Relevance: GS-3: Land Reforms in India, Major Crops - Cropping Patterns in various parts of the country, - Different Types of Irrigation and Irrigation Systems; Storage, Transport and Marketing of Agricultural Produce and Issues and Related Constraints.

Key phrases: Landless farmers, Land Reforms, Shamlat lands, Punjab Land Reforms Act, 1972, MGNREGA, Punjab Village Common Lands Act 1961, Agriculture Census of 2015-16, Green Revolution, Minimum Support Price.

Why in News?

• A few days ago, five landless workers unions of Punjab met the state Chief Minister to highlight the need to protect landless rural workers.
• Their 17-point charter of demands mainly includes:
  • fixing the minimum wage at ₹700 per day,
  • action against those boycotting agricultural workers and
  • ensuring transparent auctions of Shamlat lands meant for Dalit communities.
• The charter of demands is a cry of despair by landless rural workers. The denial of their rights has not been addressed for decades.

Challenges faced by landless rural workers:

• Unfinished Land Reforms:
  • They remain landless despite the promise of “land to the tiller”.
  • In Punjab, the land is concentrated in the hands of upper-caste landlords.
  • The Punjab Land Reforms Act, 1972, which would have provided land for redistribution, has not been implemented in spirit.
• Multiple crises:
  • Landless rural workers of Punjab have been battered by Covid-19 work losses, the under-performance of the MGNREGA scheme, and soaring inflation.
• Wage Cap:
  • Landed farmers have been issuing diktats regarding wage caps that are much below the prevailing wage rates and threatening protesting workers.
• Mechanical Sowing:
  • The recent announcement of the Punjab government subsidizing mechanized and substantially labour displacing direct seeding of the Kharif rice crop.
• Weakening legislation
  • A 2017 amendment to the Act now allows for exemptions of land ceilings for commercial and industrial purposes through a simple process enabling subversion of land ceilings and conversion of land for non-agricultural use. This has further weakened the commitment to redistributing ceiling surplus land to the landless.
  • The Punjab Village Common Lands Act 1961, provides Dalits rights over one-third of common, or Panchayat, lands in proportion to their population. These are auctioned every year. However, despite provisions to contain abuse, the Act has not been implemented in spirit as there has been a lot of resistance to it from landlords.
• Social Inequality in Land Ownership:
  • The 2011 census reported that nearly 69 percent of agricultural workers in Punjab are from the Dalit community.
  • Backward castes and other marginal sections also form a big chunk.
  • As per the Agriculture Census of 2015-16, only 3.5 percent of private farmland belongs to the Dalit community, which makes up 32 percent of Punjab’s populace.
• Amendment to sell Shamlat lands:
  • An RTI report revealed that land grabbers control over 13 percent of this Shamlat land.
  • In 2020, the Punjab government had also amended the Rules under this Act to sell Shamlat lands to companies and entrepreneurs, triggering fears that it would adversely affect the chances of thousands of Dalit families who seek these lands on lease for crop cultivation.

• Impact of Green Revolution:
  • The Green Revolution and the resultant economic growth improving the living standards of farmers have largely excluded the Dalit landless communities in rural Punjab.
  • In addition, the reversal in earlier gains of intensive agriculture seen across the last two decades, and the unfolding ecological and social costs of the Green Revolution, have multiplied the burdens, the brunt of which has been borne mainly by the landless agricultural labour.
  • The Green Revolution has resulted in the contamination of groundwater as a direct result of the use of fertilizers and pesticides.
  • Today safe drinking water is beyond the reach of agricultural labour.
  • Reverse Osmosis (RO) plants were set up in the last decade, but accessing them could cost up to about ₹1,000 per month per family. This cost is unaffordable for most rural landless families.
• Debt Bondage:
  • Several recent ground-level studies show how the rural landless are in the grip of loan sharks and usurious microfinance companies, increasing their indebtedness.
  • Microfinance Institute Network, an RBI-appointed regulator, reported that in Punjab, by the end of September 2020, the number of women borrowers had swelled up to 12.88 lakhs with an outstanding principal amount of Rs 4,387 crores.

What needs to be done:

• Punjab’s landless workers, especially the landless Dalit community, must-see time-bound land reforms on the ground.
• New employment opportunities in Punjab in the industrial and service sectors should be generated. Encourage non-farm employment opportunities by developing particular sectors and sub-sectors where demand for the product or services is growing.
• Enforcement of the already existing special programs for rural development in proper perspective
• Introduce social security measures for the agricultural workers.
• The days of employment under MGNREGA should be increased according to the requirements of agricultural laborers and the wage rates should be at least equal to the Minimum Wage Rates determined by the Central / State Governments.
• Fixing Remunerative Minimum Support Prices of different crops based on the cost of production and consumer price indices
• The workers should gradually become owners of their production individually and collectively through the encouragement of cooperative farming.
• Agricultural workers of Punjab need immediate debt relief.
• The welfare state must step in. A careful, corrective response for the common good of both workers and farmers in the short and long term is needed.

Conclusion:

• It is a wake-up call for resetting the rural economy, and Punjab should lead the way.
• Solidarity, a caring economy, and agro-ecology are what Punjab now needs to herald; it needs to ensure a certain departure from a Revolution that wasn’t Green for the people and the planet.
• A comprehensive database of farm and farm-less labour in terms of number and their skill sets are essential to put them to optimum and productive employment.
• Punjab must move towards a more socially just and ecologically sound agriculture system.

Source: The Hindu BL, Indian Express, PIB

Mains Question:

Q. What are the challenges faced by landless labourers in Punjab? How can implementing land reforms in spirit be a solution?