Concealed tenancy
Also called: Informal tenancy · Topic: Land Reforms, the Green Revolution and Farm Subsidies · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Concealed tenancy is the oral, unrecorded leasing of farmland. Many states ban or restrict leasing, so owners let land out only informally, and the tenancy goes "underground". The hidden tenant has no security of tenure, meaning no protection from eviction. Without records, the tenant also cannot get bank credit such as the Kisan Credit Card, crop insurance or disaster relief. Laws meant to protect tenants have ended up hiding them.
Example
A landless farmer in a state that restricts leasing farms 2 acres under a verbal deal with the owner. PM-KISAN (₹6,000 a year, from 2019) goes to the owner, not to the farmer. When a flood destroys the crop, the relief money also goes to the owner, because records show nobody else on the land.
Don't confuse with
- Sharecropping: this describes how rent is paid (a share of the crop). Concealed tenancy describes whether the lease is recorded. A sharecropping deal can be recorded, as under Operation Barga, or concealed.