# **Table 2: Main Provisions and Impacts of Land Legislation in Orissa**

|**Name of legislation**|**Year of**<br>**promulgation**|**Main provisions**<br>|**Impact**|
|---|---|---|---|
|Orissa Estate Abolition -<br>OEA - Act|1952|* Abolition of intermediaries;<br>*Vesting of all land rights in the state;<br>* Agricultura**l**and less than 33 acres to remain with intermediary<br>for personal cultivation|*The Act aimed at abolishing intermediaries but did not<br>contain any provision of protecting the tenant.<br>* Large-scale eviction of tenants as_zamindar_allowed to<br>resume land less than 33 acres for personal cultivation<br>* Owing to the absence of reliable records, abolition of<br>intermediaries not completed until 1974.|
|Orissa Land Reforms Act<br>- **OLRA**<br>(Amended in 1965, 1973<br>and 1974)|1960|*Permanent, heritable and transferable rights in land for the<br>tiller;<br>*Ban on leasing of land except under special conditions (in<br>1972);<br>* Under adverse possession, land in continuous cultivation for 12<br>years or more by a person other than its owner shall pass to the<br>cultivator<br>* Rent not to exceed one-fourth of the gross produce;<br>* Ceiling on individual holdings at 33 standard acres - later<br>reduced to 20 (in 1965), and to 10 standard acres (in 1972).|<br>**_*_**Delay in the enactment and actual implementation of the Act<br>provided sufficient opportunities for large landowners to<br>escape ceiling restrictions.<br>*By explicitly banning tenancy, the law has swept the problem<br>of share-cropping under the carpet. No provision made to<br>record concealed tenancies.|
|Orissa Survey and<br>Settlement Act<br>|1958|**_*_**Different laws relating to survey, record-of-rights and<br>settlement amended and consolidated into one uniform law|*Establishment of uniform though defective systems - rights<br>of tenants not recorded during settlement operations|
|Orissa Consolidation of<br>Holdings and Prevention<br>of Fragmentation of Land<br>-**OCH&PFL**- Act|1972|*Fragmentation of land declared illegal<br>*First choice of transfer to adjacent farmer|**_*_**Little impact on land fragmentation.<br>**_*_**Occasiona**l**and sales but rarely to adjacent farmer<br>**_*_**Consolidation of landholdings ignored by farmers in western<br>Orissa because of undulating terrain|
|Orissa Prevention of Land<br>Encroachment -**OPLE**-<br>Act<br>(Amended in 1982)|1972|*Unauthorised occupation of government land prohibited.<br>**_*_**Penalties on encroachers to be followed by eviction.<br>**_*_**1982 amendment for settlement of two (later amended to one)<br>standard acres of 'unobjectionable' land (i.e. government<br>wasteland) with 'eligible' beneficiaries (e.g. landless)|**_*_**Flagrant disregard of the Act - widespread encroachment on<br>both government and common lands, often by powerful<br>groups. Penalties too low to act as a disincentive to<br>encroachers<br>**_*_**The 1982 amendment not a 'proactive' right - encroacher<br>cannot 'apply' to be regularised as act of encroachment is<br>regarded as illegal in the first place. Only RI can initiate<br>regularisation of rights<br>* Considerable scope for rent-seeking by revenue officials|

Source: Compiled from Behuria (1997), Orissa Land Reforms Manual (1997), Patnaik (1980), Tripathy (1992), and field notes.

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