Bhubaneswar: The inter-ministerial committee constituted to bring in a law to protect the interests of sharecroppers has failed to arrive at a consensus. The next meeting of the committee headed by Revenue Minister Maheswar Mohanty will be held June 1.
To recognise and provide government benefits to the sharecroppers, the state government had constituted the panel last year. Other members of the panel are Agriculture Minister Damodar Rout, Panchayati Raj Minister Pradeep Maharathy, Cooperation Minister Surya Naraya Patro and SC/ST Development Minister Ramesh Chandra Majhi. Revenue secretary CS Kumar is the member convenor of the panel.
The last meeting of the panel was held in July last year when it was decided to bring a new law during the last monsoon session of the Assembly. However, it could not be done. Now, the government has resumed brainstorming the issue, said sources.
“We have a detailed discussion on protection of sharecroppers’ interests so that they will get all the benefits provided by the government. The panel is examining the various aspects of the matter,” Mohanty said.
It is yet to be finalised whether a new law would be introduced or necessary amendment would be made to the Orissa Land Reforms (OLR) Act, he added.
“The meeting ended inconclusively. Some suggestions have been made by the members of the panel at the meeting. The officers have been asked to incorporate those and produce a draft bill at the next meeting to be held June 1,” said the Agriculture Miniter.
As per the draft bill, a tripartite agreement would be signed between landowner, sharecropper and revenue inspector or tehsildar or local sarpanch for leasing out an agriculture land. The agreement will be signed for a period of three years.
The agreement would ensure that the landowner would not lose his/her land by signing the agreement. The land owner will pay the taxes and cess. It will not be mandatory for all land owners to sign the agreement, sources said.
However, no decision was taken about the sharing of cultivated produces in between the land owner and the sharecropper, the definition of sharecroppers etc.
Once the law comes into force, the sharecroppers would get benefits like crop insurance, crop loan, compensation in case of crop loss and all other benefits provided by the state government. Now, these benefits are only reaching the landowners.
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