The Manohar Parrikar-led government might have brought cheers to the tenants through its latest cabinet decision to amend the controversial Goa, Daman and Diu Agricultural Tenancy Act, but it is not going to be a cakewalk considering a number of changes it has to undertake.
The cabinet decision earlier this week, came in view of raining demands from the tenants as well as civil society groups to revert the unanimously passed amendment in the August 2014 assembly session.
This cabinet decision, which in most probability be placed in the ongoing Monsoon Session of the Legislative Assembly, comes with the heavy responsibility to avoid complications and ensure timely delivery of justice within the law frame. The amendment will see the cases from the Court of Senior Civil Judges moving back to the Mamlatdars Courts for hearing. The Courts has 1,432 cases as of now.
The stage in which the case hearings have reached, appointing additional mamlatdars or dedicating some of the existing strength for tenancy cases only, fast track hearings are few of many issues concerning the recent development. Another major challenge would be if any case, that have been disposed of by the courts could be raised for fresh hearing before the Mamlatdars.
Herald contacted the Revenue Minister Rohan Khaunte to get clarity but he refused to divulge the nitty-gritties. He wanted all to wait till the Bill is tabled on the floor of the House.
“The tenants are from the lower income strata and cannot afford to hire good lawyers to fight the battle in the court. There were several other issues connected with it and as such, we discussed with the CM, studied the matter and decided to amend the Act,” he said explaining on how the amendment will benefit the community. “The Bill will address all the issues,” he quickly added.
The matter was kept on priority in the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) to ensure the problems are addressed without affecting the community even as Revenue Minister Rohan Khaunte also submitted a proposal for amendment in May.
The Goa Kul Mundkar Sangarsh Samithi that has been demanding making changes to the Goa Agriculture Tenancy (Amendment) Bill 2014 is not quite happy with the order stating the cabinet announcement will not benefit the tenants.
“The amendment will only change the procedure. The cases will be transferred from the Courts to the Mamlatdars, and everything else will be the same. We want the government to revoke all the amendments done in 2014 and implement the Tenancy Act 1974, which is simple to understand and enforce,” the association convener Ramkrishna Zalmi said.
He went on to claim that government has no authority to make any changes to the Central Act but reiterated the demand to bring in force the 1974 Act. “It is just a four-step proper procedure comprising survey followed by index prepared by the government, payment and giving of sanads,” he said alleging that pendency of cases has led to stalling of various related agriculture related work on the land by the tenants.
During the last three years, sources told Herald that around 200 cases in Pernem and Ponda taluka saw the tenants losing the battle. The fear continues even now despite the cabinet decision.
The Poriem legislator Pratapsing Rane echoed the problems of the tenants on being unable to afford expert lawyers, during the ongoing assembly session. “We do not want the poor farmers to lose their efforts. The cases should revert to the magistrates,” he had demanded while also seeking additional mamlatdars to handle the extra workload. Ponda MLA Ravi Naik too stood by the problems faced by tenants claiming these ‘poor’ people do not find witnesses in the courts.
Some Congress leaders raised various apprehensions particularly since the cases have reached a particular stage in the civil courts. Filip Neri Rodrigues questioned the fate of cases which have reached in the final stage. He even sought additional mamlatdars specifically for disposing off tenancy cases.
While refusing to agree with the demands to appoint additional mamlatdars considering the State has 51 out of 53 sanctioned posts, Khaunte reiterated that all doubts would be cleared once the Bill is tabled in the Assembly.
Earlier, two of the three clauses of the 2014 amendment had been withdrawn, including the sunset clause that gave tenants three years from September 25, 2014, to file an application declaring their tenancy rights. The only factor left was to transfer the cases back to the mamlatdar’s office.
