AGRICULTURE AND IRRIGATION

TENANCY

The Bombay Merged Territories Miscellaneous Alienations Abolition Act, 1955, became effective from August 1, 1955. The Act aims at abolition of alienations and resumption of lands with a view to conferring on the holders the occupancy rights. The word ' alienation' for the purposes of this Act means a grant or a recognition as a grant, of a village, portion of a village or land with or without exemption from payment of land revenue or of assignment of the whole or part of land revenue thereof. The number of villages in different talukas of the district affected by the implementation of the Act together with the area affected is as under:—

The Act applies to all miscellaneous inams in merged territories. However, Devasthan inams or inams held by religious or charitable institutions do not fall within the purview of the Act. Occupancy rights are conferred in accordance with the provisions as laid down in Sections 6, 7, 8 and 9 of the Act, on payment of occupancy price.

Cultivation of land by tenants is found to prevail in inam as well as in ryotwari lands. However, the practice is more common in case of the former. The lease of land to tenants occurs mainly on account of the landowners leaving villages for better employment in the nearby towns and cities.

The transfer of lands to non-cultivating creditors has also tended to produce the same effect. The growing pressure on land due to a disproportionate increase in agricultural population, the absence of other means of subsistence, an appalling poverty accompanying the increasing magnitude of indebtedness are the factors that impelled the cultivators to take the tillage of laird on whatever term the land-lords might choose to impose. Furthermore, the lack of fixed tenure as well as of protection against rack-renting seem to have led to the lack of incentive for the proper cultivation of land. For land instead of being utilised for greater production very often became more of a speculative commodity and passed into the hands of non-agriculturists. This enhanced the growth of absentee landlordism and reduced the productivity of the soil still further. The land-lord tenant relationship was regulated by the provisions of the Bombay Land Revenue Code, 1879 and other legislations applicable to local areas. These provisions, however, did not ensure an equal status to the lessee who enjoyed only an inferior position in matters of contract or agreement vis-a-vis the lessor. The class of tenants was not guaranteed any permanency and continued to be tenants-at-will and as such they could be deprived of their tenancy at the will of their landlords. Besides doing farm operations for the landlords in lieu of rent, the tenant was in most parts of the district compelled by local. usages and customs to pay unregulated rent or to offer unremunerated labour to the landlord. Thus, very frequently the tenants remained subservient to the landlord.

According to the Manual of Revenue Accounts, four modes of tenant cultivation were in operation in the district, namely, cash rent, crop share rent, a fixed quantity of produce as rent and lastly a rent in service involving some combination of the foregoing three forms. The terms of the contract varied in each case. However, the cash rent and the crop share rent were the two main forms of rent. Cash rents are preferred by the absentee landlords usually residing in towns. They arc: also common in case of grass and garden lands. The landlords residing in villages lease out their lands on a crop share basis. But the amended Bombay Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act, 1956. (discussed later) allows only payment of cash rent.

No steps were taken for giving protection to the tiller of the soil till 1937, when the then Congress Government announced its intention of enacting legislation aimed at vesting the control of land in the actual tiller of the soil. Hence, the Government of Bombay passed the Bombay Tenancy Act of 1939, with a view to ameliorating the condition of tenants without injuring the legitimate interests of land-lords. Those tenants who had held land for a period of not less than six years immediately preceding 1st January, 1938, were declared protected tenants. Such tenants could not be evicted, unless they ceased to cultivate the land personally. The other provisions of the Act were those relating to firstly, tenancies and their duration; secondly, fixation of maximum rent; thirdly, abolition of any cess, rate, vero, huk, etc.; fourthly, determination of reasonable rents; fifthly, commutation of crop-share rent into cash; sixthly, prohibition of receiving rent in terms of service or labour; and finally, retention of special rights and privileges. The Act was first applied to a few selected areas as an experimental measure and then to this district with effect from 11th April 1946. The Act was subsequently amended on 8th November, 1946 with a view to removing certain difficulties envisaged during the course of the implementation of the act in dealing with a variety of tenures and a number of usages and customs prevailing in different parts of the State. But after independence in order to ensure, firstly, increase in agricultural output; secondly, maintenance of agrarian efficiency; and finally, preservation of tenants' interests in the land, steps were taken to hasten agrarian reforms. For the successful implementation of the policy, the Government felt it necessary to assume management of estates held by landowners as well as of fallow lands, to impose restrictions on transfer of agricultural lands, to prevent uneconomic cultivation and lastly, to create, foster and encourage the peasant proprietorship in respect of holdings of suitable size. Taking all these factors into consideration, the Act was amended on 28th December, 1948 and was entitled Bombay Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act, 1948.

The new enactment retains the important provisions of the earlier legislation with an addition of certain peculiar features of its own. It is devoted to the management of the estates of landlords in case of dispute or of fallow lands and their acquisition, too, where necessary; imposition of restrictions on transfer of agricultural lands, and finally, to the exclusion of the jurisdiction of the civil court over tenancy matters. The Act has statutorily fixed the maximum rate of rent at one-third and one-fourth of the total produce in case of non-irrigated and irrigated lands respectively. It empowers the Government to fix rent at a rate lower than the maximum. The right of a landlord to terminate the tenancy of a protected tenant for the purpose of taking over the land for his personal cultivation is limited by the Act. He cannot terminate the tenancy, if he is already cultivating other land, fifty acres or more in area. However, if he cultivates less than fifty acres, the right is limited to such area as will be sufficient to make up the area for his personal cultivation to the extent of fifty acres.. The protected tenant is also' given the right of purchasing his holding from the landlord at a reasonable price, provided that thereby his own holding is not increased to more than fifty acres or that the landlord's holding is not reduced to less than fifty acres. The onus of continuing a protected tenancy to the heirs of a deceased protected tenant is shifted on to the landlord. Other provisions of the Act authorise the Government to assume management of the estate of a landholder for the purpose of improving the social and economic conditions of the peasants or for ensuring full and efficient use of the land for agriculture. A provision is made for the payment to the lawful holders of the net surplus in respect of estates taken over by the Government for management alter deduction of the appropriate cost incurred by the Government, and of the amount, if any. required for the liquidation of debts and liabilities. The Act prohibits transfer of agricultural lands to non-agriculturists, but the Collector may permit such transfer in exceptional cases. The landlord has to transfer his agricultural lands to persons in the set priority, the same being laid down as; firstly the tenant in the actual possession of land; secondly, the individual or individuals personally cultivating any land adjacent to the land to be sold; thirdly, a co-operative farming society; fourthly, any agriculturists; and finally, any person who has obtained from the Collector a certificate to the effect that the person concerned intends to take to agricultural pursuits. The Bombay Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act, 1948, was subsequently amended by the Bombay Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act (Amendment). 1952 which came into effect on 12th January, 1953. The Act effected important amendments to Sections V, XIV, XXV, XXXII, XXXIV and LXXXVIII. Section XXXII of the Act provides for purchase of the land by a tenant on instalment basis. Similarly, Section XXXIV maintains that the landlord cannot eject the tenant even on the ground of personal cultivation, unless such cultivation is the main source of maintenance for the landlord and subject to the fulfilment of certain conditions imposed as per section XXXIV-2-A.

The Government's objective behind all these enactments was obviously to remove gradually all intermediaries and to make the tiller of the soil the owners of the land. However, in course of time certain defects and deficiencies were disclosed since it was impracticable to translate into practice the ideas of ceiling on land and the concept of economic holding. It was hence necessary to solve satisfactorily these key problems of agrarian reforms. The Amending Tenancy Act, 1956, defines these, fixes the maximum and minimum limits of rent, provides for a compulsory purchase of land by tenants, stipulates prices at which lands are generally to be sold to a tenant and urges the need for maintaining land as a security. Restrictions on the tenant in respect of the purchase of land in excess of the ceiling area and those on the landlord in respect of evicting a tenant from a holding below an economic size have also been imposed. The amended Act came into force with effect from August 1, 1956 and it conferred on the tenants the right of compulsory purchase of lands by the tenants from the landlords with effect from April 1, 1957 on payment of purchase price in 12 instalments. Under this Act, every tenant is deemed to have purchased the lands leased to him on April 1, 1957 subject to certain exceptions. For instance, industrial areas or commercial undertakings as well as the areas growing sugar-cane and fruits are excluded from the application of the Act. Similarly, the municipal or cantonment areas have been excluded from the orbit of the Act. It is thus felt that the Amending Tenancy Act, 1955 will succeed in establishing a stable rural economy by bringing the tenants into direct relation with the State, thereby putting an end to the landlord-tenant nexus. The Act is expected to enable the Government to take decisive steps to direct re-distribution of land in excess of ceiling area so as to afford equal opportunities to landless labourers. Further, the Government issued the Bombay Ordinance III of 1957 and the Bombay Act XV of 1957 in order to remove all doubts and practical difficulties which may crop up in the execution of the Act. But this was not enough since there still remained some difficulties which could not be overcome without amending certain provisions of the Act. Hence, the Bombay Act XXVIII of 1957 and the Bombay Act LXIII of 1958 were enacted. The Government also undertook from time to time various other measures in the form of supplementary legislation for implementing the policy of agrarian reforms in other directions. Among these can be included the Bombay Agricultural Debtors' Relief Act, 1939, the Bombay Khoti Abolition Act, 1950, the Bombay Prevention of Fragmentation and Consolidation of Holdings Act, 1947 and the various enactments abolishing special watans, tenures, inams and jahagirs. To sum up, all these legislations contribute substantially towards the fulfilment of the two-fold objective of the Planning Commission which consists in the full economic exploitation of land to bring about maximum net produce therefrom and in the attainment of social justice by securing to the tiller permanent rights in the land as a fair reward for his labourers.

Working of the Tenancy Act.

The following table indicates the number of applications filed every year under the Tenancy Acts during 1948 to 1957 and other particulars pertaining to them.

TABLE No. 37.

ADMINISTRATION OF THE TENANCY ACTS IN THE SATARA DISTRICT.

1948-1957.

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