Thiruvananthapuram: Land which has government-given 'pattayam' or title deed can now be pledged for loans or even sold. A notification has been issued amending Kerala Land Assignment Rules, 1964 and easing conditions for sale or pledging. The income limit to receive a title deed has also been taken away.
The government decision would lead to serious consequences, including the possibility of allowing land-grabbers to obtain title deeds. The CPM and CPI, leading parties in the ruling front, had opposed a similar move by the previous government. However, the new amendment provides greater concessions than what the previous government considered.
The amendment would now allow the revenue department to provide two kinds of pattayams. One for land held and the other for government land which is newly handed over. Real farmers will benefit from this, but this provision can be used by encroachers as a loophole to obtain the right to land.
If pattayam is obtained for land already held, it can be immediately sold. There is no objection to pledging it to financing agencies. A Rs 30,000 limit on income for receiving pattayam has also been scrapped.
The second pattayam is for land handed over by the government to the landless. As per existing provisions, this land could not be sold for 25 years. The amendment allows sale after 12 years.
What is being lost is the protection that the government used to ensure for land handed over to the poor, landless people.
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