LAND REFORMS IN INDIA- A PRACTICAL APPROACH

The land has been recognized as the most important factor of production since the inception of the formalised
economic study. Rightly so there is hardly any activity that does not require land resources for its
conceptualization, among them one of the most prominent being the use of agriculture. Agriculture has been Commented [G1]: Inserted: f
the largest user of land and has been recognized as the most crucial one too, the importance of which has been Commented [G2]: Inserted: z
magnified for a country like India where the per capita yield has been traditionally lower along with being
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labor intensive in nature. In addition to this, the centuries-old practice of feudalism has made the resource a
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scarce one with only a fraction of farmers actually owning a meaningful piece of land. Although several
attempts have been made for the land reforms in India beginning from the dawn of the independence in form Commented [G5]: Inserted: z

of Zamindari Abolition Act, 1950 and its sister legislation in various states, the picture of land ownership is Commented [G6]: Inserted: The l
quite dismal with the socio-economic census 2011 highlighting the fact that 4.9% of farmers own 32% of the Commented [G10]: Deleted:L
total land resources. And only 12.9% of the land being acquired from the landlords till December 2015, leaving Commented [G11]: Deleted:s
a vast majority of farmers in a marginal or landless state.
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This fact has been recognized at a meeting of various Central bureaucrats and the Prime Minister of India. It Commented [G13]: Deleted:f
is quite concerning that 10% of India's population controls 55% of the cultivable land in the country and 60% Commented [G14]: Deleted:r
population end up controlling only 5% of the land. This is quite contradictory to the concept of inclusive
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growth and a welfare state. After this meeting, a proposal was floated, backed by the PMO, that the
government machinery recognizes the unused government and gram panchayat land to be distributed to the Commented [G15]: Deleted:s

marginal and landless farmers for cultivation. Although a novel idea it is plagued with an inherent assumption Commented [G8]: Inserted: -
flaw and led to the NITI aayog raising a dissent note to the proposal. The farmers who are the intended Commented [G9]: Inserted: ,
beneficiary of this proposal do not have the sufficient resources nor the capability to raise them due to already Commented [G16]: Deleted:u
burdening loans on their heads. This might result in a fatal blow to the desired outcome of the plan as the land
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so transferred might either remain barren or make their way to the land mafia nexus. Thus it needs to be
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pondered upon how a holistic 360 solution can be achieved.
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One of the simplest answers could be a combinational strategy comprising of some flagship schemes of the
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government couples the with the idea of land distribution namely, Mera Gaon Mera Gaurav, Paramparagat
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Krishi Vikas Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Krishi Bima Yojana, NAM etc.
The lands so transferred could be combined with the existing ones to form mega blocks of agricultural lands Commented [G22]: Inserted: z

which would be managed by a co-operative of the farmers in an SHG mode overseen by an independent Commented [G24]: Deleted:s
government agency. The technological aspect could be taken care of by the scientists and engineers of various Commented [G25]: Deleted:e
SAUs and ICAR, the capital needs for these technological factors along with the infrastructural one can be Commented [G23]: Inserted: d
provided as soft loans to the co-operatives, rather than the farmers, through NABARD. Further, the harvest
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can be sold to FCI (for PDS), NAM, retail chains and other open markets depending on the demands. The
income so got can be distributed to the farmers in an organised time flow, a part of the income be retained for Commented [G27]: Inserted: s

repayment of earlier loans by the farmers (those which can be restructured rather than waivered, to prevent Commented [G28]: Inserted: n
losses of banking sector), another part be invested in PMKBY and various other financial instruments to Commented [G29]: Inserted: ,
recover government cost and leverage profits. The impetus of the strategy should be on the economic
empowerment of the farmers rather than waivers. The farmers should be made capable enough to be a
significant contributor to the tax regime and subsequently the reapers of resulting benefits. This is also a win-
win situation for the government reserves that can harness the whole of the GDP of the country. This can also
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provide a strong back channel impetus for the development of various infrastructure in the forward channels
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of agricultural distribution chain like storage, transportation food processing etc. We need to understand the
fact that subsidies and waivers are a short-term answer to agricultural woes rather the long-term investment Commented [G32]: Inserted: -
in the allied infrastructural growth of transportation, storage, and food processing with economic enhancement Commented [G33]: Inserted: the
of farmers is the only way ahead. Commented [G34]: Inserted: rt-
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UJJAL SAHU
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