Many bagair hukum cultivators lose hope of land grant as Revenue Deparment officials reject applications citing stringent norms

The farmers and farmers’ organisations allege that officers are more interested in rejecting applications before bringing them to the notice of local committees

M.M. Rudre Gowda, 65-year-old farmer of Changadihalli in Sakleshpur taluk of Hassan district, has been cultivating a piece of land at Mattur-Margalli for the last three decades. Even after repeated applications under forms 50, 53 and 57 of the Karnataka Land Revenue Act, he has not been granted the land.

Mr. Rudre Gowda, head of a family of six members, continues to visit Revenue Department offices and places his request for the grant of land, where he has grown coffee and chikoo (sapota). The designated committee rejected his application on the ground that his land was gomala, meant for grazing.

Like him, thousands of farmers across Karnataka have been cultivating small pieces of land without documents of ownership. Such farmers, referred to as bagair hukum cultivators, are losing hope of owning the land they cultivated, considering the reasons on which their applications are being rejected by officers at the taluk level.

Large-scale rejections

Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda, in response to questions raised in the Legislative Assembly on December 9, stated that his department rejected 2.23 lakh applications, citing various reasons.

Nearly 7,000 applications were rejected because the applicants were below the age of 18. Another 3,373 applications were rejected as the applicants were non-agriculturists. Over 27,000 applications were rejected because the land they cultivated was meant for public purposes. Around 33,000 applications were kept aside because the lands sought were located within town limits. And over 12,000 applications were rejected as the lands applied for were part of forests.

The Minister has set a deadline and asked officers to clear the applications within a short period. Officers in the field foresee many rejections, given the conditions the applicants have to meet. 

As per the norms, if a farmer is cultivating forest land, or any public land (devarakadu, kaane, soppu betta, gomala) the committee will not approve it. Besides that, if the land is within town limits, within five km in the case of CMC and 10 km in the case of corporations, such application will be rejected. If the applicant’s family already owns over five acres of land, he or she does not deserve an additional grant.

Following a guideline issued by the Revenue Department in December, 2023, the officers have been asked to process the applications under these conditions before placing them for the committee’s consideration. As a result, hundreds of applications are rejected even before the committee comes into the picture.

The large-scale rejection of applications has come under criticism. Former Minister and senior Congress leader B. Shivaramu recently alleged that the officers were in a hurry to clear the applications to meet the deadline set by the Minister. He took exception to officers taking the decision without bringing the applications before the committee concerned.

Survey, amendments

Many applications have been rejected because of the restrictions on granting gomala. As per the rule, if a village has 100 head of cattle, 30 acres have to be earmarked for grazing. The MLAs have been putting pressure on the government to relax this rule. However, Mr. Byre Gowda made it clear that any change in the rule would be in violation of three judgements by the Supreme Court.

“The rule to earmark 30 acres of land for every 100 head of cattle should be changed. Similarly, the restrictions on granting land in town limits should be altered. Without these changes, the government cannot address the problem of landless farmers,” argued H.R. Naveen Kumar, president of the Hassan district unit of the Karnataka Prantha Raitha Sangha.

Further, the farmers have been demanding a joint survey of the land by the Revenue and the Forest Departments so that confusion about the nature of the land is resolved. Many farmers have been cultivating lands that have been documented as forest.

Published - December 15, 2024 07:08 pm IST