Bill to replace contentious land reform ordinance tabled in K'taka assembly

Bengaluru: The contentious The Karnataka Land Reforms (Second Amendment) Bill, 2020 was among the 12 bills tabled in the assembly on Tuesday.

The land reforms bill seeks to replace the Karnataka Land Reforms (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020, which the government promulgated in July, bringing in sweeping changes, including easing restrictions on the buying of agricultural land and ceiling on the extent of land one can hold.

The bill,which is likely to be taken up for consideration tomorrow, seeks to further amend the Karnataka Land Reforms Act, 1961 for removing restrictions on purchasing agriculture land, and states the purchaser shall use such land for agricultural purposes only. It repeals Sections 79(A), 79(B) and 79(C) of the act.

Also, Section 63 has been amended to raise the cap on ownership of farm land. Section 79(A) sets a limit of non-agricultural income at Rs 25 lakh to buy agricultural land, Section 79(B) bars non- agriculturists from purchasing agricultural land, and Section 79C deals with penalty for falsely claiming eligibility to hold agricultural land. Opposition Congress and JD(S) have already expressed their opposition to the bill and farmers’ organisations have been holding protests against it.

The government has also introduced the Karnataka Industries (Facilitation) (Amendment) Bill 2020, which seeks to replace the ordinance promulgated in July. It seeks to bring in necessary amendments to the Karnataka Industries (Facilitation) Act, 2002, aimed at allowing industries to commence work without having to wait for any statutory clearances for the first three years, with an expectation to boost investment across sectors and to aid the ease of doing business in Karnataka.

Under the amended act, an industry would not need any statutory permissions for the first three years, or whichever is earlier, to set up operations in the state. These permissions include approvals from under multiple state laws, including trade licence and building-plan approval, measures that would save a lot of time and cost for industries.

Also introduced was the Karnataka Lokayukta (Second Amendment) Bill 2020, which fixes the time frame within which preliminary inquiry and investigations are to be conducted by the Lokayukta and Upalokayukta. The Karnataka State Open Universities (Amendment) Bill, The Karnataka Epidemic Diseases Bill, Karnataka Municipalities (Amendment) Bill were among the other bills tabled.