Bhubaneswar: Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Maheshwar Mohanty Thursday said that it is necessary to hold talks with all stakeholders before passing laws on sharecropping.
The minister’s statement came in the wake of allegations that the report of the sub-committee on passing legislation on the matter was being delayed.
Mohanty Thursday tried to allay apprehensions of delaying the issue, and defended the stand of the government that the issue needed more discussions.
“We are for protection of landowners as well as those involved in sharecropping. The legislation on the issue needs to be reviewed thoroughly to protect the interests of all stakeholders. The sub-committee report on the matter has not been finalised,” Mohanty told reporters.
The minister also said the legislation could not be passed as law in the current format. He, however, refrained from commenting on the issue of setting a deadline for the final recommendation of the sub-committee and the steps needed to ensure that the legislation sees the light of the day.
The government in order to ensure the rights of people engaged in sharecropping needs to amend the Odisha Land Reforms Act to make cultivation on another person’s land legal. There had been accusations that the sub-panel was not meeting regularly and was delaying the process.
The recently shunted BJD leader, Damodar Rout, had earlier alleged that the law was deliberately delayed due to pressure from bureaucrats. He had said that as a member of the working committee on the issue, he had seen ministers associated with the law publicly telling at the meeting that due to pressure from bureaucrats, the legislation was being put on hold temporarily.
