The government’s proposal last month to repeal the Maharashtra Gramdan Act, 1964, has triggered a debate over the future of 21 villages in the state that are governed by a collective land-management system inspired by Gandhian thinker Acharya Vinoba Bhave.
“The gramdan concept was introduced when land redistribution and the welfare of rural communities were important concerns. But now, the Maharashtra government , citing changing socio-economic conditions, administrative difficulties and the need to do away with outdated laws, has proposed scrapping the Gramdan Act. Under the draft proposal, cooperative gramdan mandals would be scrapped and the villages folded in the panchayati raj framework, land ownership would be restored to original owners or their legal heirs based on historical revenue records, while land allotted to landless people and community groups would be regularised under specified tenure conditions. If the Bill gets passed in the Assembly, it would fundamentally alter the existing arrangement of collective land management. The Maharashtra Pradesh Sarvodaya Mandal has opposed the repeal calling it an invitation to land grab whilst there are others who say collectivisation comes in the way of villagers getting bank loans and access to certain government schemes. They also face problems accessing compensation for crop losses and other government benefits. “Banks should be allowed to lend to Gram Mandals, which could assume collective responsibility for repayment. Vijay Diwan, a disciple of Vinoba Bhave who looks after the Vinoba Bhave Janmasthan Pratisthan at Gagode in Raigad strongly opposed the proposed move and threatened satyagraha should the Gramdan Act be repealed. Upcoming infrastructure projects have driven up property prices across Raigad, and Gagode is not immune to development pressures. “The government itself has become an exploitative institution. This location is picturesque and the hill is located between three dams. It is obvious that some people are eyeing the land. Devaji Tofa, former sarpanch of Mendha (Lekha) village in Gadchiroli, alleged that repealing the Gramdan Act would free collectively held land for industrial interests at the expense of tribal communities. Randhir Savarkar, BJP lawmaker from Akola and Sai Dahake, the BJP MLA from Karanja, have argued that the gramdan system is outdated and leaves farmers at a disadvantage compared to those in villages governed by conventional gram panchayats. Our taluka has three such villages, which are deprived of government schemes like loan waiver, crop insurance as the land ownership of the farmers is disputed.
“Gagode village has a 400-acre hill that is collectively owned. Mendha (Lekha) was the last village in Maharashtra to declare its Gramdan status, in 2013. However, the government notified its gram mandal only in February 2024, following High Court intervention.
Because the land is vested in the Gram Mandal rather than held entirely in their individual names, ramesh Dane, president of the Maharashtra Pradesh Sarvodaya Mandal, conceded that farmers in the 21 gramdan villages (Maharashtra has over 42,000 villages) often struggle to obtain bank loans. But instead of repealing the original Act, the government should amend it so that its original objectives of social justice, community welfare and protection of land remain relevant.
Repealing the law would be a mistake when targeted amendment in the law could resolve the practical difficulties,” said Dane. Forget giving land to the landless, the government is even taking away land owned by farmers,” he said. “For tribals, Jal, Jungle, Jamin (water, forest and land) is their way of life,” he said, rejecting claims that the collective ownership model was outdated and deprived farmers of government benefits. The government can’t make exceptions for these villagers,” said Savarkar.
