Various civil society and research bodies from 11 states today discussed several aspects of land leasing and acquisition issues, and sought to work out a framework for better implementation of central agri-policies at the state level, keeping farmers in focus.
"The seminar discussed various issues concerning land leasing and land acquisition. It is clear that after the Centre's legislation on land reforms, the benefits that it will accrue to farmers will now be dependent on how a state implements it.
"Members from various civil society and research organisations discussed those matters, and we came to an agreement that the battlefield has now shifted from the Centre to the states, and we would have to ensure that the benefits accruing to farmers are not diluted," said P Raghu, Coordinator for Land and Livelihood Knowledge Activist Hub of the city-based Council for Social Development.
The day-long event was attended by about 40 participants from various states including Bihar, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Telangana.
"In Odisha, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, the tribal and adivasi lands are facing threat in the name of acquisition for development works. But, it must be ensured at state level that that the affected are compemsated as per the law. The legal ambit is not clear for that, and it is one of the challenges we identified today in our semninar," he said.
National Alliance of People's Movement, an NGO, which took part in the event, came out with a report detailing compensation and hidden factors and its social impact assessment with respect to land-related policies.
A publication 'Land to the Tiller' was also released on the occasion.
The Council for Social Development and Actionaid, which organised the seminar, said the idea is to "empower the land tillers rather than the land-owners".
"The laws for last four decades have benefitted the land-owners but not the farmers," it claimed.
