Thread by @lakshmishaks

#Reforms

This is big reform which will reduce real estate corruption and bring down urban land prices.

swarajyamag.com/news-brief/kar…

After the amendment, regardless of buyer’s annual income from non-agricultural sources, any Indian or a trust, society, company or an educational institution can buy farmland in Karnataka.

According to the current law, any person with annual income above Rs 25 lakh from non-agriculture sources would not be considered as a “farmer” regardless of the family background. Before 2015, the income cap was just Rs 2 lakh.

On one hand, owners were forced to leave their lands fallow instead of using it for other purposes, and on the other, an artificial scarcity meant steep prices for land.

Reportedly, around 23 per cent of cultivable land in Karnataka is lying fallow as most of it is owned by families who have moved away from agriculture.

The law was also deemed draconian by the farmers who could not get a good price for their land; were forced to make false declarations before revenue authorities and hide the true value of transactions. This facilitated bureaucratic corruption.

The Centre plans to digitise all its farm-oriented schemes and ensure farmers are paid procurement prices directly, by launching an Aadhaar-based database

#reforms

m.economictimes.com/news/economy/p…

The database will also map landholdings of beneficiaries, said officials. In the first phase, the database will have details of 50 million farmers across nine states.

#reforms

The database, to be completed by June 30, will have satellite imaging of individual farm land so that farmers may be provided advisories based on the kind of land they possess and the crop they grow.

#reforms

Database may be shared with farm technology companies for developing innovative solutions to increase productivity. The database will also help ensure direct benefit transfer (DBT) in the bank accounts of authentic farmers.

#reforms