Karnataka amends land law

The Karnataka government on Tuesday passed the controversial Land Reforms (Amendment) Act in the Legislative Council with support from the Janata Dal Secular, which had earlier opposed the amendments but whose 10 votes proved key for the ruling BJP. The Act was passed by 37 votes to 21 with nine members of the Congress absent; the party said it would destroy the rural economy.The JDS's support was crucial for the BJP, which does not have the numbers in the Legislative Council. In the 75-member body the BJP has 31 members to the Congress's 28 and the JDS's 14.

The Act had been passed by the Karnataka Assembly in September after the Congress tore up papers and staged a walkout. We are opposing this tooth and nail," DK Shivakumar, chief of the party's state unit, The Land Reforms Act removes almost all restrictions on the purchase of agricultural land, paving the way for industrialists (or any other individual) to purchase agricultural land directly from the farmers, pending government clearance.Earlier agricultural land was purchased via the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board, and its sale was governed by multiple conditions, including non-agricultural income of the purchaser.