Bhubaneswar, April 25: The state government will enact a separate legislation - Odisha Land Leasing Act - to protect the interest of sharecoppers.

Earlier, it had proposed to amend the Odisha Land Reforms Act, which prohibits land leasing.

Under the proposed law, there will be a provision for signing an agreement between landlords and the sharecoppers. The local tehsildar and the revenue inspector will be signatories to the agreement.

Revenue minister Bijayshree Routray today said the law was aimed to protect the interest of both sharecroppers, who are the real cultivators, and the landlords. "The sharecroppers will have the right of availing themselves of loan and financial assistance in case of crop loss due to natural calamities, without disturbing the ownership of the land," said the minister.

The existing Odisha Land Reforms Act recognises only the landowners and prohibits land leasing in any form. In 2012, the state government had initiated efforts to bring an amendment to the existing law to recognise the sharecroppers. While the ruling party considers the sharecroppers as its vote bank, powerful landlord lobby dominates the party structure. Bowing to pressure from the landlords, the party had abandoned the proposal to amend the act.

With the panchayat elections due in January-February 2017, the government is now considering the bill to confer certain rights to the sharecroppers.

The proposed law is based on the guidelines of Niti Aayog. The national body has sent a draft legislation to the state government. The state government's suggestion to have a provision for agreement between the sharecroppers and the landlords has been accepted by Niti Aayog, and it has been incorporated in the draft legislation, said the minister.

An inter-ministerial group, headed by the revenue minister, met today to discuss about the provisions of the draft legislation. It was decided that opinion of the sharecroppers and the landowners would be elicited, and on the basis of their feedback, the legislation would be finalised. The government has decided to take the feedback from 5,000 sharecroppers and landowners from 100 of 314 tehsils across the state. The exercise is to be completed within three weeks.

Official sources said the government faced difficulties in disbursing compensation for crop loss due to natural calamities to the sharecroppers, who were not legally recognised. But last August, the government had paid agricultural input subsidy to the sharecroppers based on field inquiry and verification.