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Tenancy Reforms
There is no doubt that the agricultural land leasing laws in India need to be amended to make land leasing legal and easier. The Niti Aayog report (2016) proposes a formal model law on land leasing. Critically examining the logic for liberalisation of land leasing laws, the limitations of the model lease agreement are brought out. It is argued that the model law ignores the diversity and dynamics of leasing arrangements in India and the socio-economic implications of the realities of tenancy practices.
Tenancy is seen as one way of correcting the mismatch between the distribution of land and that of labour in the agricultural sector. In India, it has not delivered goods, rather it has led to concealed tenancy and lack of access to assured land lease for tenants in which they could invest for bettering productivity and returns, largely due to its regulation at the state level. Therefore, the issue of tenancy reforms remains a crucial question of policy reform for efficient, equitable and inclusive agricultural growth and development.
The issue of land leasing and tenancy has acquired renewed policy focus with the Niti Aayog bringing out two reports on the farm sector recently (Niti Aayog 2015, 2016). One of these focus specifically on the issue of land leasing and draft a model land leasing act with a draft lease agreement (Niti Aayog 2016).
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