Congress walks out after Karnataka Assembly passes Land Reforms Amendment Act

Amidst a heated debate, the Karnataka Legislative Assembly passed the Land Reforms (Amendment) Bill 2020 on Saturday, even as Congress leaders staged a walkout. The Leader of Opposition and senior Congress member Siddaramaiah tore up a copy of the bill and called it "anti-farmer". Congress leaders shouted, "Down, down, BJP government!", "Down, down, anti-farmer government" and walked out of the Assembly.

The Land Reforms Act became a point of contention due to several amendments that were brought to the Land Reforms Act of 1967 outlined below.

1. Waiving of section 79(a) and 79(b), which restricted the purchase of agricultural land to only those who had paani i.e. land titles or were agriculturalists with an annual income of less than Rs 25 lakh. Farmers have been opposed to this amendment as they believe that large corporations would be able to buy agricultural land. Farmers fear that they will be coerced and threatened to give up their land.
2. Waiving of section 79(c), which upheld the prosecution of those found guilty of buying agriculture by violating the restrictions. Farmers believe that repealing section 79(c), would mean that those who illegally purchased agricultural land, will not be prosecuted. 
3. Adding section 109, the amendment now permits persons to own 52 acres of irrigated agricultural land, 80 acres of partly irrigated land, 120 acres of dry land and 216 of barren land simultaneously, which could lead to land hoarding.
4. This amendment will now permit all companies or organizations, who have purchased agricultural lands to convert it for industrial use, and to sell such land to any other organization. 

Opposition's arguments against amendment

The Congress leaders claimed that according to a survey conducted in Karnataka, about 60% of farmers say that the changes to land reforms is not acceptable. Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah, said that farmer groups, dalit groups and worker groups are also in agreement. "This is a death knell for the farmers. According to me, the Land Reforms Amendment Bill seeks to remove the soul of the Land Reforms Act. Why? Where was the necessity? Where is the urgency to bring the ordinance? Usually, ordinances are brought when necessary, there should be some use to society," Siddaramaiah said. 

Former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy too opposed the amendment and said that it would be detrimental to the rights of farmers. "We should have a public discussion regarding this. Let everyone's opinions be heard and then we can put it to vote," Kumaraswamy said. 

Siddaramaiah further claimed that there were no discussions with farmer groups or experts and that no public consultations were held. "Has this been in public domain before the amendment was brought? No! Why did they bring this? What is their intention? Who is behind this bill? There should be a discussion over this. There are over 13,000 land dispute cases in the court. This will render farmers landless. When 1.7 crores people are landless, how does it help anyone to increase the land ceiling to 216 acres per family? There is no demand from farmers or any section of the society," Siddaramaiah added. 

The leaders soon began shouting slogans against the government. They tore up copies of the bill and walked out of the Assembly in protest.

BJP counter's Congress' claims

Lashing out against the Congress party, Revenue Minister R Ashoka said that the initiative to reform the Land Reforms Act was taken by the Congress government in 2014. "We did not bring in this amendment or propose it. It was not our initiative alone and that is the truth. On January 3, 2014, the then Revenue Minister had appointed a sub-committee to amend the Land Reforms Act. The recommendations were that the 1967 Act was not viable for current times and that it is losing its purpose. The existing legislation has made room for corruption and the committee made several recommendations," R Ashoka said. 

The committee recommended that sections 79(a) and 79(b), be repealed as these sections were making way for corruption. "They are saying that this amendment was the BJP's idea alone and they are trying to make us the scapegoats. The cabinet sub-committee had submitted a report and all people in it were Congress people," R Ashoka added. 

He said that the issue of amending the Act is not a new one and in 1974, RV Deshpande, a senior Congress leader had said that sections 79(a) and 79(b) were problematic. "The then Congress leader H Bannikod had said that the two sections violated Article 19(g), which allows freedom to practise any profession. Congress party had also called for repealing it," he added.