Landlords indirectly control large tracts of land, says Bommai

Although state law restricts ownership of large tracts of land, several communities that were traditionally landowners continue to have indirect control over immovable assets, lawmakers said in the Assembly on Tuesday.

Speaking on the issue, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said land-owning families were forced to become Hindu undivided families after the Karnataka Land Reforms Act, with a ceiling on land holding, came into
force.

“However, the lands still remain with close relatives. The only difference is that they are no longer an undivided family, but a divided family,” Bommai said.

Water Resources Minister Govind Karjol added that those communities that were traditionally landlords had not suffered any dent to their status even after the land ceiling. “Fifty years from now, their status will remain the same. Land holdings are all under their control in benami names,” he
stated.

The issue began with Agriculture Minister B C Patil saying that JD(S) leader Venkatrao Nadagouda’s family owned 500-1,000 acres of land. While the MLA was not present in the House at the time, Congress leader K R Ramesh Kumar was quick to point out that it could not be technically correct owing to the land ceiling
law.

Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah, too, said there was no scope for anyone, whether divided or undivided families, to hold lands beyond the
ceiling.

“Just because someone is named Nadagouda does not he owns a lot of land. Just like someone named Sampath Iyengar, could in reality be very poor,” Siddaramaiah quipped.

Meanwhile, the leaders also discussed how downtrodden communities remained sidelined in the society in spite of Basavanna and Allama Prabhu’s efforts to remove casteism.

Karjol, a Dalit, cited Basavanna’s example and said Brahmins were at the forefront of contributing towards uplifting of the downtrodden. Siddaramaiah rubbished this claim. “If such was the case, Ambedkar would not have converted to Buddhism,” he said.

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