A State-wide agitation has been planned against the recent amendments to the Land Reforms Act, 1961, that paves way for direct purchase of farm land from farmers by non-agriculturists.
Farmers across the State will hold a series of agitations staring June 23 and will entail gheraoing the district-in-charge Ministers followed by protests in front of the residences of the local MLAs. The agitation plan also includes laying siege to the residence of Chief Minister in Bengaluru on June 29.
This was stated by the Karnataka State Sugarcane Cultivators Association president Kurubur Shanthakumar here on Monday. He appealed to farmers belonging to various organisations to join hands and support the agitation and said the amendments to the Land Reforms Act will break the back of the farming community.
He said the both the Central and the State governments “have become subservient to industrialists and corporate lobby and were enacting laws that were beneficial to them while ignoring the farmers”.
Questioning the rationale for easing the norms for purchase of agricultural lands by non-agriculturists, Mr. Shanthakumar said by the same logic unqualified persons should also be appointed as doctors and engineers.
Responding to the remarks of various Ministers that over 2.4 lakh acres of agricultural land had been converted for non-agricultural purpose during the last few decades, he said the onus was on the government to fix responsibility on those who had allowed the conversion. “If the law has been broken then the guilty should be prosecuted but instead they are overthrowing the original Act and paving way for the sale of agricultural land.”
The Association office-bearers said at a time when the country was reeling under COVID-19 and agricultural activity too had been affected, the government should take measures to strengthen the hands of the vulnerable sections including farmers. But it had passed a series of amendments strengthening the hands of the corporates while weakening the farmers, they opined.
