BENGALURU: With cases of land grabbing being registered against unauthorised cultivation in government land, the State Government has decided to make suitable amendments to the revenue act to protect farmers from harassment.
Law Minister J C Madhuswamy on Tuesday informed the Legislative Assembly that forest rights, land grabbing and land encroachment are different and the government will not tolerate if farmers are harassed and land-grabbing cases are registered against them.
“We will bring an amendment to the existing law so that encroachment of agricultural land is not considered as land grabbing and cases booked at the court in Bengaluru,” he said. The government wanted to take stern action against land grabbing cases in Bengaluru, but that has opened the floodgate, he said and added that they feel ashamed that 200 t0 300 farmers come to the court every day. “We will sort it out,” he said.
The minister was responding to Congress MLA H K Patil’s demand for constituting a house committee to look into harassment of farmers in Gadag district by Forest Department officials. As many as 776 cases have been registered against farmers accusing them of land grab, he said.
Former chief minister B S Yediyurappa said it is very unfortunate that officials are harassing farmers and this has to stop. Opposition leader Siddaramaiah, Speaker Vishweshwara Hegde Kageri and members cutting across party lines expressed concern over harassment of farmers.
No waiver of agri loans: Somashekhar
Bengaluru: The State Government has clarified that there is no proposal to waive off agricultural loans availed by farmers who succumbed to Covid-19. Replying to a question by BJP MLC Munirajugowda P M in the Legislative Council on Tuesday, Cooperation Minister S T Somashekhar said among the farmers who lost their lives in the first and second wave of the pandemic, 10,437 of them had availed loans from various cooperative institutions. “The loans borrowed by them is Rs 91.97 crore. The government has not issued any order to waive off the loans,” the minister clarified.