economics of land transfer

8/3/2019 Economics of Land Transfer

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Introduction :

T he e co n om y o f t h e N or th B en ga l i s c ha ra ct er iz ed b y p re do mi n an c e o f

agr icul ture and a l l ied sectors and a few industr ies based on tea , tour i sm and t imber .Agricul tural act ivi t ies dominate over industr ial act ivi t ies with a large pool of the total

working populat ion in the region being ei ther cul t ivators or agricul tural labourers and

earning their l ivel ihood from the primary sector act ivi t ies. In industr ial sector , apart

f rom t ea and t our i sm indus t ry , t he re a r e no o the r i ndus t ry wor th ment ion ing . T he

region i s character ized by a weak indust r ia l base as compared to other par t s of the

s ta te . Consequent ly, the bes t assurance of economic secur i ty of the rura l folk comes

through the r ights of ownership and cul t iva t ion of land which i s the only source of

p re se nt a nd f ut ur e s tr ea ms o f i nc om e f or t he m. H ow ev er , t h e r eg io n h as b ee n

undergoing a process of land use convers ion for more than a decade. This i s a newphenomenon that has been p resent fo r s eve ral d i st r ic t s o f t h is r egion. I t i s worth

noting that the term land-use t ransfer may have several connotat ions. In the context

o f t he p resent s t udy , i t r e fe r s t o t he p rocess o f t r ans fe r o f p r edominan t ly paddy,

p ineapple and fol low lands in to tea plantat ion. The expansion of land area under tea

plantat ion underlying this phenomenon is largely due to small holder expansion. As a

matt e r o f f act , t her e has been a t r emendous p ro l i fe r at i on o f t he sma l l t ea g rowers

dur ing 1994-97. The dis t r ic t s in which the land-use t ransfer phenomenon i s most ly

vis ible inc lude Ja lpaigur i , Dar jee l ing (bar ing the hi l ly ter ra in) , Nor th Dinajpur and

some parts of Coochbehar distr ict . However, the magnitudes of land use changes havedistr ict vis a vis block level variat ions.

An overview of the problem :

The prol iferat ion of small tea gardens has aroused considerable concern among

the people of th i s region over the las t couple of years . As a mat ter of fac t , there are

mainly two dissenting voices among the people over this issue - one is raised from thet r ad i ti onal ag ri cul t u ra l s ecto r and t he o the r f rom the t ea secto r. F i rs t o f a l l, t he

p ro l i f e r a t i on phenomenon has l ed t o a dec l i ne o f l and a r ea under t r ad i t i ona l c rop

production and gradual increase of land area under production of tea. The tradi t ionalf a rming sy st em of t h is r egion, which i s usua l ly pe rce ived t o be se lf - sus t ained i n

nature, has been col lapsed to a considerable extent due to this factor . This could bring

a bo u t t he p ro bl em s o f l an d a li en at io n, a ss et le ss ne ss , i nc om e i ns ta bi li ty a nd

joblessness of the small holder cult ivators vis a vis agricul tural workers The process

Economics Of Land-Use Transformation Through Tea Plantation

A Case Study


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joblessness of the small holder cult ivators vis a vis agricul tural workers The process

pr ices of tea to the det r iment of the organized tea indust ry . I t may be noted in th i s

connec t i on t ha t t he BL F s t ook roo t i n Nor th Benga l i n t he 1990s . E ven as 32 t ea

es ta tes in Nor th Bengal c losed down because of losses , the member of BLFs went up

from 22 in 1999 to 74 in 2004. BLFs now account for 24 percent of the total made tea

produced in th e state of West Bengal .

In this context , the present problem is mult idimensional and needs to be p roved

systemat ica l ly . However , there has not been any r igorous s tudy on thi s subject t i l l

today . On the cont rary , l i t t l e a t tent ion has been given to the ques t ion whether tea

plantat ion instead of t radi t ional crop cul t ivat ion is an at t ract ive land use of opt ion in

terms sustainable l ivel ihood implicat ions of poor people in the rural sector . Moreover,

l i t t le economic insight exists on the nature of such transformation and the parameters

which guide the prol i fera tion of smal l growers garden. Again, no s tudy has yet beennot iced which made an a t tempt to assess the envi ronmenta l impact of the land-use

convers ion process on the land-based l ive l ihood oppor tuni t ies of the people l iv ing in

vil lages surrounding tea plantat ion.

T he above d i scuss ion sugges ts t hat t he l and- tr ans fer p rob l em needs t o be

studied careful ly and thoroughly from a socio-economic p erspect ive as i t has profound

socio-economic impl ica t ions for the two broadly def ined sectors of the economy of

th i s region, v iz the agr icul ture and the tea sec tors . The present research projec t i sundertaken keeping this end in view.

The Mode of Land Transfer :

The two principal modes of land transfer found in North Bengal are :

i . L an d tr an sf er t o te a wi th t he c ha ng e of o wn er sh ip o f la nd

i i . L and t ransfe r t o tea wi thou t t he change o f owner ship of land.

Under t he f i r s t mode , t he l and were so ld ou t t o t he g rower s o f t ea by t he

vi l lagers who have t radi t ional ly been smal l holder cul t iva tors engaged in paddy or h f di i l l i i f i h i l i l ih d f h


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ii) Crop rep l aced l and : This ca tegory occupies a major por t ion of thearea under land-use convers ion. Such areas inc lude replacement of paddy,

jute, pineapple, vegetable cul t ivat ion etc.

iii) M arg i nal l and : In t h is ca tegory , government g r az ing l and , paddyn u rs er y, h ig h l an d p ad dy a re a, b ar re n l an d o f v ar io us n at ur e c an b e

included . T h is ca tegory o f l and r equ i re s su it abl e r ehab il i ta t ion be fo re

bringing under tea. However, in p ract ice i t was not fol lowed.

iv) Unsui table land : In some cases , i t i s found that tea was in t roduced ins uc h ar ea s w he re t he l an d i s n ot a t a ll s uit ab le f or g ro wi ng t ea

commerc i al l y. S uch as f i ll ed up l ow l and , shal l ow l and o f sandy a r eas ,

d eg ra de d l an d u se d p re vi ou sl y u nd er v ar io us p ur po se s o th er t ha ncult ivat ion.

I t may be no t ed i n t h i s connec t i on t ha t mos t o f t he l and used by t he sma l l

growers may be considered as second grade land for growing tea . As a la tecomer ,

the small sector vir tual ly found very l i t t le virgin high land. I t may also be noted that

land transfer process has created discon tent among the local people in many instances.

This enforced the government to come up wi th a land pol icy in ear ly 1990 wi th the

aim of safeguarding the in teres t s of the local people . The fol lowing condi t ions for

land transfer are formulated under the law :

1 ) I t i s no t t o be p r ime agr i cu l t ur a l land

2 ) I t is n ot t o be t ri ba l la nd

3) I t does not fal l within the Tees ta CommandArea

4 ) I t i s n o t f or es t la nd

An individual seeking to es tabl i sh a garden has to meet up these condi t ions

fa i l ing which he would not get c learance f rom the land revenue depar tment and his

garden would be t reated as i l legal . Moreover, he could not get himself registered with

the Tea Board and hence could not take f inancia l benef i t of fered by the Board. I t i sobserved t hat ma jor it y o f t he smal l g rower s ga rdens ac ross t he d i st r ic t s o f North

B en ga l a re n o n- re g is te re d o wi ng t o t h e n o n- fu lf il lm en t o f o ne o r m or e o f t h e

condit ions st ipulated under the law. In North Bengal , only 3% of the total small scale

tea planta t ion are regis tered whi le 97% are non-regis tered This i s why the accura te


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2) Educated rural youth : Growers of th i s group are more urbanized inout look. They usual ly shy away f rom engaging themselves in growing

of other crops except tea due to fancy at tached to tea cul t ivat ion. Theyhave more conf idence i n t he i r own judgement and f ee l l e s s need fo r

approval of o ther conventional farmers. They are more concerned wi th

p ro fi t m ak in g , m or e w il li ng t o t ak e r is k s a nd b et te r a bl e t o t ak e

decisions.

3) Educated youth from urban area : Growers of this group are residentsi n u rb an a re as u nd er ta ki ng o th er c om me rc ia l a ct iv it ie s. T he y a re

re la t ive ly wel l -of f and for whom the cul t iva t ion of tea i s a means of

e xp an di ng t he ir b us in es s b as e, a nd t hu s c an b e c al le d a s u rb an

agri cul t ur i st s . T here a r e w ide d i ff e rences i n a t ti t ude and ob jec ti vesf ro m t he ir c ou nt er pa rt i n r ur al a re as . T he y a re l es s b ou nd b y

conventions, more rat ional , less fatal ist ic and more wil l ing to take r isks

a nd in no vat e, s ome h av e h ig her as pi ra ti on , g rea te r n ee d f or

achi evement and a r e ex tr emely eage r t o have fo rward l i nkages ( l ike

es tab li shment o f t ea f acto ri e s, packaging o f t ea) i n fu tu re. Besides ,

corpora te sec tors a l so purchased huge land as they are forerunners in

start ing new tea gardens in North Bengal and some big growers also areplant ing tea here.

Profi le of the Small Tea Growers :

T he sma l l t ea sec to r i n Nor th Benga l began i n 1980s . I t had made i t s f i r s t

apperance in Chopra Block in Ut tar Dinajpur dis t r ic t . Growers holding up to 10.12

hecto rs under t ea a r e cons ide red t o be smal l g rowers . Main ly t he g rowers havemigra t ed f rom paddy , j u te and p ineapp le. S mal l t ea secto r mushroomed in North

Bengal because tea was found to be more profi table them other crops and could remain

remunera ti ve fo r y ear s t o come . In t h is cont ext , i t i s worth ment ion ing t ha t t he

c on ce p t o f g ro wi ng t ea i n s ma ll h o ld in g s w as i ni ti al ly m oo te d b y a f ew w el l-

e s t ab l i shed t ea company , such a s Duncans and Jay as ree t ea company o f t he B i r l agroup of indust r ies , as they s tar ted making in the la te 1980s smal l t ea garden in the

name of project gardens under their ownership in Phansidawa and Naxalbari Blocks

in Dar jee l ing dis t r ic t and Sadar Mainaguri and Raiganj Blocks in Ja lpaigur i d i s t r ic t .

B i d b thi h d b f f dd j t


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growers in North Bengal . While studying the diversion of land to tea, i t revealed that

the to ta l a rea covered by new gardens come to 4282.21 hectars of which ac tual tea

planta t ion exis ted in 2988.79 hectars . Thus , severa l hectors of land were s t i l l to be

brought under plantat ion. The data col lected on distr ict wise distr ibut ion of small tea

growers shows that the Ut tar Dinajpur dis t r ic t has the highes t concent ra t ion of newgrowers, fol lowed by Jalpaiguri , Darjeel ing and Coocbbehar. Final ly , the study of size

dis t r ibut ion of farm holdings throughout the region has revealed that major i ty of the

new grower gardens (66%)of th i s region has an area below 2 hectors . However , there

i s a subs t an t i a l number o f ga rdens (21%) wi th t he ho ld ing s i ze o f 2 t o 5 hec to r s .

Final ly , there is a relat ively few number of gardens (13%) under the holding size of 5

hectors or above. However, the report does not reveal the t rue picture of land transfer

phenomenon; due to non-coopera tion f rom cer tain sec t ion of growers , i t could not

p ro jec t ac tual f i gures . Never the le s s, t he r epor t i s usefu l t o ge t a f eel o f t he l andtransfer problem.

An indirect estimate of the districwise figure of small growers could be obtainedfrom the petition made for N. O. C. of tea cultivation to the land and Land Reforms

Department, Government of West Bengal. This is given in the following table :

District

Total pet i t ion received

for N. O. C.

Total no . of N.O.C.

issued

Jalpaiguri

Darjeel ing

Uttar Dinajpur

Coochbehar

1860

1947

2005

129

650

890

482

47

Besides the above pic ture , there i s informat ion that subs tant ia l number of smal l t eagrowers have not yet submit ted applicat ion for regularizat ion of land. In North Bengal

l 538 l l i d i h T B d Th ff i i l f i f


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5 ) To e xa mi ne wh et he r t he s ma ll t ea s ec to r v is a v is t he b ou gh t l ea f

f ac to ri es c ou ld b e m ad e r es po n si bl e f or t h e p re se nt c ri si s i n t ea

industry.

Sources of Data and Methodolog y of the Study :

The s tudy i s p lanned to be conducted on the bas is of an empir ica l analys is of

informat ion about the economics of land-use t ransformatoi in through non- t radi t ional

s ma ll s ca le t ea p l an t at io n i n s el ec te d a re as i n t he d is tr ic ts o f U tt ar D in aj pu r,Darjeel ing, Jalpaiguri and Coochbehar. Both primary and secondary data wil l be used

to meet the data requi rement of the s tudy . For the col lec t ion of pr imary data , f ie ld

invest igat ions, such as household surveys, and interviews with knowledgeable personsin t he l oca li t y a re t o be used. T hree se ts o f quest i onnai r e a r e t o be se t fo r da t a

col lec t ion : ( i ) one for people l iv ing in vi l lages where land t ransfer took place; ( i i )

the second one for people l iv ing in vi l lages sur rounding tea plantat ion; ( i i i ) the las t

one for smal l t ea growers . Two ques t ionnai re ( i ) and ( i i i ) a re a lmost f ina l ized whi le

the third one ( i i i ) is under preparat ion.

The present s tudy wi l l a l so make use of secondary data . Important sources of

s ec on d ar y d at a a re r ep o rt o f t he d ep ar tm en t o f t ea m an ag em en t , N or th B en ga lUnivers i ty , var ious repor t s and bul le tins of Tea Board and other secondary materia l s

col lected from internet .

A s a p ar t o f t he t ot al r es ea rc h p ro je ct , o ne f ie ld s ur ve y h as a lr ea dy

administered and information was col lected o n the fol lowing i tems :-

i ) C om mu ni ty w is e di st ri bu ti on o f s am pl e h ou se ho ld s ;

i i) N at u re o f t he l an d tr an s fe rr ed t o t ea pl an ta ti on ;

i ii ) S ta tu s of t he l an d tr an sf er r ed t o te a pl an ta ti on ;i v) V il la g e wi se d is tr ib u ti on o f to ta l la nd t ra ns fe r;

v ) J ob cr ea ti on ag ai ns t l an d t ra ns fe r;

v i) M on et ar y c om p en s at io n r ec ei v ed a g ai ns t l an d t ra ns fe r.


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m at te r o f f ac t, t he s iz e o f l an d h ol di ng f or a m aj or it y o f t he p o pu la ti on i s n o t

economical ly viable enough to sus ta in the household. The smal l s ize of holding i s a

major problem for them to carry out t radi t ional crop production on a sustainable basis .

Bes ides , the r i s ing input pr ices and s tagnant agr icul tura l crop pr ices , the reduced

access to inst i tut ional credi t and other agricul tural extension services ( the supply-sideassi s t ance) make t h ings more d i ff i cu l t f o r t hem. Hence peop le have t o l ook fo r

al ternat ive employment opportunit ies. Live stock rearing is an important component of

the economy in the study area. Women are subsidiary income earners and perform the

function of house keeping.

Very l i t t l e inf ras tructura l fac i l i t i es are avai lable in the vi l lages . There are no

banks , h igh schoo l s, o r me ta l led road connect i ng t he v i ll ages t o u rban cent e rs .

E lect r ic i ty i s avai lable in the vi l lages , but most of the houses are not e lec t r i f ied.Literacy is inadequate in the vi l lages.

Summary of the Findings :

L and t r ans fe r has been found to be a s t rong phenomenon in v i l l ages where

survey was conducted. However , the magni tudes of land t ransfer have var ied across

the v i l l ages . I n a l l t he v i l l ages , i t i s p r edominan t ly t he sma l l ho lde r s who have

t r ans fe r r ed l and t h rough sa l e t o a l a rge t ea company . Moreover , i t i s l a rge ly t he

m i no r it y g r ou p s ( M us l im s , R a jb a ns h is a n d T ri b al s ) w h o h a ve e x pe r ie n ce d t h is

phenomenon. The numer ica l f igure for to ta l l and t ransfer comes around 118 acres in

this area . Two features of th i s phenomenon are wor th not ic ing. F i rs t , out of the to ta l

l and a r ea t ha t has come under t ea , 90 pe r cen t a r e c rop r ep l ac ing l and and 10 pe r

cen t a r e f a l l ow l and . T h i s de f in i t e ly i nd i ca t e s a f a l l i n a r ea under cu l t i va t i on o f

t radi t ional types of crops such as paddy , ju te e tc . fo l lowing land t ransfer . Secondly ,

t he owner sh ip ho ld ing has been found to t he l a rges t ca t egory o f l and which have

t ransfer red to tea and i t compr ises 65 percent of the to ta l a rea . This i s fol lowed by

v e st e d l a n d c o mp r is i ng 2 5 p e rc e nt , a n d p a tt a l a nd c o mp r is i ng 1 0 p e rc e nt . I t i s

impor tant to note in th i s connect ion that many respondents do not own land exceptthe i r homes t ead fo l l owing l and t r ansfe r . P r imary f i nd ings sugges t t ha t t he re a r e a t

leas t three reasons behind such a phenomenon. The vi l lages are located on the r ight bank o f t he T ees t a Cana l and a r e hav ing no i r r i ga t i on f ac i l i t i e s . T h i s means t ha t

v i ll a ge r s a r e d e pe n de n t u p on r a id - fe d m o no c r op p in g a n d w h at e ve r s u bs i di a ry

ac t i vi t i e s a r e ava i l ab le , which a r e l e s s t han t he r equ i r ed . Moreover , t he l and i n

hi h i l l i i i d b h i l l l i i i h l


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t ra ns fe rr ed . T he n or m t ha t w as f ol lo we d i n p ro vi di ng e mp lo ym en t w as o ne

permanent job and one temporary job agains t a t ransfer of one acre of land, and one

temporary job only agains t a t ransfer of less than one acre of land. I t i s found that

204 jobs have been created agains t a t ransfer of 118 acres of land. The ra t io of job

c r ea t io n t o l a n d t r an s fe r i s c a l c ul a te d t o b e 1 . 72 : 1. A s f a r a s t h e n a t ur e o f j o bcreat ion agains t l and t ransfer i s concerned, there i s a dominance of casual jobs over

t h e p e r m an e nt j o bs . I n p e rc e nt a ge t e rm s , 6 2 p e rc e nt o f t h e t o t a l j o b s a r e o f t h e

casual na ture and 38% of the permanent nature . I t would be re levant in th i s context

t o make a d i s t inc t i on be tween two ca t egor i es o f l aboure rs . A pe rmanen t worker i s

o n e w h o i s s u pp o se d t o g e t e m p l oy me n t g u a r an t ee a l l t h r o ug h t h e y e a r o n t h e

ful f i l lment of cer ta in condi t ions being la id down by the tea garden author i ty . He i s

supposed t o ge t a da i l y wage o f Rs . 48 . 62 p lus non-wage bene fi t s ( l i ke fue l wood ,

house repai r ing a l lowances , f ree medical t rea tment e tc . ) . On the cont rary , a casualworker i s one who may or may not have employment guarantee a l l through the year .

I t i s found that there are two categor ies of casual labourers . One ca tegory of casual

labourers are paid a dai ly wage to the tune of Rs . 50.25 agains t a minimum plucking

of 18 kg . g r een l ea f p lus some non-wage bene f i t s which a r e f a r l e s s gene rous a s

compared t o t ha t o f t he ir pe rmanen t coun te rpa r t s. However , t hey a r e seen t o be

absorbed i n j obs fo r nea r ly t he en t ir e y ea r . T he o the r ca t egory o f casual l aboure r s

are paid out wages only and no non-wage benef i t s . They are employed by the garden

as and when requi red. The bas ic dis t inc t ion between two categor ies of casual labour

i s tha t whi le the employment of one ca tegory i s temporary in nature , the employmentof the other i s pure ly seasonal .

The shi f t of land use f rom t radi t ional agr icul ture to tea planta t ion has crea ted

s ign i fi can t changes i n women work pa r t i c ipat i on i n agr icu l t ur a l ope rat i on . Before

land t ransfer , women were subs idiary income earners and per formed the funct ion of

house keep ing . T hey were be ing occasiona lly i nvo lved i n sma ll - scal e market i ng .

L and t r ans fe r has opened up new oppor tun i t i e s fo r f ema le work fo rce i n t he ru ra l

r eg ion . An impor t an t r eason fo r t h i s i s t ha t women a r e more e f f i c i en t i n p luck ing

work t han t he men . As a r e su l t o f t h i s , t he re i s g r ea t e r i nvo lvement o f women ineconomic ac t iv i t ies outs ide the household. Thus , the oppor tuni t ies avai lable through

tea p l an t a t i on a r e supposed t o i nc rease t he economic power and soc i a l s t a tus o f

women.


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f or t hi s s or t o f o ut co me i s t ha t i nc om e f ro m t ea g ar de n i s n ot e no ug h f or

subs is tence . Moreover , there i s no evidence of tea garden re la ted auxi l iary economic

ac t i v i t i e s t o suppor t subs i s t ence o f t he f ami ly . T hus , t he f ami ly has t o l ook fo r

s u bs i di a ry i n co m e s o ur c es w h ic h h a ve b e en s e en t o b e a v ai l ab l e a t c o mm u ta b le

dis tances f rom the place of res idence of the fami ly . S ince i t i s more convenient for m a le m e mb e rs o f a f a mi l y t o c o mm u te , t h ey h a ve p r ef e rr e d t o w o rk a s c a su a l

laboures . This i s c lear ly indicat ive of poor l iv ing condi t ion and income ins tabi l i ty

o f t h e p e o p l e e v e n a f t e r t h e o c c u r r e n c e o f l a n d t r a n s f e r . A g a i n , t h e r e i s a c l e a r

ev idence o f depr iva t i on o f t he t ea ga rden worke r s (bo th pe rmanen t and casua l ) i n

terms of the dispar i ty between the benef i t s tha t the workers were promised to der ive

and that they are ac tual ly der iving now. The range of f r inge benef i t s i s very nar ror

i n t he t ea p l an t a t i on i n compar i son t o t he p rov i s ions under t he p l an t a t i on L abour

Ac t . T h i s p robab ly accoun t s fo r t he sma l l p ropor t i on o f non-wage l abour cos t s i ntota l l abour cos ts in new growers garden.


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Distribution of Respondents by Community :

Village Muslim Tribal Rajbanshi Others Total

Bhelkujote

Nayanjote

Tarabari

Dugidhura

Bhusivita and Tarbandha

42

-

6

-

-

3

11

3

4

-

7

17

1

-

2

1

10

-

-

2

53

38

10

4

4

Total 48 21 27 13 109

% Distribution of Total 44 19 25 12

Job Creation Against Land Transfer :

Village Job Creation against Land Transfer

Permanent Casual Total

Bhelkujote

Nayanjote

Others

37.00

31.00

10.00

56.00

47.00

23.00

93

78

3

Total 78.00 126.00 204

% Distribution of Total 38.23 61.77 100


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Category of Land Transferred to Tea Plantat ion

Village Total Land Transfer

(In acres)

Ownership Land

(In acres)

Vested Land

(In acres)

Patta Land

(In acres)

Land Under Bargadars

(In acres)

Bhelkujote

Nayanjote

Others

52.40

50.55

15.15

34.73

34.19

7.95

13.50

14.36

1.40

3.98

2.00

5.80

0.19

0.00

0.00

Total 118.10 76.87 29.26 11.78 0.19

% Distribution of Total 65.08 24.77 9.97 0.16

economics of land transfer

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