade is the single largest holder of community land in Goa and that’s a fact.
“If you’re going to destroy those lands by opening small windows, which will become gateways in future, then what will happen to Comunidade? Comunidade is one of the last standing institutions that reflect Goa’s uniqueness,” he said.
“The demand for special status for the State will be valid only if we preserve our unique systems and traditions such as Comunidade. The Government should be actually strengthening the Comunidade actually,” the President of Comunidade of Guirim said.
“And due to the vague structure of the amendment, there is no guarantee of anybody buying these lands. Goa’s demographics will take a huge hit due to such amendments,” he added.
Sandip Khaunte said that the concept of Comunidade exists only in Goa.
What could be repercussions of the third clause of Article 334-A, which speaks about undivided shares of ancestral property?
Savio Corriea said that this again will disentitle the otherwise deserving landless Gaunkars from being allotted land.
“What happens is we all have undivided share in our ancestral property in some way or the other either from maternal or paternal side. Even if you have an undivided share in some property somewhere, this amendment disentitles you from being allotted the land. This has to be properly studied,” Corriea said.
Tulio de Souza said, “My sincere request to the honourable Governor is to not give his assent to the hurriedly approved amendment to the Code and withhold it. We will take the appointment of the Governor to inform him about the reforms which are desired by our Comunidade forum. The government can then present a comprehensive policy in the Assembly.”