Sec 118 makes landless farmers outsiders in own state

Lalit Mohan

Tribune News Service 

Dharamsala, September 23

Himachali families, who do not have agriculture land, cannot buy it in the state. Despite being residents since long, the flawed land laws don’t allow them to buy lands in their own state.

Dalit families in villages are suffering the most. Earlier, they did not own agriculture land and their houses were located in residential areas. Since they do not own agriculture land, they also cannot buy it without the permission of the state government under Section 118 of the Land Tenancy Act.

Lata is a resident of Gamru village near Dharamsala. She is a member of an SC family among the Gaddi community. Talking to The Tribune, she said her family had been staying here since long but did not own any land. Her family had also been given many facilities by the government but they didn’t have the right to buy land.

Enquiries by The Tribune revealed that there were many residents who had been living here even before the formation of the state but did not own any land. Most of these were of the SC community.

 Sources said the land was generally owned by higher class people. After the formation of Himachal, a ceiling Act was brought by first Chief Minister YS Parmar. Under the Act, the land was transferred to tillers and a cap was put on landholdings of big owners. However, in this exercise, many poor, especially in tribal areas, did not benefit and were left without any land.

The government later brought Section 118 into force that barred a person, not owning agriculture land, from buying such land. The Act was brought into force to protect farmers. However, the Act had proved to be detrimental to the poor.

Prem Kumar, a retired revenue official, said there was a flaw in Section 118. If a person did not own any agriculture land. He would have to seek permission from the government to buy it. He could buy just one kanal land for residential purposes.

Enquiries further revealed that many poor in villages had constructed their houses on forestland that was earlier called common land but was later classified as forestland in the revenue record. In some cases, residents had lost their houses in landslides or floods and were resettled on the common land. Now they are facing threat as the High Court had ordered the removal of all encroachments from forestland.

Jangi Ram of Gamru village said, “I or my forefathers had never ventured out of Himachal and have been residing here on the land provided by the village panchayat. My grandson wanted to buy some land for a pucca house. However, revenue officials told him that he would have to seek permission from the government.” Jangi Ram now wondered that being a Himachali, why should he require permission from the government to buy land here?

Divisional Commissioner, Kangra, Vikas Labroo admitted that according to the existing land laws, a person could not buy land without the permission of the government. 

Act brought by founder CM

• After the formation of Himachal, a ceiling Act was brought by first Chief Minister YS Parmar. Under the Act, the land was transferred to tillers and a cap was put on landholdings of big owners. However, in this exercise, many poor, especially in tribal areas, were left without any land.
• The government later brought Section 118 into force that barred a person, not owning agricultural land, from buying such land. The Act was brought into force to protect farmers. However, the Act had proved to be detrimental to the poor.