PM chaired body on land reforms to meet for the first time

Government is preparing ground for the first meeting of National Council for Land Reforms (NLRC), chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, that was constituted four years ago.

Government is preparing ground for the first meeting of National Council for Land Reforms (NLRC), chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, that was constituted four years ago.

HT Image

Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh will hold a "preparatory meeting" with six non-official members of NLRC and secretaries of concerned Ministries on June 26, a source said.

The meeting is being held to prepare the ground for the first meeting of the PM-chaired 16-member body, which includes nine chief ministers.

The meeting is expected to focus on how land is to be reallocated to the landless poor families and how proper entitlement will be ensured.

The government has reviewed 300 recommendations received in October 2009 and had come out with a 20-point land reform agenda and it is expected to be on the table for discussion at the meeting.

The meeting is also expected to discuss a report prepared by the Committee on State Agrarian Relations and the Unfinished Task in Land Reforms. The committee was constituted in 2008 by the Department of Land Resources --- a wing of the rural development ministry.

According to the report, there is "underlying tension" in agrarian relations in rural areas as the "force of urbanisation is deeper".

"Industries, service and infrastructure sectors need land. On the other hand, the rural population also needs land for livelihood, dignity and the food security of a billion plus people," it says.

The challenge of the PM-chaired NLRC will be to press the state governments to respond.