Telangana: Loan hope for tenant farmers

Hyderabad: The state government is preparing to adopt the Centre’s Model Agricultural Land Leasing Act of 2016, which carries safeguards for landowners who lease out agriculture land to tenant farmers. This is being done to ensure that unused agriculture land is made productive.

The Act, once implemented, will enable tenant farmers to invest in land and gain access to crop loans and insurance benefits which they are deprived of at present. As of now, even if the land is cultivated by tenant farmers, it is the landowners who have the right to apply for crop loans and claim the compensation offered through crop insurance schemes.

The government will amend the AP (Telangana Area) Ten-ancy and Agriculture Act of 1950. The Nalsar University of Law, Hyderabad, is assisting the Government in drafting the new Act.

The proposed law assumes significance against the backdrop of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s announcement of financial assistance of Rs 8,000 per acre being offered to farmers from May 2018 onwards. Mr Rao is keen on ensuring that this benefit reaches farmers who actually grow crops and not landowners who have migrated to other sources of employment.

Right now, owners fear leasing land
Tenancy is currently governed by the Act of 1950 which necessitates a written agreement between the tenant farmer and the landholder. It requires a copy of the agreement to be presented to the local mandal revenue officer. Hardly any owner has entered into a written agreement out of fear of losing rights over the land.

The existing Act provides for a five-year lease but many owners lease their land for a crop season or two at a time, to ensure that they do not end up losing their land. 

A provision under the existing Act confers the right to ownership or occupancy on a tenant who has continuously cultivated the land for a long period of time. NITI Aayog has recommended the exclusion of this clause as it interfered with the functioning of the land lease market.

Deputy CM Md Mahmood Ali, who is in charge of the revenue portfolio, said, “The new Act will safeguard the interests of tenant farmers while securing the rights of landowners. This will be win-win for both.” He said that the final draft would be referred to the Chief Minister.