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Land Reforms in India
India inherited a semi-feudal institutional system from the British. In that system ownership of
land was monopolized by a small number of big landlords and land rents were exorbitantly
high. These landlords were not interested in the development of agriculture. Instead working as
intermediaries between the state and the tillers of the soil, they tried to exappropriate as much
from the tiller as they could. This left the tillers/cultivators with a very feeble surplus for their
survival. Investment in agriculture was reduced to notional levels. Output was low, and
productivity the lowest possible. After independence the government realized the need for a
radical transformation in the institutional set up of agricultural sector. Abolition of
intermediaries, restoration of ownership rights of the tillers of the soil, moderation of land
rents and equitable distribution of land were the core elements of the government policy
contemplating change in the institutional set up relating to farming in India. Together these
elements of institutional change are known as Land Reforms.
Land Reforms : Meaning and Components
Land Reforms refer to all those reforms which are concerned with land ownership, land
holdings and landlord-tenant relationship. Following are the five principal components of land
reforms:
Tenancy reforms focusing on the abolition of intermediaries between the state and the actual
tillers of the soil. This requires conferment of ownership rights on the cultivators and rents are
to be regularized.
Ceiling on holding to combat skewness in the distribution of land. Resumed land over and
above the ceiling limits is to be redistributed by the state among the landless cultivators or
small and marginal landholders.
Consolidation of holdings to combat their fragmentation.
Co-operative farming to stave-off sub-division and fragmentation of holdings. Cooperative
farming (also called co-operative joint farming) refers to a system under which each farmer
continues to be the owner of his land but all agricultural operations are conducted jointly with
other farmers. The profit earned is shared among the co-operators.
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Updating land records with a view to ensuring that justice is dispensed at the grass root level
and is not devoid of authenticity.
Land Reforms, thus, imply such institutional reforms in agriculture
1- Which restore the ownership of land to the actual tiller of the soil.
2- Which make size of holdings as operationally viable.
3- Which facilitate consolidation of holdings and stave-off their sub-division and
fragmentation.
Three Basic Objectives of Land Reforms
1- Increase in Agricultural Production: The foremost objective of land reforms was to
remove hurdles in the way of agricultural prosperity and motivate the farmers to take
farming as a business rather than as a source of subsistence. This required that holdings
become technically as well as economically viable. It also required that those who till
the soil are not simply the tenants-at-will, but are sure of their occupancy rights. This
objective can be achieved in many ways, fixation of maximum and minimum limits of
holdings, consolidation of holdings, so as to avoid wastage of labour and capital.
2- Social welfare : Maximization of social welfare through eradication of exploitation was
another important objective of land reforms. The government wanted to stop rack
renting, frequent ejection of the tillers and marginalization of small holders to the status
of landless labourers. Also, social justice was sought to be achieved through ceiling of
land holdings and redistribution of surplus land to the small and marginal holders. Thus,
the aim of land reforms is to promote social welfare and equitable distribution of
income. It aims at giving land to landless farmers by fixing ceiling on land holdings,
giving land to the tiller by abolishing Zamindari system and introducing tenancy reforms.
3- Economic Growth : The government realized that institutional transformation in
agriculture is a pre-condition to agricultural prosperity and that agricultural prosperity is
a pre-condition to take-off or kick-start of the economy. Only when agriculture was
modernized and it generated surplus for investment that the process of industrialization
could be driven without obstacles. Agricultural prosperity was expected to serve a source
of demand for industrial goods and also serve as a source of raw material for industrial
production. Bottlenecks in agricultural prosperity, on the other hand, would only trigger
bottlenecks in industrial growth.
Need for Land Reforms
Land Reforms occupied a priority status in the development agenda of the government after
independence. This was owing to the fact that Indian agriculture during the British regime
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suffered from a set of institutional constraints contributing to its backwardness. Following are
some notable observation in this regard:
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Presence of a large Number of Intermediaries.
Owners of the Soil Reduced to the status of landless labourers.
Frequent ejection of the tenants.
Cultivated land reduced to culturable waste.
Sub-division and fragmentation of holdings.
State Intervention and Land Reforms
Tenancy Reforms
Tenancy reforms can best be appreciated in the backdrop of tenurial system prevalent in India
on the eve of Independence. Tenurial system refers to the system under which land is
cultivated. Basically, it involves the question of ‘who owns land, and his relationship with the
actual tiller of the soil’, in case owner himself is not the tiller. Broadly, there were three types of
tenurial system during the British regime.
1- Zamindari system
2- Ryotwari system
3- Mahalwari system
State Intervention and Tenurial Reforms
In the context of tenurial reforms, the government resorted to the following measures :
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Abolition of the Intermediaries
Conferment of Ownership Rights on the Tenants
Security of Tenant
Regulation of Rent
Ceiling on Holding and Redistribution of Land
Ceiling on holdings implies fixation of an upper limit on holding size. The surplus land over and
above the stipulated limits is resumed by the government against compensation. The surplus
land, thus acquired is redistributed amongst small and marginal holders or the landless
laborers. In certain cases, the resumed land is handed over to co-operative societies for cooperative cultivation. The undercurrent of ceilings is :
1- To minimize inequality in the ownership of land so that social and economic
stratification/inequality is reduced.
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2- To offer land to the small and marginal holders at nominal rates so that their holding
become operationally viable.
3- To generate opportunites of self employment for the landless workers by offering them
land at nominal rates.
Consolidation is a programme that offers the farmers compact farms at one place in lieu of
their scattered bits of land. This is done with a view to:
1- making the farm size operationally viable.
2- avoiding the wastage of land.
3- Saving labour as well as non labour physical inputs.
The problem of scattered holdings in inter logged with the problem of small sized holdings in
India. In fact, small size of holdings and fragmentation of holdings are two sides of the same
coin.
Co-operative Farming
Co-operative farming is an important off shoot of land reforms in India. It is suggested as a
remedy to the problem of sub-division and fragmentation of holdings. Indeed, land reforms in
India have focused on fostering a co-operative rural economy in which all holders big or small
voluntarily pool their land for cultivation through co-operative farming societies. According to
Indian Council of Agricultural Research. “Co-operative farming is one in which ownership of
land vests with individual cultivator but cultivation operation is performed jointly”. Cooperative farming perhaps is a more relevant solution to the problem of sub-division and
fragmentation than the policy of ceiling and redistribution of land. Because enough land may
not be available for redistribution through ceiling.