What do you mean by Land Reform? What steps have been taken by goverment of India in this regard?
Critically examines the land reforms measures adopted by the government.
Ans.
Introduction:
Land reform holds a major place for an agricultural country like India. Land reforms include changes in land tenure systems, farm sizes, ownership of land, security of tenure, rent, determination and collection, cooperative farming, consolidation or reorganization of agriculture etc. which lead to increased agricultural production and create an environment of social justice when adopted. Thus, the work of land reform is to bring about necessary changes in the structure and organization of agriculture. In fact, since the farmer is not the owner of the land, he does not work hard on the land, resulting in declining land productivity. The efforts made to eliminate these shortcomings have also been included in land reform activities. Thus the importance of land reforms is quite comprehensive including elimination of intermediaries, tenancy reforms, demarcation of holdings, land grants, village grants etc. While defining land reforms, Prof. S.C. Jha wrote "The reforms relating to land tenure systems undertaken through continuous efforts to increase savings, investment and production in agriculture are called land reforms.” In the words of Prof. Gunnar Myrdal, "Land reform is planning and institutional reorganization of relationships between individuals and land."
In the traditional sense, "land reform refers to redistribution of land ownership for the benefit of small farmers and agricultural laborers."
In a broader sense, "any change in the institutional arrangement of agricultural organization or land tenure is included in land reform."
Land Reforms in India -
After independence, land reforms in India can be explained in the following ways.
1. End of Middlemen -
In 1948, after independence, the Agricultural Reforms Committee recommended that there should be ownership of land and those who have cultivated any land parcel for 6 years should be considered the owner of that land. On the basis of this recommendation, middlemen were abolished in the First Five Year Plan. Now the middlemen have been abolished through legislation in all states. As a result, more than two crore tenants have become land owners. These intermediaries were spread over 40% of the country's area. The abolition of middlemen has improved the social and economic status of the tenants. With the abolition of middlemen, a lot of land came under government control, which was distributed among tenants. About 57.7 lakh hectares of land have been distributed among one crore tenants.
Although the lack of effective revenue administration created difficulties in abolishing middlemen. Compensation is also a serious burden on the government. The compensation amount is estimated at Rs 641 crore, out of which Rs 350 crore has been paid.
The main points regarding the law for abolition of middlemen are as follows:
- (1) Middlemen are to be given compensation of Rs 648 crore in the form of land. The basis and rates of this compensation were different in different states.
- (2) Compensation has been paid partly in cash and partly in bonds. Small farmers have been paid mostly in cash. The bonds carry an interest of 9.5 percent per annum.
- (3) Landowners have been allowed to carry out agriculture independently, but the maximum limit of land to be held has been fixed.
- (4) The tenant's relationship was directly established with the government.
- (5) For rehabilitation and to carry on business, adequate financial assistance has been arranged for landowners paying minimum amount of revenue.
2. Tenancy Reforms -
Keeping in view the agricultural development, tenancy laws have been reformed in almost all states of India. These reforms include reduction in rent, security of land ownership and provision of compensation for permanent improvements. Farmers have been protected against eviction and tenure has been secured. The main reforms in tenancy are:
(i) Regulation of Rents -
For agricultural development, it is necessary to determine the rent in a fair manner and collect it easily. During the zamindari system, under arbitrary tenancy and sharecropping, half or even more share of the produce was given as rent and other interests were also paid by the tenants. Thus, after year long hard work, nothing was left for them. In the First Five Year Plan, the Planning Commission had recommended that the maximum rent should be 1/4th or 1/5th of the total produce. Emphasis was also laid on this in the Second and Third Plans. As a result, almost all states amended the laws and reduced the rent rates and fixed maximum rent rates. Rent rates are not uniform in all states. In Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, 1/7th share of the total produce has been fixed as rent. In Delhi rent is 1/5th share of the total produce, 1/4th share in Odisha, 1/3rd share in Punjab, 2/5th share in Tamil Nadu and 1/2 share in Jammu and Kashmir. The Third Plan stated that governments should compel landlords to give receipts of rent received from tenants to them and tenants should deposit the rent amount to the revenue officer and inform landlords.
(ii) Security of Tenure -
Tenants have been evicted by pressure from landlords on the pretext of voluntary surrender. To stop such evictions and provide security to the tenant, laws have been enacted by various states. By providing security to the tenant and giving him permanent ownership rights, on one hand there will be equitable social distribution and on the other hand production will increase. Effective regulation of rent is possible only when tenancy security is provided. Full security has been provided in 9% of cultivable land. 59% of area has partial security and 19% has temporary security, but 12% is still insecure.
(iii) Right of Ownership of Tenants -
If the tenant is made the owner of the land, he will produce with full dedication. Arthur Young said - "The magic of private property turns sand into gold. Give a man secure ownership of bleak rock, and he will turn it into a garden; give him nine year lease of a garden and he will convert it into a desert." Until the tenant is made the owner of the land, good produce cannot be obtained from him. The Second Plan stated that in areas where resumption of land is not feasible, the tenant should be made the owner. To make the tenant a landowner, three types of arrangements have been made:
- (a) Tenants have been declared land owners and compensation is to be paid to owners by them in suitable installments. This happened in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
- (b) The government has arranged to collect compensation in suitable installments. This was done in Delhi.
- (c) The government acquired the rights of landowners and established direct relationship with tenants. Tenants were given the concession to continue by paying proper rent to the government or become full owners by paying the prescribed compensation. This was done in Kerala and Uttar Pradesh.
As a result of these efforts, about 30 lakh tenants and sub-tenants have so far been given proprietary rights over 28 hectares of land.
(iv) Resumption of Tenancies under Personal Cultivation -
In order to provide security to tenants, resumption of land has been restricted as far as possible. In this regard, states can be divided into four categories:
- (a) States where landowners have not been allowed to resume land, eg. Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and West Bengal.
- (b) States where right to resume limited area for personal cultivation has been given but with the condition that minimum area will be left with tenants, eg. Bihar, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Odisha, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Manipur.
- (c) States where the right to resume has been given on condition that alternative land will be provided to tenant up to specified limit by the state, eg. Punjab and Assam.
- (d) States where the right to resume has been given up to the limit of fixation, without provision of minimum area for tenants, eg. Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
Thus, due to various efforts, about 30 lakh tenants have so far got proprietary rights in 28 lakh hectares of land.
Landless farmers and agricultural laborers have benefited the most from these efforts of land reforms.
3. Ceiling on Holdings -
To ensure equitable distribution of land, it is necessary to fix a ceiling on holdings. The surplus land over this ceiling limit should be distributed among landless farmers and evicted farmers. The ceiling will lead to equitable distribution of land among farmers, landless farmers will get land. Agriculture can be converted into viable holdings by fixing ceiling.
The following recommendations regarding ceiling on holdings were made at the Chief Ministers' Conference held in New Delhi on 23rd July 1972:
- (1) The ceiling will apply to the entire family which will include husband, wife and minor children.
- (2) For families with more than five members, additional land will be provided for each member but not more than double the prescribed ceiling.
- (3) For a family of five members, the ceiling will be 10 to 18 acres of irrigated land suitable for growing two crops.
- (4) For a family of five members in dry areas, a uniform ceiling of 54 acres has been suggested.
- (5) Exemptions provided in prevalent state laws regarding mechanized farming, planned cultivation etc. should be removed.
- (6) Exemptions provided for tea, coffee, cardamom, rubber etc. plantations should be c carefully examined in conjunction with concerned ministries and state governments.
Due to this ceiling, the government has so far received 115 lakh hectares of surplus land. Out of this, 6.3 lakh hectares of land has already been distributed among the landless. The maximum surplus land of 32 lakh hectares has been obtained in West Bengal.
4. Reorganisation of Agriculture -
The programmes of reorganization of agriculture after independence include consolidation, land donation movement, law and order and cooperative agriculture.
(i) Consolidation of Holdings -
Consolidating fragmented pieces of land into one is called consolidation. Fragmentation of holdings along with sub-division is also a major flaw in our agriculture. It hinders agricultural production. A lot of time and labor of the farmer is wasted. After independence, the work of legally compulsory consolidation was started in many states. By the end of the First Plan, 33 lakh hectares had been consolidated. By the end of the Second Plan 121 hectares and by the end of the Third Plan 241 lakh hectares had been consolidated. By the end of the Fourth Plan 320 lakh hectares had been consolidated. By 1980 this area was equal to 450 lakh hectares.
(ii) Improvement in Land Management -
A land reform squad will be set up in the Planning Commission which will distribute surplus land over the ceiling among the landless. The landless will get both income and employment. The current ceiling will also be fixed. Two aspects have been kept in mind regarding fixing the ceiling - first, on existing holdings and second, on future holdings.