The President’s Budget proposal to grant full ownership of State lands to farmers has been unveiled, setting the stage for transforming land ownership for the farming population. 

Delivering the 2024 Budget proposals to Parliament, President Ranil Wickremesinghe unveiled the ‘Urumaya’ programme, wherein he noted that the land slots distributed among farmers under the licences of the Land Development Ordinance in 1935 would be handed back to farmers. 

“Although around 100 years have passed, the ownership of these farmlands has not been handed back to the farmers who own them. We are handing over the lands to farmers who lost the ownership of their traditional lands during the British colonial era. We expect to commence this task in 2024 and complete it within another few years. Two million families will get the ownership of land and farmland. I allocate Rs. 2 billion for this purpose,” he said. 

Preparations for implementation 

Speaking to The Sunday Morning, State authorities stressed that while the venture was still at the proposal stage, steps were being taken in preparation for its implementation. 

Land Commissioner General K.D. Bandula Jayasinghe said that the proposal would see the elimination of conditions governing the use of these lands, with the programme on track to be implemented once the Budget was passed.

He noted that the proposal would ensure that lands become similar to those held under ‘sinnakkara’ basis (i.e. freeholding, which is recognised by the State and where the land can be sold or leased), where the grants would enable the owner to use the land as they wish. 

“The lands for cultivation and residential purposes have been provided under the Land Development Ordinance. These lands have free grants with conditions attached. There are seven conditions, such as obtaining permission to secure a loan, disposing the land, etc. Therefore, the President’s intention is to provide free grants without conditions.

“At present, a discussion is underway between the Presidential Secretariat and the Attorney General’s Department to examine how to undertake this task, based on the sections of the LDO and external to that. Once the Budget is passed, the licences and grants issued thus far will be recalled and they will be issued a new deed as a free grant, which will have no conditions.”

With State lands being granted under agricultural, residential, and commercial purposes, the new proposal would apply to all these categories of land, the Commissioner General noted. “For instance, farmers with these lands will receive a free grant deed after the existing deed is cancelled, enabling them to do what they wish with the land.”

Permitting farmers to freely use the lands would lift the present restrictions, enabling them to dispose of or use the land for any purpose. “The present system ensures that such land owners remain in poverty despite having the land, since they can’t do anything with it. However, with the free grant, they can handle the land as they wish, leading to personal development and subsequent impact on the economy.”

Lands Ministry Lands Division Additional Secretary D.D.K. Wickramarachchi confirmed these revelations: “This proposal is still at the discussion stage and at the Attorney General’s Department level. Since the Land Development Ordinance lacks provisions to provide complete ownership rights via a free grant therefore, the proposal plans to cancel these grants, which will bring these lands under the State Lands Ordinance. This will transform them to State land, whereupon the land will be given under free grants of the State Lands Ordinance. This is what has been discussed thus far at the AG’s Department.”

At present these lands are being used for agricultural, residential, and commercial purposes. 

He stressed that this move would contribute to the economic growth of the country, since it would cause the land market to function with a greater degree of flexibility: “The intention is to provide full land rights to people. With grants without conditions, the land market will become more flexible, with many lands being added to the economy or use of society.”

“At present, these lands which are provided to farmers are given under the LDO grants and have conditions attached, for instance in dictating who it can be given to. With the new proposal under a free grant, the farmer will get full ownership, which will enable them to do with the land what they wish, such as easily mortgage it at the bank, divide the land among family members, sell a portion of the land, etc.”

Wickramarachchi noted that certain steps were underway with regard to implementing this proposal. “As an initial step, we have established a committee through which we are organising how to embark on this programme, since we will have to cancel around 1-15 million grants. We are also preparing for a discussion on how the legislature will have to change, in association with the AG’s Department.”

Farmers sceptical 

Nevertheless, farmer organisations remain sceptical of the effectiveness of the venture, with All Ceylon Farmers’ Federation Vice President Susantha Kumara expressing doubts that the programme will get off the ground. 

“Although it is said that lands will be released to farmers, this is simply a political statement. Despite claiming that these lands will be given to farmers in order to support the development of agriculture, the Government has no actual plan. This is simply a move to protect their political power,” he said, noting that they had no expectations that this programme would manifest. 

He further noted that although there already existed legal processes to provide land deeds to farmers, these processes were also sluggish, casting doubts on the proposed programme as well. 

However, he emphasised the necessity of ensuring lands for farmers: “The agricultural community in this country has problems with land. There are many with no lands to cultivate, who have to cultivate on small portions of land on share tenancies or lease. These farmers need to be provided with land.”

Historical evolution of State land alienation 

The systematic alienation of State lands to landless people in Sri Lanka commenced after the Land Development Ordinance (LDO), which came into effect in 1935, a policy focused primarily on the development of State lands while finding solutions for the landlessness among the people in the country, resulting in the peasantry benefiting the most from land alienation.  

According to a Hector Kobbekaduwa Agrarian Research and Training Institute report, “the concept of land alienation precisely supports to uplift the social and economic welfare of the rural peasant community as the land is directly linked to the rural agricultural sector of the country.”

“Under the Crown Lands Ordinance of 1840 and the Waste Lands Ordinance of 1897, the British Crown claimed authority over all ‘unoccupied and uncultivated’ land. A large number of persons, who were unable to show ‘proof of legal ownership’ in the form required by the new laws were evicted,” CEPA research notes. 

The Land Reform Commission instituted subsequently in 1927 allocated State-owned land for development purposes to provide relief for the landless peasantry. The Land Development Ordinance came in 1935, where State land was alienated for specific purposes. Using this policy, the Government allocated the land to selected peasants who were given their allotments on the basis of permissive tenure under the LDO, among others.

“People allotted with lands were restrained on certain activities such as selling, mortgaging, transferring and subdivision of allotments by imposing rules and regulations under LDO policy framework for protecting the land as well as the peasant class. Land permits were given at the initial stage of land alienation with certain conditions to protect the land.”

Such permit holders were eligible to receive a grant subject to certain conditions, whereupon grant holders were vested with privileges such as mortgaging, subdivision, and inheritance on permission of the GA. 

Pros and cons 

Speaking to The Sunday Morning, University of Colombo Faculty of Law Department of Private and Comparative Law Lecturer and Attorney-at-Law Dumindu Madhushan said that this move would have its pros and cons. 

“It is totally up to the Government because it has ownership of such land. It is the sole authority. Those who cultivate under the licences are only the possessors. Under certain conditions, the Government can grant complete ownership of land to those who own the land under licences if the possessors meet the conditions. Currently farmers are cultivating these lands based on these licences. 

“With the President’s decision, they’re going to fully convey the ownership of such lands to these farmers. I think this is good, but there are pros and cons. For instance, if they have developed the land, it will be good for them to have ownership, since they have contributed to the economy. On the other hand, the Government losing ownership title to the land will ensure that the Government loses authority over the land.”

While noting that it could contribute to economic growth, he expressed concerns over the intention behind the move. “I don’t know the rationale behind conveying the land to farmers, but I feel it could be due to political expediency, such as the election,” he said, adding: “This is purely a political decision.”

However, he noted: “Giving ownership of the land to farmers is a good decision in terms of land rights of people and securing ownership, since we don’t have the rights to land as a fundamental right in Sri Lanka. It’s a good step in terms of recognising their contribution to society.”