Goa's Farmers Unite to Fight: Campaigning Against Agri Land Bill Threatening Their Livelihood

A farmers' association plans a state-wide campaign against the Goa Restriction on Transfer of Agricultural Land Bill, which was enacted last week amid protests, as well as a petition to governor P S Sreedharan Pillai opposing its assent, claiming that the measure will spell the end of the state.

In theory, the law intends to prevent the transfer of agricultural land to non-agriculturists "by way of sale, gift, exchange, lease, or any other mode." However, activists and cultivators pointed to exclusions in the measure and pushed on undoing the safeguards that ensured agricultural land stayed in the hands of local farmers and tenants.

The bill authorizes collectors to allow non-agriculturists to transfer land if it is required for agriculture by an industrial or commercial project or a cooperative farming association. it can also be transferred to non-agriculturists if they want to start farming and can cultivate it themselves in three years.

Suresh Palkar, a member of the Goa Kul Mundkar Association, which is organizing the state-wide campaign, stated that the bill 'murders agriculture.' The definition of agriculture has shifted. "Fields will be completed, orchards will be completed, hills will be completed, and terraced plantations will be completed. Goa's agricultural future is jeopardized." He stated that they will go to each community and introduce resolutions in local councils against the law.

Activist Swapnesh Sherlekar pointed out that the bill only defines agricultural land as property used for paddy farming. According to Sherlekar, the bill states that land might be categorized as non-agricultural on a zone planning map. "...agricultural land will be unprotected and easily exploited for real estate purposes." Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant argued that the bill's opponents are wrong and that it was created to restrict the sale of agricultural properties to non-agriculturists.

"Those who oppose are acting on behalf of vested interests," Sawant stated. Congressman Carlos Alvares Ferreira, who voted against the bill in the assembly, referred to the bill's contents and questioned how establishing a farmhouse can be regarded as agriculture. He also stated that the measure opens the door to the conversion of agricultural property into farmhouses.

"They said it [the bill] was to protect agriculture, but anyone from any part of India who sets up even a garden in the back of his house can become an agriculturist.  Farmhouse construction is part of agriculture. I am concerned that we will develop a farmhouse culture here."