Why India Needs Second Generation Reforms
Don’t blame Amitabh or Aamir. Change the law.
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A court in Uttar Pradesh has ruled that Amitabh Bachchan is not a farmer, and hence ineligible to acquire agricultural land. After Amitabh, it’s Bollywood actor Aamir Khan’s turn to face the music.Aamir Khan has purchased agricultural land in Pune claiming that he is a ”born” agriculturalist. Questions are being raised whether the actor can actually claim that status, and Maharashtra’s revenue minister Narayan Rane has promised a full inquiry in this matter.
But why is a private agreement between two consenting adults a matter of national importance? Why has it merited almost non-stop coverage on CNN IBN? The answer is because the law–as is often the case– is an ass.
As per the Bombay Tenancy and Agricultural Land Act 1963, only farmers can own agricultural land in Maharashtra. This is a completely illogical and anachronistic rule which should immediately be consigned to the dustbin of history. In both these cases, there is no complaint from the actual owners of the land who have apparently received a renumerative price. If the property owner has willingly sold the land, why should the state intervene? After all, no such law exists for urban Indian where people can sell their property as and when they please. Then why should farmers be not allowed that freedom? This is especially surprising since the state has shown no inhibitions in acquiring private agricultural land, often by employing coercive tactics, and that too at throwaway prices. Though such acquisitions are often done in the name of industrialization and ”national interest”, they are frequently used to help a favored group of industrialists. As a matter of fact, the government control over land is one of the most important reasons for large scale land grabbing, illegal constructions and corruption.
Our statue books are littered with laws which serve no useful purpose and yet–in the name of protecting the poor–are not abolished.. Paradoxically enough, though the reason for their continuance is protecting the poor, it is the poor that they have harmed the most. To give just one example, the Urban Land Ceiling Act has made land in Indian cities prohibitively expensive and has led to proliferation of slums. Yet others laws shackle aam aadmi entrepreneurship. They have only empowered the babus and not the poor. Or take the UPA government’s criminal neglect of infrastructure. Whom does it harm the most? Large companies have the financial muscle to create their own infrastructure, for example: captive power plants. It is the small entrepreneur who loses out.
And that is exactly why India desperately needs second generation reforms, The initial reforms have made it easy for Indian businesses to expand without myriad licensing requirements, and the results are for all to see. However, without further reforms, the fruits of growth will be limited to a small segment of the population.
It has been said before but it merits repetition: reforms have not benefited the aam aadmi simply because they have bypassed him, It is tragic that a government which claims to work for the aam aadmi fails to see this simple truth.
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