Nitish says no to new land reform law

Shoumojit Banerjee

This evokes sharp criticism from the Opposition partie

Patna: Ending months of speculation about passing the “bataidari” (sharecropper) Bill, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has finally declared that his government has no plans to pass the law which would protect the rights of the sharecroppers in the State.

The statement by the Chief Minister, going back on the panel’s recommendations, has evoked sharp criticism from the Opposition parties.

The D. Bandopadhyay Commission for land reforms, which was appointed by Mr. Kumar in 2006, submitted its report in April 2008. The Commission had proposed a new Act to protect the State’s 5.84 lakh homeless sharecroppers.

Mr. Kumar said if this law had not been enacted in a State like West Bengal then there was no chance of it succeeding in Bihar. As of now, the government has not tabled the committee report in the State legislature.

Mr. Kumar’s statement has kicked up a storm with the Opposition, which is now accusing him of running with the hare and hunting with the hounds. The report, while not proposing any transfer of ownership to the bataidars (sharecroppers), discusses the issue of their cultivation as well as suggesting enactment of legislation for the protection of their rights.

‘Party pressure’

“He is now deliberately confusing the issue as he does not have a unique vote base of his own. His primary support comes from the upper castes and he is now facing strong pressure from within his party to prevent enactment of this law,” said CPI (M-L) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya speaking to The Hindu.

“Nitish has to come out clear on this issue as his government has also rejected the proposition of uniformity in land ceiling,” he added.

“It is one thing to say that Operation Barga has run out of steam in West Bengal and quite another not to attempt any implementation of the panel’s recommendations in Bihar at all,” said Mr. Bhattacharya.

No record of ‘bataidars’

Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Bandopadhyay castigated Mr. Kumar’s statement and said “Mr. Kumar is wallowing in the quagmire of caste politics and will ultimately drown in its whirlpool”.

“He has not made any attempt to even record the number of ‘bataidars’ in Bihar. He has shown that he lacks courage when it came to implementing the ‘bataidar’ law by developing cold feet and succumbing to the pressures of his party which mainly comprises upper castes,” said Mr. Bandopadhyay, adding that Mr. Kumar did not have the foggiest notion about the Bihar Tenancy Act and was not aware of the law.

Source: Hindu, October 21, 2009