AP Land Licensed Cultivators Act in Retrospect and Prospect

Abstract

The Licensed Cultivators Act, 2011 of the composite state of Andhra Pradesh (AP) breaks a new ground in that it seeks to issue loan eligibility cards (LECs) to tenants and thereby entitle them to gain access to bank credit, crop insurance, input subsidies and disaster relief. Noting that the Act presently bestows benefits on only a limited number of tenants—because the landlords, threatened by the provisions of the tenancy acts of the state, thwart the attempts of the revenue authorities in the issue of LECs—the article suggests that the incorporation of the liberal provisions of the Model Agricultural Land Leasing Act, 2016, formulated by the Expert Committee on Land Leasing, into the statutes of AP would serve the desired purpose eminently. It also argues that the rationale behind the Model Act, 2016 is sound, and that it can for sure prop up equity and efficiency in the land lease market in the contemporary setting.