KERALA LAND REFORMS (AMENDMENT) ACT,1969

Summary

This one-page National Executive statement, issued by the Swatantra Party on February 17, 1970, opposes the Kerala Land Reforms (Amendment) Act, 1969. It argues that the Act invalidates voluntary land transfers made after publication of the Kerala Land Reforms Bill, 1963, potentially reducing affected landowners to penury or rendering them homeless. It also condemns the compensation provisions as effectively expropriatory.

Key points

• The Swatantra Party National Executive formally supports the Kerala unit’s opposition to the Kerala Land Reforms (Amendment) Act, 1969.
• The statement claims that certain post-1963 voluntary land transfers will be declared invalid.
• It warns that the measure could impoverish or make homeless people who purchased land or built houses after the prescribed date.
• It characterizes the compensation offered under the Act as illusory and equivalent to expropriation.
• The statement criticizes the Kerala coalition ministry for supporting what it calls an expropriatory and unconstitutional measure.
• It notes a State Assembly resolution requesting that the amended Act be included in the Constitution’s Ninth Schedule.
• It calls on Swatantra Party units elsewhere in India to educate farmers about the alleged injustice and urges the party’s parliamentary group to oppose Ninth Schedule inclusion.