With an aim to prevent misuse of Goa’s agriculture lands, the State government recently brought in the Goa Restriction on Transfer of Agricultural Land Bill, 2023, which was passed in the legislative Assembly on Friday.
The Bill, once it becomes an Act, will effectively ban the sale of agriculture land to non-farmers. The Bill is also expected to restrict the conversion of paddy fields to settlement land. Drafted by the Revenue Department, the Goa Restriction on Transfer of Agricultural Land Bill is expected to help realise that vision.
Fr George Quadros, who is on a mission to bring more and more agricultural land under cultivation, had said that The Goa Restriction on Transfer of Agricultural Land Bill 2023 will definitely protect the farmers and the agricultural land in Goa.
Now, the question is, will this move from the government actually be able to promote and protect agricultural activities in Goa?
As per the Bill, no person who owns or occupies or in possession of an agricultural land shall transfer such land by way of sale (including sale in execution of decree of a civil court or for recovery of land revenue arrears or for sums recoverable as areas of land revenue), gift exchange, lease or by any other mode of transport in favour of persons other than agriculturists; provided that the Collector may on an application made in a prescribed form grants permission to transfer such land to a person other than an agriculturists in any of the following circumstances.
Whoever wants to purchase these lands, will have to prove that he is an agriculturist, apply to the District Magistrate and start cultivating paddy within a period of three years from the date of acquisition of such land and continue to carry thereon agriculture, failing which, such land shall vest in the government, upon expiry of three years from the date of abandonment or discontinuation of such activity.
No person who owns or occupies or in possession of any agricultural land will be allowed to use it for any purpose other than agriculture.
Whoever contravenes the provision of the sections by transferring the agricultural land, the transferer as well as the transferee will be punished with fine equivalent to market value of such land which will be determined as per the rates fixed by the government for such land.
Former Union Law Minister, Adv Ramakant Khalap, as the chairman of the Law Commission, had introduced a legislation, which would ban the transfer of agricultural land to the non-farmers. Why was there a need for such a law?
“After the Portuguese left, the locals all over India started to arrive and settled here. Obviously, when people migrate they would need land to build houses and so on. The initial governments led by Bhausaheb Bandodkar and Shashikala Kakodkar post-Liberation granted the land ownership rights to
the land tenants, which allowed them to
own their own agricultural lands and build their houses.
“The subsequent governments did not pay enough attention to land-related laws, due to which the laws remained on paper and wasn’t properly implemented,” Adv Khalap said.
This allowed persons coming to Goa from all over the country to buy land. They would buy agricultural land and seek government permission to use the land for non-agricultural purposes.
“Government does not comprise only MLAs and ministers. There are officials working in various capacities. Some of them helped in conversion of agricultural lands to non-agricultural ones. We all have seen how the TCP Act has been misused. I sensed that if it keeps going on at this rate then the greenery of Goa would be destroyed,” Khalap said.
“As MLA, I was persistent about implementation of the Goa Agricultural Tenancy Act as the law not only allowed the farmers to become owners of the land they cultivated, but also restricted the transfer of agricultural lands to non-farmers. Had this been implemented properly, the need for this Goa Restriction on Transfer of Agricultural Land Bill, 2023 wouldn’t have arised,” Khalap said.
When the names were added under the survey as land tenants, the court ordered that if the Mamlatdar does not declare them as tenants in accordance with the Tenancy Act, the entries made in the survey record would not be considered as valid.
“Now we all know what happens if we have to approach the court all over again. Mamlatdars are also overburdened with additional work such as giving judgements under Tenancy Act, Mundkar (Protection from Eviction) Act and Rules, Devasthan Act, Comunidade Act and the Survey Act, amongst others. They also have to work during the elections to prepare voters list, to resolve the conflicts among people and to also check the survey records. So, their primary work related to lands gets sidelined,” he said.
“Due to this, I emphasised on the need for a separate revenue system. But unfortunately, no one paid attention. Under the Goa Agricultural Tenancy Act, not only did we give the land ownership rights to paddy field owners, but also clarified the definition of agriculture. Horticulture and orchards are also part of agriculture, which have not been included in the new Bill,” he said.
“The definition of agricultural land is stated in Acts of many states in the country, including our neighbours Maharashtra and Karnataka. I can give the example of actor Amitabh Bachchan, who bought a piece of land somewhere in UP, but a common man took an objection citing that Mr Bachchan was not a farmer and hence couldn’t buy agricultural land,” Adv Khalap said.
“Eventually the actor had to give up on the land. Despite having such a big example in front of us, should we allow anyone just to come to Goa and let them buy lands? After the Mopa international airport was inaugurated, the newspapers carried advertisements for purchase of any kind of land,
with or without documents, from 1 lakh sq metres to 25 lakh sq metres and promised
to pay within 30 days,” the former Union Law Minister said.
“Such brazen advertisements cannot appear in the newspapers without government backing. Who is selling whose lands and to whom? Are you kicking the tenants out, who are protected by law? The intention behind introducing such a law was to safeguard the lands of Goa, farmers as well as the water bodies which were used for irrigation,” he said.
Though the government seems to have taken a good decision where only a farmer can buy agricultural land, what are the safeguards to protect the fields?
Premanand Mahambare, BJP Spokesperson said that if a person is declared as tenant, obviously he is banned from selling the agricultural land. There are also private fields called ‘Kaatar’.
“Many times what happens is that the farmers themselves sell the fields to builders. In Chorao, there are two huge ‘Kaatar’ of Khazan lands, one of which has been bought by a Delhi-based person, while another one has been bought by a Goan builder. There are many such cases. When asked, some farmers claim that their names were put up in the survey list by mistake. Hence, we have introduced this Bill to put an end to such practices,” Mahambre said.
“Our Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary is in the low-lying land of Khazan. This Bill would be crucial in stopping people who sell the farming lands by using the loopholes in the law.
Now it is a different topic if the law is applicable to only paddy cultivation as there are some things still left to ponder upon,”
Mahambre said.
The government has built the bunds but due to lack of maintenance by farmers, they have suffered breach. The passages leading to these fields have been sold in many places, due to which the lands are now inaccessible.
“When the Bill was proposed, I thought maybe this would help in achieving food security in the State. But yes, there have to be some decisions which need to be taken before we implement it. For example, under the Tenancy Act, the name of the grandfather, who was the cultivator at that time, was included in government records. Now, the grandson has to come forward to claim the benefits, which is not happening. This needs to be considered,” he said.
“The illegalities too, start creeping in and even during the party’s forum meetings, I have raised this question as to how long will it take to resolve this. The attempt was made to resolve it through the Goa Bhumiputra Adhikarini Bill, 2021. But it was
opposed,” he said.
There is a provision in the Land Transfer Bill, where a company or a cooperative too can do farming. What if a company or a cooperative acquires land and out of 10,000 sq meters, only 1,000 sq meters land is used for cultivation while rest is used for other
industrial purposes? This provision could
be misused, isn’t it?
Amarnath Panjikar, Congress Spokesperson said that if the government is bringing this Bill truly to help the farmers and to safeguard Goa’s nature without having any underlying hidden agenda, then it is welcome.
“Some agricultural land could be used for farming, while the rest of the land might be used for constructing buildings. As rightfully pointed out by Adv Khalap, the price of lands near Mopa airport has increased substantially and buyers are ready to buy them at any cost. The same could happen with this Bill,” Panjikar said.
“Now this Bill has been presented by Babush Monserrate, a Panjim MLA, who was earlier MLA of Taliegao. A study should be done on how much agricultural land was available in Taliegao, how much was destroyed and who destroyed them,” he said.
Earlier, the farmers of Taliegao were known for growing not only paddy, but various other types of crops. It should be found out as to why the minister, who presented this Bill, could not save agricultural lands in his former constituency.
“Yes, it does look like this Bill will protect our lands only if implemented without any hidden agenda. The Bill mentions Industry and Company. Why would a farmer
need them? The farmers of Goa are capable of looking after their own croplands,”
Panjikar said.
“My biggest question is who drafted this bill? Did they take into consideration opinions and suggestions of various farmer organisations while drafting this bill? There should be some clarification on this matter. If the Bhumiputra Bill was good then why was it brought in a hurried manner, and allowed to lapse? This should not be the case here,” the Congress Spokesperson said.
Mahambre said that the fields have become fragmented and un-economical.
“Today, if the farmer distributes the land among his children, they get a small share, which is unviable. Earlier, the lands were cultivated together by families. There are many huge Khazan lands that have gone barren and in such lands, cooperative farming could be a solution,” Mahambre said.
“Hence, there is a provision for cooperative farming in the Bill. Regarding industry, there is a concept where a company buys a large tract of land. For example, if there is a tomato ketchup producing company, they can provide incentives to the farmers and whatever they produce, the company itself buys it. Such a concept could come to Goa too,” he said.
“We have to experiment if we wish to revive agriculture in Goa. There are many subsidies on a host of things like purchasing tractors for farming. Yet, the response from farmers is lacklustre. Hence, we will have to experiment,” the BJP Spokesperson said.
There is a provision in this Bill that if any plot reflects in a TCP plan, it won’t be considered as agricultural land. People are fighting against attempts to take their land for big projects. What will be their fate once this Bill becomes a law?
Sanjay Barde, President, Bodgeshwar Shetkari Sangh, Mapusa giving examples of Bardez and Pernem taluka, said that earlier the locals used to have bullock carts. Now some have tractors.
“The roadside beautification with bunds, footpaths, etc, have shrunk the space for tractors to enter in the fields, let alone ply them in the fields. We have to go to courts to ask permission to demolish these structures, which we never get,” he said.
In Khorlim, Mapusa, during monsoon, water flows from the top and enters into
the fields.
“The government pays us Rs 10,000 per hectare as compensation. One hectare is 10,000 sq meters, which means the government pays us merely one rupee per one square metre. How are farmers supposed to do farming? The government needs to have a separate compensation package for us as the current amount is negligible,” Barde said.
“Lot of sweat and blood goes into farming, but we want to preserve these lands which have been passed down to us for generations,” the President of Bodgeshwar Shetkari Sangh, Mapusa, said.
The Bill states that only farmers can buy agricultural land. Is this enough or there is a need for more provisions?
Khalap said that the Bill has to be comprehensive and should not limit itself to only paddy fields.
“There are cashew orchards, coconut plantations and areca nut farms...should these be sold too? Another issue is every 10 years, TCP drafts something called Regional Plan and we all know how chaotic things become. I don't think the Bill will achieve its aim,” the veteran politician said.
“On March 25, 2012, we gave the government a comprehensive report explaining why there is a need to protect the land and wetlands. Instead of passing this Bill now, the government should consider
this report and then table it two months later,” he said.
He said that there is already a concept of Prevention of Fragmentation and Consolidation of Agricultural Properties, which could be used. Standard of cultivation should be implemented.
“Regional Plan concept is good as with time we require land for various purposes. But we have to regulate it, considering Goa’s land-carrying capacity. It won’t take too long for Goa to become another Mumbai. The visionary leaders have to think of what will be the condition of Goa for the next 100 years,” the former Law Minister said.
According to Mahambre, the reason behind paddy fields being given more prominence in this Bill could be that agriculture in India happens primarily during monsoon and paddy is the principal crop. The definition of agriculture is classified in the Agricultural Tenancy Act.
Take any urban area in Goa, even today there are fields in Ponda, Mapusa, Panaji and Margao. But the fear is that tomorrow if the TCP’s Development Plan includes these fields, then they will not remain as agricultural lands.
“In one of the reports — I think it was from the Economic Survey, more than 60% people are now residing in urban areas and only 30% are in rural areas. With urbanisation, expansion will obviously happen,” the BJP spokesperson said.
Barde said that North Goa Planning and Development Authority in 2020 published a land use map of Mapusa, where they put the names of landlords (Bhatkar) and Comunidades, but did not mention tenants’ names anywhere. Some of these tenants have put up small stalls at the roadside to earn their living.
“The government should add some provision in this Bill for the farmers to be able to do some side business as just doing farming is not enough. We tenants suspect that the cashew orchards in Comunidades were deliberately set on fire. Now, tomorrow the Bhatkars will say that no cashew trees are left, which means tenants will be left with no rights whatsoever. While safeguarding
fields, the orchards too have to be protected,” he said.
When farming is flourishing in villages like
Aldona, why should the farmers sell their fields?
Panjikar said that at the end, it’s about money.
“Mahambare said companies could acquire and cultivate the land not under cultivation, on experimental basis. We are worried about this only. What if some companies are already in touch with the government? If the Goan farmers come together and form the company, then we are okay with that,” he said.
Mahambre said that there is a scheme of the Central government called Farmer Producer Organisation Scheme and NABARD will be implementing it.
“In Goa, already five such farmer companies have formed and I am the chairman of a Tiswadi-based farmers company. It is mandatory for each company to have 300 farmers as shareholders who have Krishi cards. In Goa, agro-production companies have been formed in Sattari, Pernem, Bicholim, Bardez and Tiswadi,” he said.
Barde said that fields in cities are far and few, while most of the agricultural lands are still in the villages.
“When panchayats take action against builders who fill up the agricultural lands and erect buildings, the Directorate of Panchayats gives a stay order against the panchayat’s action. Panchayats are there just for the sake of it. The price of agricultural land keeps rising, but when the government buys land from farmers, they are paid peanuts,” Barde said.
Mahambare added that Farmer Producer Company is a revolutionary concept, where the farmers can claim rights on the produce as one entity and their lands won't be bought or transferred.
“By paying Rs 2,000, they can become shareholders. So along with the earnings on the agriculture produce, they can also earn through dividends later,” he said.
Khalap said that both the parties should have come together at least for protecting the lands of Goa, and before passing the Bill, the government should have taken inputs from the experts and farmers.