VPP legislator from Nongkrem Ardent M. Basaiawmoit has called for implementation of land ceiling system in Meghalaya in order that poor people can avail land to build their homes and prevent rich land sharks from capturing all lands.
While moving a resolution on the Land Transfer Act in the State Assembly today, Basaiawmoit said there is urgent need to protect the poor and landless.
“Today we are witnessing some rich individuals possessing vast tracts of land as their private property. Persons who have money buy as much land as they can in the urban areas, semi urban areas and rural areas and their thirst for more land seems insatiable,” Basaiawmoit said.
“The poor and the landless have been reduced to mere tenants for the rest of their lives. Therefore, it is high time that the government brings in a certain law to curb this aberration and to ensure that the poor too can have a plot of land to build their homes or own some land,” he added.
Citing the provisional data of Socio – Economic and Caste Census (SECC), 2011 for Rural India, Basaiawmoit said that out of the 80,43,896 households located in rural areas in eight states of the North East, only 33,06,326 (41 per cent) have land, while 47,37,457 (59 per cent) households are landless.
According to him, among the North East states, Sikkim has the highest number of households with land while the State with the least number of households with land is Mizoram, followed by Meghalaya.
“Most of the land in Meghalaya is privately owned. Of the 4,85,913 households, there are only 1,16,723 (24 per cent) households with land,” he said.
“Land ceiling is required in our State to reduce economic and opportunity disparities, to ensure that wealth is not concentrated in few individuals and to ensure that all citizens have access to appropriate means of subsistence and piece of land,” Basaiawmoit said.
He also stated that Article 38 of the Directive Principles of State Policy talks about reducing the disparities in income, status, amenities, and opportunities while Article 39 of Directive Principles of State Policy aims to prevent the concentration of wealth in a few people.
“Land is life for our tribal community; hence a land ceiling is required to prevent the concentration of wealth in the hands of a select few. If there is no land ceiling, wealthy people will purchase the entire village’s worth of land. Land ceiling system will help put an end to landlordism practiced by large landowners and rich individuals,” the VPP MLA said.
