Former Chief Minister Arjun Munda's plea to build up consensus through discussion and consultation in and outside the Assembly for changing the two tenancy laws after Governor Droupadi Murmu returned the Chotanagpur Tenancy (CNT) Act and Santhal Pargana Tenancy (SPT) Act amendment Bills with some 192 objections received from across the spectrum should come as a ray of hope to break the impasse.
Birsa Munda, Tilka Manjhi and many other tribal leaders had fought and laid down their lives for these very tribal land rights. Their rebellion forced the British colonial government to formulate tenancy laws to protect tribal lands and rights.
After a series of tribal uprisings, the government had put Jharkhand under Schedule V of the Constitution of India. Governor is the custodian of tribal rights mentioned under Schedule V.
Munda's advocacy for a consensus has come at a time when all the political parties, except the BJP, tribal organisations and even the Church are polarised and taken extreme view of not allowing any changes at all in the over-century old laws, meant to give a shield to the tribals for whom jal, jungle and jameen are of prime importance. Even within the BJP, senior leaders like Karia Munda have outrightly opposed the Bills. That the issue has agitated the tribals no end so much so that a huge number of tribals have marched to Ranchi several times to express their anger against the Government even at the call of politically irrelevant leaders is no secret.
On the other hand, the ruling dispensation has branded the anti-changers as detrimental to the progress of tribals. But Munda has not trashed the entire amendments in the twin Acts, saying some of the amended provisions are not detrimental for the tribal community. He has rightly said that law is not static. Change is the law of nature. Also, this is not the first time that the CNT and SPT Acts have been amended. CNT Act alone has been amended 26 times.
All that he has said is that the Government should build up a conducive atmosphere for discussion even in the Assembly that should continue until the consensus is reached. "It is a policy matter and should be taken with utmost sincerity," he has said. Also, he has pleaded for assessing whether the tribal community is ready for those changes or not.
The State Government has proposed to amend three sections and abolished one sub-section of the CNT Act, while one section of SPT Act has been amended.
Section 21 bars tribal land uses other than agriculture, construction of ponds, well and brick making. It has been amended empowering the Government to make rules for non-agriculture use of the agriculture land. Section 49 (1) has been amended to empower the Government to transfer tribal land for social welfare projects like hospital, schools, anganwadis (day care centres) and linear projects like pipelines, roads, etc. The cost of the transferred land shall not be less than the compensation fixed under the Centre's land Acquisition Act.
The former Chief Minister's main objection relates to changing the nature of the tribal agricultural land. He has expressed fear that these changes will expedite tribal land alienation and change the demographic profile of Jharkhand.
Amidst the tussle between the 'pro-changers' and 'anti-changers' it would not be out of place to quote Archie Brown, Emeritus Professor of Politics at Oxford University, who says in his 2014 book, 'The Myth of the Strong leader', that 'the leaders who make the biggest contributions to history and humanity generally are not the ones who we perceive as strong leaders. Instead, they tend to be the ones who collaborate, delegate and negotiate-and recognize that no one person can or should have all the answers.'
Also, our system is a Democratic-Republic where consensus and compromise play an important role. Compromise among leaders is one way of moving beyond an impasse. Through a compromise, a legislature is supposed to garner support for a Bill or policy question that it could not gain otherwise. It is nothing more than a tool for developing consensus.
No wonder the BJP has called a meeting tomorrow and senior tribal leaders and MlAs, including Karia Munda and Arjun Munda to discuss the Governor's objections to the twin Bills and find a way out.
It is hoped the State Government breaks the impasse with 'collaboration and negotiation' and builds up a consensus before sending the Bills afresh for gubernatorial assent.