AGRICULTURE AND IRRIGATION

TENANCY

Cultivation of lands by tenants prevails in inam lands and in rayatwari areas, although to a larger extent in the former than in the latter. Lease of lands to tenants occurs mainly because of landlords leaving the village for better employment in cities. The transfer of lands to non-cultivating creditors has also tended to produce the same effect. These tendencies are brought out in the quinquennial statement of holdings in the district for the year 1952-53. In 1952-53 out of total area of 1,15,630 acres [For details, refer Table No. 13 on page.] under inam tenure in the Kolhapur district as much as 62,210 acres or about 54 per cent. was in the hands of non-agriculturists receiving rent from the tenants cultivating the land. In the total area under Khalsa tenure viz., 6,99,848 acres, where the rayatwari system prevailed, land held by non-agriculturists was estimated at 1,58,260 acres or about 23 per cent. of the total. Besides the non-agriculturist holders, sometimes even agriculturists holding very large areas leased out portions of their land, finding it more profitable to do so than to cultivate the land themselves.

Systems.

According to the Manual of Revenue Accounts, four modes of tenant cultivation are in operation in the district, namely, cash rent, crop share rent, a fixed quantity of produce as rent and a rent in service involving mixture of the foregoing forms of rent. The terms of contract vary in each case. The cash rent and the crop share rent are the two main forms of rent. Cash rents are preferred by the absentee landlords who usually reside in towns. Casn rents are also usually paid for grass and garden lands. The holders who reside in the villages usually rent out the lands on the crop-share basis.

Bombay Tenancy and Agricultural Londs Act, 1948.

Before 1st May 1949 i.e., the date on which the Bombay Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act, 1948, was made applicable to this district, the relations between landlords and tenants were governed by the provisions of the Bombay Land Revenue Code, 1879, which was applicable to the former Kolhapur State inclusive of jagirs in spirit. It was found that these provisions did not ensure equality of status to the tenant with the superior holder in the matters of contract or agreement. Many tenants who held the same lands for generations had no right of permanency but continued to be tenants-at-will, liable to be deprived of their tenancy at the will of their landlords. In the absence of any legislation for the protection of the tenants, rack renting was a familiar mode of exploitation of tenants by the landlord.

The application of this Act to this district ameliorated the condition of the tenants without injuring the legitimate interest of the landlords. From 1st May 1950, every tenant was deemed to be a "protected tenant" for the purpose of the Act unless his landlord had prior to that date, made an application to the mamlatdar for declaration that the tenant is not a "protected tenant". Such tenants could not be evicted unless they ceased to cultivate the land personally or the landlord himself wanted to cultivate the land personally. It provided for the fixing of reasonable rent. Fresh leases were required to be of ten years' duration.

This Act had statutorily fixed the maximum rate of rent at one-third and one-fourth of the total produce in the case of non-irrigated lands and irrigated lands respectively. It gave powers to 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 was limited by the Act; he could not terminate the tenancy if he was already cultivating other land, fifty acres or more in area; and if he was cultivating less than fifty acres, the right was limited to such area as would be sufficient to make up the area for his personal cultivation to the extent of fifty acres. The protected tenant was also given a valuable right; he could not purchase his holding from the landlord at a reasonable price, provided that thereby his own holding was not increased to more than fifty acres. The onus of continuing a protected tenancy to the heirs of a deceased protected tenant was shifted to the landlord. Other important provisions of the Act were the ones which enabled Government to assume management of the estate of a landholder for the purpose of improving the economic and social conditions of peasants or for ensuring the full and efficient use of land for agriculture. A provision was made for the payment, to the lawful holders of the net surplus in respect of estates taken over for management after deductions of the appropriate costs incurred by Government and the amount, if any, required for the liquidation of debts and liabilities. The Act prohibited transfer of agricultural lands to non-agriculturists, but the Collector might permit such transfers in exceptional cases. The landholder had to transfer his agricultural lands to persons in the following priority:-(1) the tenant in actual possession of the land (ii) the person or persons personally cultivating any land adjacent to the land to be sold (iii) a co-operative farming society, (iv) any other agriculturist and (v) any other person who had obtained from the Collector a certificate that he intended to take the profession of agriculture.

During the year 1952-53, there were 55,302 protected tenants, 56,910 ordinary tenants and 1,34,912 owner cultivators in the Kolhapur district. The following table gives the number of applications filed annually under the Tenancy Act since 1949-50 (up to 1956-57):-

TABLE No. 40.

STATISTICS OF APPLICATIONS FILED UNDER THE TENANCY ACT IN KOLHAPUR DISTRICT.

(Amendment) Act, 1995.

Between 1948 and 1954 many important amendments were made to the Act. However, the main objective of making the tiller of the soil the owner had been slow in fulfilment. It was held that though the number of holders having proprietary interests in lands was quite large, the number of cultivators, who are mere tenants, is also quite significant and that their status should be raised from that of mere tenancy to full occupancy.

The Bombay Tenancy and Agricultural Lands (Amendment) Act, 1955 was passed with a view to (i) vesting occupancy rights in lands in the tiller of the soil, (ii) redistributing land by the imposition of ceilings on individual holdings and (iii) providing the facility to the small holders to acquire lands, as far as practicable, upto the economic holding.

Land to the cultivating tenant.-The most important feature of the amending Act is that which deals with tenants' right to purchase the land they cultivate. It lays down that, on April 1, 1957, also called the "Tillers' Day", all the tenants who cultivate personally, subject to certain conditions and exemptions, would be deemed to have purchased the land cultivated by them from the landlords upto the ceiling area at the price to be fixed by the Agricultural Land Tribunal. In computing the ceiling area the land owned by the tenant is also taken into consideration. Thus the tenant would be permitted to purchase under the Act only so much of land as would raise the total area held by him upto the ceiling limit. The provisions regarding the compulsory purchase is to be implemented by the Agricultural Land Tribunal after holding an enquiry in the manner prescribed. The purchase price would be fixed at six times the rent in the case of permanent tenants and between 20 to 200 times the assessment in respect of other tenants. In case of tenants other than permanent tenants the value of improvements effected by the landlord is also to be added to the price of land. The price so fixed is to be ordinarily paid by the permanent tenant in one lump sum within an year of purchase; other tenants have been given an option to pay the purchase price either in one lump sum or in annual instalments not exceeding 12 with simple interest at the rate of 4½ per cent. It may be noted that in the case of a new tenancy created after the "Tillers' Day", the tenant is entitled to the right to purchase the land cultivated by him within one year from the commencement of the tenancy. The number of tenants who acquired rights of purchase of land on the Tillers' Day was 36,800. The estimated area held by them on that day was 64,890 acres.

In case a tenant does not intend to purchase land, or fails to exercise the right to purchase the land within the specified period, the Collector has been empowered to terminate the tenancy and to summarily evict the tenant. The land cultivated by the evicted tenant would revert to the landlord. If he holds land which is less than the ceiling area then, subject to certain conditions, the landlord is entitled to retain only so much area as will be sufficient to raise the area in his possession up to the ceiling. The land in excess of the ceiling area would be disposed of to other persons with due regard to the order of. priority stipulated in the Act.

Mention must also be made of the provision by virtue of which no tenancy of any land is liable to termination merely by efflux of time. The rents, which are made payable in cash only, will be payable by the tenant at a rate which will be fixed by the Mamlatdar for a village or a group of villages within the maximum and minimum limits laid down in the Act. These maximum and minimum limits in the case of areas which are surveyed and settled or in which assessment has been fixed are prescribed at five times the assessment or Rs. 20 per acre whichever is less, and at two times the assessment, respectively. The liability of paying land revenue, local fund cess and irrigation cess in respect of the land is transferred to the tenant. But if in any year, the aggregate of the rent, land revenue and local fund cess exceeds the cash value of 1/6th of the produce for that year, the tenant is entitled to deduct from the rent of that year the amount so in excess. It may be noted that as a result of the extension of the special rights conferred on protected tenants to all tenants in general the distinction between the protected and the ordinary tenant has thus been removed. A landlord who intends to resume land for personal cultivation can eject a protected or ordinary tenant subject to certain conditions, provided he had served a notice on the tenant for resumption before December 31, 1956. He was also to make application for the possession of land by 31st March 1957. In all 38,395 notices were issued by the landlords to their respective tenants. As against this 2,008 applications were received from the landlords. By 31st July 1958, 14,858 applications had been disposed of and in 502 cases of possession of lands (about 1,727 acres in area) was ordered to be given to the landlords by the tenancy courts. If the landlord failed to cultivate the land personally, the original tenant would acquire the right of purchase. In all cases of evictions, however, the tenant, who is affected, should be left with an area which is equal to or more than half the area leased to him previously.

Ceiling on holdings.-For the purposes of the Bombay Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act as amended, an economic holding is defined as (i) 16 acres of jirayat land, or (ii) 8 acres of seasonally irrigated land or paddy or rice land or (iii) 4 acres of perennially irrigated land. The ceiling limit on individual holdings is stipulated at three times the economic holding. It was provided that from the appointed day, i.e., June, 15, 1955 it would not be lawful for any person to hold land in excess of the ceiling area. This restriction is, however, not applicable to the holding under personal cultivation of a landowner on the appointed day. If between the period January 1, 1952 and the date of coming into force of the amended Act i.e., August 1, 1956, the landlord had acquired by surrender from his tenant any area and, if his holding immediately preceding January 1, 1952 was equal to or more than twice the ceiling area, then the whole of such land acquired by surrender is to be at the disposal of the Collector.

Transfers and disposal of land in future.-Apart from empowering the Mamlatdar to inquire into the bona fides of all transfers of land effected between June 15 1955 and the commencement of the Act i.e., August 1, 1956, certain restrictions are laid down regarding the future transfers of agricultural land. Land purchased by tenants under the provisions of this Act can only be transferred with the permission of the Collector. Any surplus land, or the land the purchase of which has become ineffective on the failure of the tenant to pay the price or the land left with the landlord owing to tenant's unwillingness to exercise his right of purchase is placed at the disposal of the Collector of the district. As already stated, the Collector has to sell such land in accordance with the priority list prescribed in the Act. Land cannot be transferred, sold or mortgaged to a person who is not an agriculturist. Further, where a landlord intends to sell any land, he has to apply to the Agricultural Lands Tribunal for determination of reasonable price. After the determination of reasonable price, the land has to be offered according to the order of priority stipulated in the Act.

Exemption in respect of co-operatives.-The amendment Act has provided for some exemptions in respect of co-operatives. Some of the provisions regulating the relationship between landlord and tenant, as also those relating to restrictions on transfer of land, are not applicable to lands held or leased by co-operatives.

As the land to be purchased by the tenant would be valued at rates specified in the Act, the land mortgage banks in the State envisaged difficulties in recovery of loans already given to non-cultivating landlords who would be relinquishing their rights in land in favour of tenants with effect from the "Tillers' Day". These institutions also found it difficult to advance loans on the basis of valuation of lands followed by them so far. In view of these difficulties, the Government of Bombay, in their Resolution, dated April 3, 1956, decided to guarantee, subject to certain conditions the losses to the extent of two per cent. of the amount of loans granted or the actual losses suffered by the Bombay Provincial Co-operative Land Mortgage Bank as a result only of land values going down, whichever is less. Firstly, the Land Mortgage Banks have been asked to advance loans only to those borrowers who own the lands to be offered as security for the loans and who also cultivate these lands. Secondly, these institutions have been asked to value the lands either at 120 times the assessment of on the existing basis (without addition of 20 per cent. in any case) whichever is lower.

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