Chandigarh: The state government has amended the Punjab Land Reforms Act, withdrawing powers from Sub-Divisional Magistrates (SDMs) to issue notices to landowners– essentially those possessing farmland– in order to review the status of landholdings. A notification in this regard issued last week will come into place with immediate effect.
Officials say the step has been taken to weed out corruption largely on account of the misuse of the provisions of the Act. Prior to this amendment, for decades SDMs held the powers to issue notice to a land owner to review a farmland’s bonafide status or to ensure there is no surplus land under their procession. The Punjab Land Reform Act to date provides for a cap on the maximum area a farmer can hold for cultivation.
An official says, “The powers were misused by harassing farmland owners. By taking the old records (prior to 1972 when the Act did not exist) as the basis, farm owners were issued review notices.”
Romila Dubey, Punjab’s Financial Commissioner Revenue (FCR), while talking to The Indian Express says there were complaints from certain areas of misuse of powers by the designated authority. “It was hard to track down each SDM in districts to ensure check. Instead of SDMs, now district collectors (DCs) will take care of the task if at all there is a need to review any such case,” she says.
When the Land Reform Act was passed way back in 1972, provisions provided that not more than 7 hectares of land could be held and cultivated by a farmer. In case the landholding was more, the Act gave the tenant right to buy the land by paying three-fourth of the market price. “An elaborate exercise was then carried out. All declarations were given by farmland owners and issues concerning landholdings and surplus land were settled,” an official says.
However, if officials in the districts are to be believed, district officials continued to harass landowners allegedly for vested interests by issuing review notices, a practice which is now likely to come to an end.
Source: ENS