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6.10 Conclusion

6.10.1 The fact-finding process clearly indicates that CPRs are crucial to support rural livelihoods and ecology. There is a large rural population, especially marginal and landless, that heavily depend on CPRs to enhance household income, meet their domestic energy and livestock needs. Additionally, these CPRs support the local ecological balance by acting as reservoirs in a watershed. The development and management of CPRs should be looked upon from these perspectives.

6.10.2 There are innumerable issues that have come up from the state consultations that are threatening the existence of CPRs. Because of those reasons CPR area in the country is decreasing; more importantly, biomass production has reduced drastically from this resource ultimately jeopardizing rural livelihoods and ecology. So it is imperative to design public interventions on CPR to avoid further worsening of the situation. Thus, for effective public interventions on CPR the following set of advisory recommendations – defining CPR according to the situation prevailing in a state, including CPR in the concurrent list, capping minimum CPR area in each village, banning diversion of capped CPR area, evolving long term perspective on land through developing land use plan and setting up proper institutional arrangements to govern CPRs are significant. In terms of implementable recommendations – enumeration of CPR in every NSS round, initiating fast track and time bound processes for resolving disputes on CPRs, making functional existing land use boards of the states, removing inconsistencies in land records, reclassifying the land-use, protecting existing de jure CPRs, creating greater public awareness and improving land administration. These sets of recommendations should be executed at the earliest involving the community, governments and the voluntary sector. To summarize, at this juncture CPR governance should be improved by formulating an effective regulation along with greater public consciousness and awareness.

6.11 Conversion of agriculture land for non-agricultural purposes

6.11.1 At present, a little over 46% of the country's area is cultivated. This area, however, is getting increasingly scarce. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the net sown area declined by around 1.5% between 1990 and 2003. While in percentage terms this may seem insignificant, in absolute terms it translates to more than 21 Lakh hectares. On the other hand, between 1990 and 2004, land under non-agricultural use has gone up by 34 Lakh hectares. According to official figures, Tamil Nadu lost more than 10 Lakh hectares of agriculture land between 1991 and 2003. Mineral-rich Orissa, Jharkhand and Chattishgarh are losing agricultural land to mining and power projects. In Kerala, between 1997-98 and 2001-02, over 80,000 hectares of crop land were diverted for non-agricultural uses. Even in the case of a small state like Himachal Pradesh, the net sown area has declined by 33,000 hectares between 1991 and 2001. Between 2002 and 2007 about 90,000 hectares of agriculture land across 25 mandals in and around Hyderabad have been diverted for real estate and mega-projects. Another 63,000 hectares across 20 mandals of Ranga Reddy district have been lost over the past 10 years. A mind-boggling 5 Lakh hectares of agriculture land have been lost in Andhra Pradesh in recent years.⁴⁹ This ever growing hunger for agriculture land continues unabated.

6.11.2 Briefly put, the purposes for which agriculture land is being transferred are: infrastructure development like roads, housing colonies, dams, etc; industrial purposes like Special Economic Zones; allotment of land for bio-diesel plantations and other commercial plantations; and urbanization. This has surged land prices and people are finding it more lucrative to dispose off their agricultural lands rather than getting significantly low returns from agriculture. Such conversion is causing innumerable problems – threatening people’s livelihood and food security, and sprouting agitation leading to violence across the country. To address this there is a need for suitable interventions to deal with conversion of agriculture land. This report addresses the issue of conversion of agriculture land for non-agricultural purposes. The report briefly discusses the drastic consequences of conversion. Thereafter, the major drivers that have come up from state visits, literature review and from status papers are highlighted. Lastly, recommendations are provide for immediate action to address this grim situation.

6.12 Consequences of the conversion of agriculture land

6.12.1 The conversion of agriculture land for non-agricultural uses is leading to serious consequences. In this chapter, the major consequences of the issues are:

1. 
   Reduced agriculture production: The opening up of Indian economy has led to subsequent increase in conversion of agriculture land for non-agricultural uses. This conversion of agriculture land is often cited as the major reason causing food shortage as agriculture production is constantly reducing. Table - 6 clearly indicates that food grain production have reduced after economic reforms.
   

Table - 6.6 : Food grain production before and after economic reforms (in percentages)

Growth rate of Food grain production	Before economic reforms 1981-82 10 1992-93	After economic reforms 1993-94 to 2004-05
	3.00	0.67

(Source: Kamat, Tupe and Kamat)

2. 
   A micro-level study of Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh shows (Table -7) that the agriculture production has reduced by 39.7 per cent from 1988 – 1998. This reduction has led to food shortage in the region. At the national level securing food for 1.1 billion people is becoming a huge challenge for the policy makers. Half of the world’s hungry population lives in India and feeding them requires at least 170 hectares of agriculture land. In a recent move to increase availability of the food grain in the country the government curbed food export. This move has been abhorred by the international community.
   

Table - 6.7: Loss of agricultural area and production in Saharanpur

Year	Area under Agriculture in hectares	Food grain production in quintals	Loss of food grain production
			Quintals	%
1988	5178	155,340	50,490	39.7
1998	3495	104,850

(Source: Saharanpur study)
(c) Tribal land alienation: The people most affected due to conversion are the tribals and other marginalized groups whose livelihoods are dependent on agriculture. Apart from large-scale conversion of their agriculture land, there are far more families that work as agricultural laborers whose livelihoods are threatened. Tribals and other groups already displaced still have not been provided any or adequate compensation. An estimated 40 million people (of which nearly 40 percent are tribals and 25 per cent dalits) have lost their land since 1950 on account of displacement due to large development projects. They still await compensation and rehabilitation. This has led to creation of widescale disaffection.
(d) Growing social unrest throughout the country: More importantly, large-scale conversion of agriculture land for non-agricultural purposes is threatening livelihoods of the people who heavily depend on agriculture. To add, inequitable distribution of benefits from the new land use, quantity of compensation not commensurating with the market value, and social trade offs like rehabilitation not done properly are leading to immense dissatisfaction among the project affected people. This is leading to gruesome social unrest as witnessed in Nandigram and Singur in West Bengal and Kalinganagar, Orissa, where many people were killed. Such violence can escalate and spread in other parts of the country too if project affected people are not properly consulted, compensated and rehabilitated.
6.13 Major Drivers of Rampant Conversion of Agricultural Land
6.13.1 The information collected for preparing this report has raised concerns over number of points. Those points are quite diversified and actually are drivers of rampant conversion of agriculture land. In this chapter, those points have been summarized in the following three points:

1. 
   Decreasing incentives from agriculture: The decreasing incentive from agriculture sector has been cited as one of the major reasons because of which there is conversion of agriculture land. The total national income coming from agriculture sector in 1951 was 55 per cent whereas in 2003 it was merely 24 percent.⁵⁰ Such decrease has been observed throughout the country affecting both cultivators and agricultural laborers. More and more farmers every year are abandoning agriculture as their primary source of livelihood. Furthermore, farmers also become severely indebted in order to practice agriculture. More than 60 per cent of the surveyed households in Karnataka in the NSSO’s Situation Assessment Survey of Farmers, 2003 showed that they were in debt with an average debt of more than Rs18, 000. Moreover, at times because of water shortage agriculture is difficult to practice. This ultimately makes agriculture less viable and profitable.
   
2. 
   Industrialization and urbanization: The globalization policy led to the arrival of the information technology, related service industries and other industries. This is pulling huge demand for land up. And has sparked an urbanization and industrial boom. The Ministry of Commerce intends to develop 2 Lakh acres as Special Economic Zones. The Haryana government has proposed to set up 14 new townships and theme-based cities which will be connected by a 135 kilometers long expressway developed on 620 hectares. About 45, 000 hectares of land will be developed as residential sectors and industrial zones by state-run and private agencies. In Madhya Pradesh alone more than 12,000 hectares of land have been acquired under Special Economic Zones proposals with a total investment of Rs50, 000 Crores. Similar is the case in other states, too. Correspondingly, this huge demand for land to support industrialization and urbanization is leading to exorbitant land rates. Such sky rocketing land prices has sparked widespread legal and illegal conversion of agriculture land for non-agricultural uses.
   
3. 
   Changing aspirations of the people: Apart from both the above reasons, changing aspirations is also responsible for rising disenchantment towards agriculture profession. Moreover, surging opportunities from others sectors of the booming economy drives them out of agriculture.⁵¹ A large proportion of rural youth from rural and semi-urban areas are on their way out of agriculture.⁵² This human phenomenon is hard to control unless there are proper incentives to create opportunities in rural areas.
   

6.13.2 All these factors are drivers of voluntary and involuntary conversion of agriculture land for non-agricultural purposes. And both types of these conversions can be either legal or illegal. Although it will be hard to curb legal voluntary conversion without making the agriculture sector viable and profitable per se, appropriate policy interventions can help in policing all involuntary and voluntary illegal conversions of agriculture land.

6.14 Recommendations to Prevent Conversion of Agriculture Land for Non-Agricultural Uses
6.14.1 The concerns reflected in the above chapter are due to lack of a comprehensible policy to improve agriculture in general. Moreover, there is clear absence of the perspective to protect agriculture land through laws, especially Land Acquisition Act. The foremost step to deal with the conversion issues is to make the agriculture sector more viable and profitable. So addressing the concerns of the agriculture sector is imperative; however, providing specific recommendations to improve the agriculture sector is beyond the scope of this report. Nevertheless briefly put, adequate subsidy, better access to technology and credit should as assured to farmers for encouraging agriculture. The recommendations provided here are to deal with the conversion of agriculture land for non-agricultural uses, and are divided in two categories - advisory and implementable. These set of recommendations are interlinked. So to address the conversion issue there should be an emphasis on speedy execution of advisory and implementable recommendations.
Advisory Recommendations

1. 
   Stakeholders consent: Consent of all the stakeholders should be considered before land is acquired. This is imperative for smooth implementation and also for getting the right kind of benefits to the people.
   
2. 
   Perspective land use plan: The land use plan should be prepared based on present situation and future needs. Land use plans should be prepared from national and regional levels all the way to the village master plan level. In such plans guidelines should be laid out for land development and land allocation. For example, The Perspective Land Use Plan for Karnataka – 2025 is commendable. It presents the projected land use plan under various land use categories for Karnataka up to 2025. Formulation of such plans should be encouraged in other states.
   
3. 
   Reclamation and development of unutilized and used land: It has emerged from the state visits that in many instances unutilized land acquired for a public purpose is difficult to reclaim. There should be a speedy process to reclaim and take possession of the unutilized land. Moreover, used land, especially in case of coal and other mines should be reclaimed and acquired instead of acquiring agriculture land for public purpose.
   
4. 
   Environmental impact and social impact assessments (EIA and SIA): These assessments should be thoroughly carried out involving the stakeholders before projects are executed. And based on these assessments future course of action should be decided. Social impact assessment is highly advisable to deal with compensation, rehabilitation and resettlement issues.
   
5. 
   Barren and uncultivable land should be used for non-agricultural uses: According to official figures, there is roughly 177 Lakh hectares of barren and uncultivable land lying unused. So barren and uncultivable land should be acquired for public purpose as far as possible. Although this is clearly mentioned in most project proposals, its execution has been a problem. To ensure that barren and uncultivable land is acquired proper monitoring should be adopted.
   
6. 
   Better infrastructure designs: At this juncture of the growing economy better design of infrastructures should be promoted. There should be emphasis on approving and promoting multi-storey buildings that occupy less land space, especially for urban development.
   
7. 
   Better land administration: A larger political vision of improving the government machinery should be the agenda of every political party. Regular deliberations should be encouraged for inviting suggestions to create a transparent and fair land administration system.
   

Implementable Recommendations

1. 
   State land use boards: The existing defunct state land use boards can be advised and provided guidance to make land use plans of the state. Resources – financial and human required by them can be provided to develop the plans.
   
2. 
   The following recommendations of the standing committee on SEZ as presented in table 8 should be approved and implemented at the earliest.
   

Table - 6.8 : Recommendations of the Standing Committee on SEZ⁵³

Issue	SEZ Standing Committee Recommendations
Verification of land	State government and gram panchayat should verify type of land and hold a public notice for objections to the stated type of land to prevent manipulation of land records
Limitations on land	Prevent developers from acquiring more land than necessary by prescribing maximum area for various types of SEZs and 50% of area should be used as “processing area”
Consent of landholders	With the exception of land acquisition for national security, the affected parties should give their consent
Inform affected persons	Land acquisition law should inform affected persons of the purpose for acquisition, its implications, and resettlement provisions
Unused land or failed projects	Lease the land so land owners receive a lump sum and periodic rent. If SEZ fails or dissolves, land goes back to the original owner
Land ownership	Land should be leased to the developer, even if the state government acquires the land
Calculation of compensation	Compensation should be calculated on prevailing market rates
Market rates	State governments should devise a system of periodic market surveys to determine periodic market rates
Shares in company	Offer equity shares in the developers company

(iii) Proposed amendment in the Land Acquisition Act

1. 
   Definition of Public Purpose: The issue of the definition of public purpose in the Land Acquisition Act is considered as unclear. In most of the consultations government officials and the participants have shown consent on this aspect of the Act. Their concern is to make clear what consists of “public purpose”. The recent proposed amendment of ‘public purpose’ in the Act. The proposed definition of public purpose, i.e, (i) strategic naval, military, or air force purposes, (ii) public infrastructure projects, or (iii) for any purpose useful to the general public where 70% of the land has already been purchased from willing sellers through the free market should be accepted and approved. However, in case of public infrastructure projects the compensation to the affected people should be given on the prevailing market prices. The definition of public purpose should also include ecological considerations in it.
   
2. 
   Gram Panchayat should be consulted at the time of acquiring land: The process of consulting the Gram Panchayat should be made mandatory except in case of national security. This process should be clearly elaborated in the Land Acquisition Act.
   
3. 
   Banning excess land being acquired for public purpose: Developers who acquire land under Land Acquisition Act or SEZ should be prevented from acquiring more land than required. The rationality to acquire land presented by the developers should be thoroughly examined.
   
4. 
   EIA and SIA: Environmental impact and social impact assessments should be carried out by the developer and should be discussed with the stakeholders and after that only should be presented to the government.
   
5. 
   Compensation based on market rate: The compensation for the acquired lands should be based on the prevailing market rates.