LAND REFORMS IN INDIA

 Land reforms from 1947 to 1970: In British India, there were three major systems of land tenure

• Mahalwari System,
• Zamindari System, and
• Ryotwari System.

Zamindari System: It is a system of land tenure in which permanent settlement (introduced in 1793 by Lord Cornwallis) confirmed land rights of intermediaries. Mahalwari System: William Bentick, governor-general of India introduced this system in Punjab and parts of United Provinces in 1833. It is a system of land tenure in which land rights were settled with the entire village. In this, each peasant of the village was required to contribute to the total revenue demand of the village on the basis of the size of the land he cultivated. Ryotwari System: Thomas Munro introduced this system in 1820 and the main feature of this system is the transfer of ownership rights to the peasants. Major areas where Ryotwari system was in practice include parts of Assam, Madras, Bombay, Coorgh provinces of British India. The situation became more worsen because of landlordism and intermediaries, especially, in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, and Orissa. To increase agricultural growth and to remove the adverse effects of Landlordism and intermediaries, it became very important to undertake some land reforms measures. 

The Need for land reforms

• To remove unethical agrarian relations.
• To convert barren land into productive lands.
• To legitimize tenancy with the ceiling limit.
• To register all the tenancy with the village Panchayats.
• To remove rural poverty.
• To lessen social inequality
• Empowerment of women in the traditionally male-driven society.
• To increase the productivity of agriculture.

LAND REFORMS MEASURES AFTER INDEPENDENCE: After Independence, the Agrarian Reforms Committee under the Chairmanship of J.C. Kumarapppa was appointed by Indian National Congress. The committee recommended that all intermediaries between the state and the tiller should be eliminated. Some of the steps taken based on the recommendation of the committee:

• Intermediaries abolition
• Surplus land redistribution among landless or semi-landless peasants.
• Fixation of ceilings on land holdings

Abolition of Intermediaries: To abolish intermediaries, some steps were taken as follows:

• The imposition of ceilings on land holdings.
• Tenancy Reforms were undertaken during the Second Five Year Plan.
• Except for some disabled categories of landowners, leasing out of agricultural land was made illegal.
• After continuous possession of the land, tenants were allowed to acquire the right of purchase of that land.

Protection of Tribal Land: The government banned the transfer of tribal land into non- tribal land. Bhoodan and Gramdan: Vinoba Bhave introduced Bhoodan movement in 1951 and following this another movement called Gramdan was launched in 1957 to convince landowners to renounce their land rights so that the land could be redistributed equally. Consolidation of Holdings: It refers to the redistribution of all plots of land in order to create one compact block of land. Ceilings on Land Holding: The government put a limit on the size of land beyond which no farm household can hold any land. Changes in land structure due to the steps taken by the government: After Independence, a number of land reform measures were undertaken in the1950s and 1960s.

• End of the feudal mode of production.
• A decrease in the area under the tenancy.

PATTERN OF LANDHOLDINGS: the pattern of ownership holdings and operational holdings is as follows: The Pattern of Ownership Holdings in rural areas:

• The average size of ownership holdings was 72 acres.
• The percentage of the households that did not hold any land was nearly 22 percent.
• The households which holds1.4 percent of the land was 24.9 percent.

The Pattern of Operational Holdings:

• 5 percent of the area was operated by the bottom 60 percent of holdings.
• 6 percent of the area was operated by the top 5.8 percent of holdings.

The failure of the first round of land reforms (during the 1950s and 1960s) to remove the unequal power structure in the villages caused a lot of discontent among the poor and all this forced the government to revise the ceiling laws in the early1970s. Various measures of land reforms undertaken since 1970 are as follows: EFFECTIVE REDISTRIBUTION OF SURPLUS LAND: The surplus land was redistributed in an effective and equal manner. AMENDMENTS IN TENANCY LAWS: Many amendments were made to tenancy laws by various state governments. In Andhra Pradesh, the amendment of 1974 to tenancy laws conferred a continuous right of resumption on landowners. In Gujarat, the tenancy act was amended according to which tenants who were evicted between 1957 and 1992 were entitled to restoration. The Government of Karnataka amended the Land Reform Act 1961 in 1973, which provided for fixity of tenure subject to landlords right to resume half the leased area. CHANGES IN THE AGRARIAN STRUCTURE: Even after the  implementation of land reforms, inequality in the ownership of land holdings has not declined much over time and the proportion of landless households increased from 9.6 % in 1971 to 11.3% in 1992(NSSO 48th Round, Report No. 399) Thus, the agrarian structure seems to be as unequal and unproductive as before. UPDATING OF LAND RECORDS: Efforts for the land record updation undertaken during the Seventh Five Year Plan and the Eighth Five Year Plan. LAND RIGHTS OF WOMEN: It was recommended in the revenue ministers’ conference (1992) that the women should be given equal opportunities in the distribution of lands. GOVERNMENT POLICY: The government emphasized on land reforms from the Fifth Five Year Plan. In the Ninth Five Year Plan, it was realized that land reforms are very important in order to tackle the problem of rural poverty. The Ninth Five Year Plan emphasizes on:

• the ceiling surplus land redistribution.
• the implementation of the ceiling law effectively.
• providing access of government wastelands and common property to the poor.
• ensuring the land rights of women.

Furthermore, in the wake of economic reforms since 1991, the concern for implementation of land reforms by the government appears to have declined. Government land policies are implemented to make more rational use of scarce land resources so that cultivation can be done in the more economical and efficient manner.

Reference: http://personal.lse.ac.uk/ghatak/landref.pdf 

https://www.civilsdaily.com/land-reforms-in-india/

https://www.jatinverma.org/land-reforms-in-india