PONDA: A tenants association from Ponda has alleged that the amendments carried out to the Agricultural Tenancy Act in 2014 and 2017 are a big conspiracy to finish off the tenants forever.
Claiming that the amendments favoured the landlords, the tenants association has decided to launch a fresh agitation for ‘justice.’ The decision to launch a fresh agitation was taken at a meeting of tenants held at Zareshwar Hall in Ponda, on Saturday.
The meeting was organised by the Goencho Kul Mundkaracho Awaj (Voice of Tenants and Mundkars in Goa) to pay tribute to the first chief minister Bahusaheb Bandokar and express their gratitude to the late leader for bringing in the Agricultural Tenancy Act.
The meeting squarely blamed Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar as the brain behind introducing the amendments in 2014 and 2017 due to which several tenants lost their cases in court.
The meeting also resolved “to teach a lesson to the BJP which despite reduced to minority managed to form government and once again brought 2017 amendment that deprives right of tenants.”
According to Adv Satyawan Palkar the tenancy law is a beneficial Act in favour of tenants who were working and toiling hard in fields while the landlord exploited them by taking majority share of their agricultural production. The amendments passed in 2014 and 2017 favour of landlords, he said.
Adv Palkar said that divesting the mamlatdars of jurisdiction over tenancy matters and vesting the same in civil courts, the government placed the tenants in a disadvantageous position.
Besides, the ‘Sunset Clause’ requiring the tenants to file applications for declaration as tenants within three years of introducing the amendment deprived the tenants of a valuable right of filing the application at their will, Adv Palkar explained.
As per civil court procedure, Adv Palkar said, proving tenancy required documentary proof which the tenants do not have, which, he added, resulted in hundreds of tenants losing their cases for want of documentary evidence.
“As per the original Act of 1964, the mamlardar can conduct special survey and provide sanands of lands to tenants without demanding any documentary proof,” Adv Palkar said.
