Scrap Impractical Tenancy Act: LSP

The Lok Satta Party on Monday demanded that the government immediately scrap the Tenancy Act of 1956 and enact a new law that takes care of the interests of both tenants and farmers.

Addressing media, party leaders G Rajareddy, P Bhaskara Rao and V Vijayender Reddy pointed out that the 1956 Act was full of impractical provisions.

Under the act, a farmer who wants to sell his land must necessarily sell it to the tenant, at a rate not exceeding 5 times the lease amount. As a result, many farmers have chosen not to register their leases, according to the Lok Satta Party. There has been no change in the situation despite 2 subsequent amendments to the act, the leaders lamented.

The Lok Satta leaders said that lakhs of tenants have not been able to avail themselves of bank loans, subsidized seeds and other inputs, and crop insurance, since their leases are not unregistered. Deprived of bank credit, these tenants, many of them belonging to weaker sections of the society, borrow funds at exorbitant rates from money lenders; suffering blows when natural calamities hit them, the party's leaders explained.

The Lok Satta leaders said that the government's move to enact a law providing for issuance of loan eligibility cards to tenants will not serve the purpose unless the old act is scrapped.

They want the government to enact a new tenancy law under which the farmer is assured of his title to the land, and the tenant is assured of a lease for a specified period. Tenants should be issued cards only after the passage of the new law, they opined.

Courtesy: INN