Time for second land reforms in Kerala: Expert

KOCHI: It’s time for a second round of land  reforms in Kerala, said National Land Reforms Council member and Ekta Parishad national president P V Rajagopal, who has undertaken a ‘Jansamvada Satyagraha Yatra’, a national campaign demanding land for the landless across the country.Rajagopal told ‘Express’ here that with 25,000 Dalit colonies and 5,000 tribal colonies, the state was gradually moving to a period of colonisation.The Yatra, which began from Kanyakumari on October 2, has been a movement demanding a total recast of the national land policy.“In a land-starving country, we cannot have plantations of 5,000 acres. Being a member of NLRC, I’ll submit a recommendation to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pointing out that one unit of plantation cannot be over 15 to 20 acres of land. If such a recommendation is implemented companies like Harrisons Malayalam and Tata will not be able to maintain big plantations,” he said.Rajagopal has written to Chief Minister Oommen Chandy demanding betterimplementation of the Forest Rights Act in the state. “If the process of transfer of resources from the rich to the poor does not take place, it could lead to a situation like that in Orissa,  Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. Over 140 districts are under thecontrol of armed groups there. We have asked the Chief Minister that joint monitoring committees should be set up to assess the implementation of FRA. The committees should have tribal leaders and activists along with politicians. Also there should be a time frame,” he said.P V Rajagopal had earlier undertaken a campaign - Janadesh 2007 - where nearly 25,000 landless in the northern states joined him in the march to Delhi. After the agitations, the Centre set up the National Land Reforms Committee with the Prime Minister as its chairman.Once the campaign enters Tamil Nadu, the fight will be against the system of Panchami land being encroached and controlled by the rich, he said. The march will touch as many as 350 districts covering a total of 80,000 km and taking part in 500 struggles.“As part of the campaign, we have visited Koodamkulam, Alappad, Chengara and Idukki. I feel there is an urgent need for a second round of land reforms,” he said.