Land Reforms in India – Reforming Land Ownership and Regulation

The term ‘land reform‘ involves regulation of land ownership, operation, leasing, sale, and inheritance. In an agricultural economy like India, land reforms are critical from an economic and political perspective.

Land reforms in India are a government initiative to assist those living in difficult circumstances and its objective is to transfer land from people who have surplus land to people who do not have any land, thus benefiting the neediest members of society and ensuring fair land allocation.

As pledged during the struggle for independence, the government was determined to redistribute land and ensure distributive justice. As a result, during the 1950s, all state governments established legislation to eradicate landlordism, redistributing land through the enforcement of ceilings, protecting tenants, and consolidating property holdings.

Governmental land policies were undertaken to efficiently use finite land resources by influencing holding conditions, placing limitations and grounds on holdings, and allowing for more efficient agriculture.

Need for land reforms in India

• To redistribute land to create a socialist society. The effort will reduce land ownership inequities.
• To ensure a land ceiling and remove surplus land from the market for distribution to small and disadvantaged farmers. The purpose of the ceiling limit is to legalise tenancy.
• To ensure the registration of tenancies with the Gram Panchayat.
• To determine the relationship between the tenancy and the ceiling.
• To eradicate poverty in rural areas.
• To increase socialist development and reduce social inequality
• To empower women in a typically male-dominated society.
• To boost agricultural productivity.
• To demonstrate that anyone can own a plot of land.
• The tribal territory is protected by not allowing strangers to take it.

Situation of land reforms in India pre-independence

Farmers did not own the land they cultivated under the British Raj. Instead, zamindars, jagirdars, and other landlords owned land. Because few people had ownership of the land, there were a lot of middlemen who did not have a genuine desire for self-interest. Land leasing was a prevalent practice.

Tenancy agreements were requisitive in nature, and tenant abuse was rampant. Land registries were in horrible shape, which resulted in a slow down of lawsuits. The land was broken into small portions for commercial farming—one challenge in agriculture. Boundary lands and disputes resulted from poor soil, capital, and labour utilisation.

Situation of land reforms in India post-independence

Under the leadership of J. C. Kumarappa, a committee was formed to examine the land issue. In their report, the Kumarappa Committee pushed for wide-ranging agrarian reforms. The land reforms of independent India were divided into four sections, each implemented in stages to build political support for the reforms.

1. Abolition of Intermediaries

   The repeal of the zamindari system eliminated the level of intermediaries between farmers and the state and was the first significant piece of legislation.

   The reform was considerably more effective than others because it took away the special land rights of the zamindars and diminished their economic and political dominance in most districts. The reform was implemented to assist actual landowners and farmers.

   When all forms of the intermediaries were abolished, nearly 2 crore tenants became landowners. The land reforms finally showed beneficial results, and the tenure regulations were amended.

2. Tenancy reforms

   Following the Zamindari Abolition Acts, the next major concern was tenancy regulation. During the pre-independence time, renters paid extravagant rents, from 35% to 75% of gross produce across India. Tenancy laws were enacted to limit rent, offer tenants security of tenure, and provide ownership rights.

   With the exception of Punjab, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Tamil Nadu, and some areas of Andhra Pradesh, the fair rent was set at 20% to 25% of gross yield in all regions except with the adoption of legislation to regulate the rent due by cultivators.

   The reform tried to prohibit tenancy altogether or limit rents to provide tenants with some security.

3. Fixing of land ceilings

   The implementation of a land ceiling was another significant step. This regulation determines the total quantity of land that a person or family can own. The law implements ceiling fixing and permits the government to seize surplus land. The land was then divided up among landless or small farmers.

   The purpose of imposing such a limit was to prevent land concentration under the control of a few.

4. Landholdings consolidation

   The reforms also encouraged holdings to be consolidated.

   If farmers owned several land areas in the village, this idea would combine them into one large piece of land. Therefore, purchasing or exchanging land might help to accomplish it.

   One of the problems with Indian agriculture is that land pieces are too tiny for commercial cultivation. So, this strategy can aid in solving the issue of land division.

Objectives of land reforms in India

• To increase land productivity by improving farmers’ and renters’ economic conditions so that they are motivated to invest in and develop agriculture.
• To maintain equitable justice and build an equal society.
• To establish a peasant proprietorship system based on the motto ‘land to the tiller’.
• To transfer the wealth from a few people to a large number of people, thus creating a demand for consumer products.

Impact of land reforms in India

Productivity in agriculture

• Enormous wasteland owned by zamindars/large farmers remained uncultivated. These lands were provided to landless labourers, resulting in an increase in land under cultivation and increased food security.
• Equal land allocation encouraged intense cultivation, which resulted in increased agricultural production and higher output levels.
• According to certain farm management studies undertaken in India, small farms provided more productivity per hectare because family members cultivate small farms individually.
• Because of advancements in agricultural technology, even 1 hectare of land is now a viable investment. As a result, the modest size of a holding due to the ceiling will have no negative impact on agricultural production.
• To achieve ‘exemption’ from the land ceiling, at least some landowners turned to ‘direct efficient’ farming.
• Landholding consolidation guarantees that small parcels of land owned by the same minor landowner but located at a range from one another can be merged into a unified holding to increase viability and production.

Social justice

• In a land-scarce country where many local dwellers live in poverty, the rationale for guaranteeing access to at least some land is persuasive to everybody.
• In regional livelihoods, whoever has control of the land also controls the power.
• The tenancy rules protected the cultivators from exploitation, providing tenure security and setting maximum chargeable rents.
• Implementation of the land ceiling minimised power disparity among farmers.
• The land reforms in India abolished the rights of intermediaries.
• The attitude of collaboration among the people was encouraged.
• Land reforms will aid in the development of cooperative farming.

Conclusion

Land allocation has been a part of India’s state policy from the beginning. The dismantling of the Zamindari system was undoubtedly the most significant land policy of independent India.

The rural agricultural economy, driven by land and agriculture, considerably benefits from land reform. Land reform projects have been conducted at a slow and steady pace. The goal of social justice has been accomplished.

Land reforms in India envisaged that the state would seize all land belonging to landowners and distribute it to small landowners to make their holdings financially viable or to landless labourers.