CHAPTER 2
LAND REFORMS IN INDIA
When India got her independence the leaders and the elites of the nation were all talking about the land reforms in India. They did take a stepping stone towards land reforms however it was like a lighting match stick. This vital area has been taking a back seat with actually nothing being done. Land reforms has been half heartedly taken up at various times and this has been a case of the remedy worst than the disease. The Indian Government was committed to land reforms and consequently laws were passed by all the State Governments during the Fifties with the avowed aim of abolishing landlordism, distributing land through imposition of ceilings, protection of tenants and consolidation of land-holdings. One of the significant achievements of these acts was the abolition of absentee landlordism in several parts of India. However, land reforms were half-hearted with regard to the imposition of ceilings and security of tenure. Consequently, the skewness in land distribution was not reduced in any significant manner. Further, a very large number of tenants were actually evicted in the name of self-cultivation. In spite of it, land reforms brought about a significant change in land relations in so far as self-cultivation, rather than absentee landlordism, became a predominant mode of production.[1]
The Government of India is aware that agricultural development in India could be achieved only with the reform of India's rural institutional structure. It was said that the extent of the utilisation of agricultural resources would be determined by the institutional framework under which the various inputs were put to use. M. Dandekar observed: "Among the actions intended to release the force which may initiate or accelerate the process of economic growth, agrarian reform usually receives high priority". The First Five-Year Plan stated:"This (land reform) is a fundamental issue of national importance. The former Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, emphasised: "Land Reforms is the most crucial test which our political system must pass in order to survive." Land reforms therefore became one of the vital aspects of the agricultural development policy especially after the concept of the Five-Year Plan came to stay[2]
The important objectives of land reform measures in India were: (1) to enhance the productivity of land by improving the economic conditions of farmers and tenants so that they may have the interest to invest in and improve agriculture, (2) to ensure distributive justice and to create an egalitarian society by eliminating all forms of exploitation, (3) to create a system of peasant proprietorship with the motto of land to the tiller and (4) to transfer the incomes of the few to many so that the demand for consumer goods would be created.[3]
The Second Five-Year Plan emphasised the objectives of the land reforms thus: To remove the impediments in the way of agricultural production as may arise from the character of agrarian structure and to evolve an agrarian economy conducive of high levels of efficiency and productivity; To establish an egalitarian society and to eliminate social inequality;
Again in the Third Plan, the Planning Commission summed up the objectives of land reforms thus "The first is to remove such impediments to increase in agricultural production as may arise from the agrarian structure inherited from the past. This should help to create conditions for evolving as speedily as possible an agricultural economy with a high level of efficiency. The second objective, which is closely related to the first, is to eliminate all elements of exploitation and social injustice within the agrarian system to provide security for the tiller of the soil and assure equality of status and opportunity to all the sections of the rural population". Thus the land reforms in India aimed at the redistribution of ownership holdings and reorganising operational holdings from the view point of optimum utilisation of land. It has also aimed at providing security of tenure, fixation of rents and conferment of ownership.[4]
After Independence, attempts had been made to alter the pattern of distribution of land holdings on the basis of four types of experiments, namely; Land reforms "from above" through legislation on the lines broadly indicated by the Central Government, enacted by the State legislators, and finally implemented by the agencies of the State Government. Land reforms "from above" as in the case of Telengana and the naxalite movement also to some extent in the case of the "Land Grab" movement. Land reforms through legislative enactments "from above" combined with peasant mobilisation "from below" as in the case of controlled land seizure in West Bengal and protection of poor peasants in Kerala. Land reforms "from below" through permission of landlords and peaceful processions by peasants as in the case of Bhoodan and Gramdan.[5]
The land reform legislation was passed by all the State Governments during the Fifties touching upon these measures; Abolition of intermediaries. Tenancy reforms to regulate fair rent and provide security to tenure. Ceilings on holdings and distribution of surplus land among the landlords. Consolidation of holdings and prevention of their further fragmentation and Development of cooperative farming.
The Zamindars acted as the intermediaries. Until Independence, a large part of agricultural land was held by the intermediaries under the zamindari, mahalwari and ryotwari systems. Consequently, the tenants were burdened with high rents, unproductive cultivation and other forms of exploitation.[6]
By 1972, laws had been passed in all the States to abolish intermediaries. All of them had two principles in common: 1) abolition of intermediaries between the state and the cultivator and 2) the payment of compensation to the owners. But there was no clear mention about just and equitable compensation. Therefore, the Zamindari Abolition Act was challenged in the High Courts and the Supreme Court. But the Government accomplished the task of abolishing intermediary tenures bringing nearly 20 million cultivators into direct contact with the state. Nearly 57.7 lakh hectares were distributed to landless agriculturists after the successful completion of the Zamindari Abolition Act. The abolition also had a favourable economic impact on the country. By conferring the ownership of land to the tiller, the Government provided an incentive to improve cultivation. This paved the way for increase in efficiency and yield. This was an important step towards the establishment of socialism and the Government revenue increased. It also ushered in cooperative farming.
The efficacy of the legislation was, however, considerably reduced for the following reasons; The act did not benefit sub-tenants and share croppers, as they did not have occupancy rights on the land they cultivated. Intermediaries were abolished, but the rent receiving class continued to exist. Many landlords managed to retain considerable land areas under the various provisions of the laws. Benami holdings became the order of the day in many States. The problems of transferring ownership rights from the actual cultivators of the land, the tenants, the sub-tenants, share croppers, therefore, remained far from resolved.[7]
However the result has been that the land reform has been incomplete and unfinished.

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[ 1 ]. http://planningcommission.nic.in/
[ 2 ]. Ibid.
[ 3 ]. ibid
[ 4 ]. ibid
[ 5 ]. ibid
[ 6 ]. ibid
[ 7 ]. ibid