LAND REFORMS IN INDIA

GRAMYA.C.V10/PECA/019

Chemi Dolkar 10/PECA/015

LAND TENURE SYSTEM IN INDIA Land tenure refers to the system of ownership of land, the terms and

condition under which land is leased to the tiller by

the land lord . During the colonial era there was mainly 3 types of tenurial system in India.

TENURE SYSTEMS IN INDIA

Zamindari system

Ryotwari system

Mahalwari system

ZAMINDARI

state

Zamindar’s

peasants

RYOTWARI SYSTEM

state

peasants'

MAHALWARI SYSTEM

state

Village head

peasants

MAP OF COLONIAL INDIA

EFFECTS OF TENURIAL SYSTEM IN INDIA The tenancy system in India was not in

an organised manner to produce best results and prosperity to the tenets or agri

The tenancy system divided the community in to groups.

A class called landless labour emerged

The class called middle man of zamindar’s emerged. they exploited tenents .

Owner was least interested in making investment in agri.

LAND REFORM MEANING

Land reform means abolishing the existing land holding by introducing a rationalized structure in order to increase agricultural productivity.It is the re distribution of land to landless labors and small famers in order to Promote efficiency of the agricultural production

In India for centuries the agriculture remained stagnant. The reason for this was the land relation structure in India .

there fore In the re-organization and the development of Indian economy , land reform has a significant role

SIGNIFICANCE OF LAND REFORMS From the economic point of view the

purpose of the land reform is to maximize agriculture output.

From the social point of view there should be no exploitation of one class by other

OBJECTIVES OF THE LAND REFORM. Restructuring agrarian relation to active egalitarian

social structure

Elimination of exploitation in land relation.

Actualization of the goal of land to the tiller.

Improvement of the conditions of the rural poor by widening their land base.

Increasing agri pdn and productivity.

Infusion of a greater measure of equality in local institutions.

STEPS INVOLVED IN LAND REFORMS Abolition of intermediaries Tenancy reforms Reorganization of agri

ABOLITION OF INTERMEDIARIES Means regulation of lord tenants

relationship by fixing fair rents, conferring the security of tenets to tenants ; bringing tenants into direct relation ship with the state in respect of areas in which landlord is entitled to resume and gradual conferment of land owner ship rights on the tenants.

By the abolition of the intermediaries nearly 20 million tenants became the land owners

As a result of land reforms the top layers of absentee land lords has been skimmed off.

Kerala and west Bengal are examples for the states which implemented land reforms successfully.

TENANCY REFORMS Tenants:1. Occupancy tenants2. Tenants-at-will3. Sub-tenants

o Measures:1. Regulation of rent2. Security of tenure3. Conferment of ownership rights on

tenants

1) REGULATION OF RENT The rent charged by zamindars from the

tenants was exorbitant. Unlimited power of suppression to the

zamindars to squeeze the tenants. Brij Narayan – in Punjab as much as 80%

of the produce was extracted from the tenants in the form of rent.

In Bombay (Mumbai) – 40-60% H.D Malviya – in the country as a whole,

the rate varied between 34 to 75%.

The 1st Five Year Plan stated that maximum rent should be fixed at ¼ or 1/5 of the total produce.

The rates of rent have been fixed at different levels in different states.

In Punjab and Haryana it is 1/3 of the gross produce, in Tamil Nadu it varies from 33.5 to 40% and in Andhra Pradesh – 25 to 30%.

However, legislations fixing maximum limit of rent have been often violated.

Because of the strong socio-economic and political hold of the landowners.

This is partly due to the fact that in some areas sharecroppers are not aware of the legal provisions but more importantly because of the fact that they are economically and socially weaker as compared to the landowners and are not in a position to assert their rights.

2) SECURITY OF TENURE To protect tenants from ejectment and

grant them permanent rights in land, legislations have been passed in most of the States.

Aims:1. Ejectments do not take place except in

accordance with the provisions of the law

2. Land may be resumed by an owner, if at all, for ‘personal cultivation’ only

3. In the event of resumption, the tenant is assured of a prescribed minimum area.

3) OWNERSHIP RIGHTS FOR TENANTS It has been repeatedly emphasized in the

Plan documents that ownership rights should be conferred to tenants.

Some States have passed legislations to confer right of ownership.

West Bengal, Karnataka and Kerala have achieved more success than the other States.

It has been estimated that as a result of laws conferring ownership rights on tenants in various States, approximately 12.42 million tenants have acquired ownership rights over 6.32 million hectares of land.

CEILINGS ON AGRICULTURAL HOLDINGS Statutory absolute limit on the amount of land

which an individual may hold. Beyond this maximum size all land belonging

to the landlords is taken over by the government to be distributed among the landless labourers.

Aspects:1. Ceiling on future acquisition2. Ceilings in existing holdings. o The 1st Plan favoured the former only as the

latter was expected to categorically recommended imposing ceilings on existing agricultural holdings.

CONSOLIDATION OF HOLDINGS To solve the problem of fragmentation of

holdings. The method adopted is to grant one

consolidated holding to the farmer equal to the total of the land in different scattered under is possession.

Initially the programme of consolidation was started on a voluntary basis but later made compulsory.

Only one million hectares of land has been covered under consolidation which is merely 1/3 of the cropped area in the country.

Though consolidation of holdings is a very useful instrument to solve the problem of fragmentation, the task is not completely accomplished unless laws are passed to prevent fragmentation in future.

In the case of such laws, land can be sub-divided and fragmented again on account of the factors such as law of inheritance, pressure of population, etc.

Keeping such consolidations in view, legislations have passed in most of the States preventing sub-division and fragmentation beyond a certain minimum limit. (standard area)

CO-OPERATIVE FARMING To solve the problems created by sub-division of

holdings. There is that farmers having very small holdings

should join hands and pool their lands for the purpose of cultivation.

The problem of sub-division and fragmentation of holdings can be best solved through the introduction of a system of co-operative farming.

It provides for the pooling of resources of the cultivation in land, labour and capital.

Earnings from the land are divided among the farmers in accordance with the principle mutually agreed upon among them.

EVALUATION OF LAND REFORMS IN INDIA Causes for the slow progression of land

reforms.1) Delay in implementing measures2) Definition of personal cultivation3) Limits of retention of land for personal

cultivation4) Definition of tenants inadequate5) The problem of voluntary surrender6) Inadequacies in ceiling laws7) Lack of political will

CONCLUSIONThe net result of the slow progression of the land reforms the land reforms these have made future land reforms more difficult to implement because of the emergence of rich farmers as a very powerful political force in economyOn the other hand the peasant movement rather weak . nevertheless the since the owner ship of land is a source of power in India land reforms remain A major issue for bringing about socio economic equality in rural society.

THANK YOU