Kerala government promulgates rules to grant unrestricted land use rights to farmers settled on assigned land

The Left Democratic Front (LDF) government on Wednesday (August 27, 2025) promulgated rules for implementing a recent law that seeks to grant farmers unrestricted land use rights on acreage allocated solely for farming and housing to landless settlers in the high-range districts, primarily Idukki and Wayanad, in the 1970s.

The rules provide the government with a broad and definitive framework for expeditiously implementing the Kerala Government Land Assignment (Amendment) Act, 2023.

 The law empowers the State government to regularise violations of land use norms over the decades, freeing lakhs of settler farmers from undesired litigation, red tape and governmental action.

The farming community has deeply resented the legal restrictions and bureaucratic hurdles associated with using government-allocated land for purposes other than those stated, including the construction of commercial buildings and other activities for augmenting their relatively meagre agricultural income.

The original law in the 1960s frowned on the use of land for any livelihood or commercial purpose other than farming or housing. Subsequently, the Legislative Assembly amended the law unanimously. 

Over the decades, settler farmer title holders have used their land for other income-generating activities, inadvertently contravening the original law and thereby risking revenue action, run-ins with government regulators, and prolonged litigation in civil courts. 

At a stroke, the government has sought to put an end to the legal and revenue issues that have almost interminably bedevilled the expansive settler farmer community in the State for decades.

Political implications ahead of elections

The government’s move to regularise such contraventions by promulgating rules for implementing the amended, less restrictive and more forgiving 2023 law has considerable political import for opposing fronts in the run-up to the local body polls and the Assembly elections in 2026. 

For one, the LDF signalled that it has resolved a highly emotive issue repeatedly highlighted by the Church, whose constituents make up the most significant and electorally influential segment of the State’s expansive settler farmer community. 

The LDF also believes that the move would enfeeble the Congress’s political refrain that the government had disregarded settler farmers’ long-standing demand for comprehensive revenue rights on the land assigned to them.

The ruling front also aimed to retard the Bharatiya Janata Party’s bid to woo the Church by attempting to emerge as the champion of settler farmers. 

CM outlines regularisation procedures

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan stated at a press conference that the rules would expedite the regularisation of smaller constructions for livelihood purposes, following inspection and receipt of a special fee. 

He stated that the rules would also include detailed procedures for regularising public and private buildings, mainly hospitals, educational institutions, government offices, and places of worship, as well as other structures built by social organisations and recognised political parties on designated land.

The rules also provide for the regularisation of larger commercial constructions, after rigorous examination, including environmental sanctions. They also seek to remove the restrictions on operating quarries on assigned land, subject to stringent environmental and pollution assessments.