INTRODUCTION

In India, back in the 17-19th century, there existed a different version of society. One of the then such
prevalent aspects was of the ZAMINDARI SYSTEM. ‘Zamindars’ or land owners were supposedly
rich individuals who inherited large parts of land, which was mainly agricultural land. Zamindari
system was introduced by Lord Cornwallis in 1973 through Permanent Settlement Act1 during the
British Period. A Zamindar had to pay a fixed sum of land revenue to the State, which he collected
from the peasants, the purpose of which was to ensure fixed revenue for the state.

This practice, however, did not motivate the zamindars to invest in the land or in the agricultural
practices. Their only aim was the collection of revenue. Consequently, this lead the agriculture land,
as well as the peasants or farmers to suffer unbearably. There were not enough resources for the input
as compared to the demand for the output. The zamindars only focused on getting high amounts of
revenue from the small farmers, be it at the cost of their shelter, livelihood or even their lives. The
Zamindars forced these peasants to provide for the demand of free labour (Begari). They kept them as
tenants on the land and evicted them as per their whims and fancies. They even enjoyed lavish
lifestyle and did nothing to aid the agriculture productivity, yet charged high amounts of rent. The
Zamindari System, hence, turned out to be one of the most evil practices in the modern history of
India.

However, after independence, the government realized that the agricultural output was not sufficient
for the entire country. One way to boost the produce was to make the tillers of the land its owners.
Therefore, efforts were made to abolish the intermediaries known as the Zamindars to bring changes
in the revenue system that would be in favour of the cultivators. This was known as the land reforms.
The process of abolition of Zamindari System started even before the constitution of India came into
effect.

1 an agreement between the East India Company and Bengal landlords to fix revenues to be raised from land.

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 EMERGENCE OF CHANGES IN THE ZAMINDARI SYSTEM AT THE TIME
OF INDEPENDENCE
On the eve of the independence, there were two extremes in India. On one hand, there were landless
labourers and tenants, while on the other hand, there were big landlords having huge estates.
However, various tenancy systems had undergone vast transformation in 150 years of their practice.
The coexistence of Zamindari, Mahalwari2 and Ryotwari Systems led to the intermixing of their
characteristics, which led to drastic problems at the time of enactment of Zamindari abolition laws.
The most hampering feature was the absence of proper revenue records, which made the task of
abolition of intermediaries very difficult. Thus, there was a need required for the consensus of land
holdings.

NEED FOR BRINGING ABOUT LAND REFORMS IN ORDER TO ABOLISH

ZAMINDARI SYSTEM
The government of a newly independent India had a few objectives in mind to implement land
reforms. The main objective was to bring systematic and complete changes to the agrarian structure
of the country, to ease down the two extreme economic differences prevalent in the society. For this
purpose, the government had to get rid of the Zamindars and bring about equity in the economy and
society and ensure social justice for the past atrocities towards the poor peasants. The land reforms
would also prevent any exploitation of the tenant farmers by the hands of the landlords. The
government wanted to motivate these farmers and implement practices to increase agricultural output.

The Zamidari Abolition Act, 1950, was the first major agrarian reform of the Indian government after
the country’s independence in 1947. Although, the process of the abolition of the Zamindari System
was started long before the Constitution was enacted, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Madras,
Assam and Bombay had introduced Zamindari Abolition Bills by 1949. These states used the report
of the Uttar Pradesh Zamindari Abolition Committee (chaired by G.B. Pant) as the initial model.
However, there was a widespread concern that the Zamindars would make every effort to cause delay
in the acquisition of their lands. They approached the court of law, saying their fundamental rights
had been violated, as the Right to Property under Article 19 and 31 were declared as fundamental

2 For revenue purposes the name was applied to any compact area containing one or more villages, which were called
estates. The revenue settlement was made with the estate, hence, the term mahalwari.
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rights. Various provinces passed the Zamindari Abolition Acts separately for each state, but all of
these acts
were challenged in the court on account of their constitutional validity. The Supreme Court had
upheld the rights of the Zamindars.

AMENDMENTS BROUGHT IN THE CONSTITUTION AS A STEP IN

FURTHERANCE OF THE ABOLITION OF ZAMINDARI SYSTEM

The land reforms also helped in establishing a relationship between the farmers and the government.
During the British rule these farmers were heavily exploited and hence, they became disenfranchised.
These reforms opened a communicative ground between the government and the farmers. They both
cooperated to boost the agricultural sector of the country’s economy.

To secure the constitutional validity of the Abolition of Zamindari System Acts passed by various
states, the Parliament passed the first amendment in the Constitution of Independent India in 1951,
which was done within 15 months of the enactment of the constitution of India. The second
amendment for the same purpose was made in 1955. By 1956, Zamindari Abolition Act was passed in
many provinces. Due to conferment of land rights, around 30 lakh tenants and sharecroppers were
able to acquire the ownership rights over a total cultivated area of 62 lakh acres throughout the
country due to these Acts. On the other hand, the compensation paid to Zamindars was generally
small and varied from State to State.

The other important step that was taken was the imposition of the land ceiling. This law fixed the
total amount of land that an individual or a family can hold. Not only does the law implement the
fixation of the ceiling, it also allows the government to take over the surplus land. Such land was then
distributed among landless farmers or small farmers. The imposition of such a ceiling was to deter the
concentration of land in the hands of a few.

The reforms also promoted consolidation of holdings. If a farmer had a few plots of land in the
village, under this scheme these lands would be consolidated into one big piece of land. This can be
done by purchase or exchange of land. One problem that still existed was that the land parcels were
too small for commercial farming. This method was also resolved by way of land fragmentation.

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To solve the problems of land subdivision and lack of financing the government also began
promoting co-operative farming. Farmers could pool their lands and resources and gain the
advantages of economies of scale and capital investment. But co-operative farming in India had only
seen limited success.

IMPORTANCE OF LAND REFORMS

The main incentive of these land reforms was to act as an incentive for the farmers and the cultivators
of the land. If the government can assure their protection from exploitation and provide them
financial help, these farmers were willing to do the hard work. Once a farmer is actually granted
ownership, he could raise credit and cultivate his land to the full potential.

Another major advantage of such land reforms is that they can increase the agricultural output of the
country. This is done without any major influx of capital by the state. India was anyway struggling
with food self sufficiency. These land reforms were a cost-free method to increase grain and
agricultural output from farms. And once a farmer is self sufficient, he will sell the market surplus
and help the economy.

These land reforms also helped in establishing a relationship between the farmers and the
government. During the British rule these farmers were heavily exploited and hence, they became
disenfranchised. These reforms opened a dialogue between the government and the farmers. They
both cooperated to boost the agricultural sector of our economy. The land reforms also provided
social justice to the crores of farmers across the country. It made sure the farmers benefitted from
their own labour and promoted equality of wealth.

REMOVAL OF INTERMEDIARIES AS PER THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA

Even before the first amendment of the Constitution of independent India:

 Article 23 prohibited Begari, but at the grassroot level, begari could not be stopped unless
Zamindari itself was abolished.
 Article 38 wanted to minimize inequality of income, status and opportunities. When
Zamindars controlled 40% of India’s cultivated land, there was no opportunity/ status for
tenant farmers working under them.

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  Article 39 demanded equitable distribution of the material resources of the community for
common good. But in villages, these Zamindars controlled ponds, lakes, forests, grazing lands
etc., and did not allow others to freely access them.
 Article 48 aimed to organize agriculture and animal husbandry on modern scientific lines but
Zamindars were of orthodox, rent seeking mindset and tenants or farmers had neither the
money, nor the motivation to adopt scientific farming.

After the first amendment of the Constitution of India in 195, according to Article 31A which was
newly added:
 State can make laws to acquire any estates/ rights related to estates. Estate would also includes
any jagir, inam or muafi or other similar grant
 Rights would also includes rights of any proprietor, sub-proprietor, under-proprietor, tenure-
holder or other intermediary with respect to land revenue.
 Courts cannot declare such laws void, on the ground that it violates fundamental rights, but if
such law is made by a state legislation, then it cannot claim immunity under Article 31A, until
it receives assent from the President of India.

According to Article 31B, the Acts and regulations listed in the 9th Schedule of the constitution
cannot be challenged in courts on the ground that they are violating fundamental rights. This meant
that courts are prohibited from doing any judicial review of the items listed in 9th Schedule, which
included the abolition of Zamindari System. The Zamindars could not approach courts against those
laws.

BENEFITS THAT RESULTED FROM THE ABOLITION OF THE

ZAMINDARI SYSTEM
As a result of abolishing the practice of Zamindari Syatem, 1,700 lakh hectares of land was acquired
from the intermediaries and as a consequence of that, about 2,0000,000 tenants were brought into
direct relationship with the government. Many millions of cultivators who had previously been weak
tenants or tenants at will were made superior tenants as well as virtual owners. Article 39 (Directive
Principles of State Policy) fulfilled the right to adequate means of livelihood for all citizens. Many
absentee zamindars actually started direct ‘personal cultivation’ so that the State could not take away
their land. They had money to buy high yielding seeds, pesticides, fertilizers, machineries which
resulted in the increase of agro productivity. The entire process occurred in a democratic framework.
No coercion or violence was used, unlike the land reforms in China, Russia or Cuba.

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The entire process of bringing about land reforms was finished in a remarkably short period of time.
Perhaps, because the Zamindars were isolated during and after the freedom struggle, due to their soft
corner for the Britishers.

After the abolition of the Zamindari Syatem, the Government directly collected land revenue from the
farmers. Cultivators got ownership rights and hence, they started to take keen interest in land
improvement, which increased agricultural production. The Government created an enabling

atmosphere for the productivity of agriculture and also created cooperative societies, regional rural
banks etc., to provide cheaper credit on the subsidy of fertilizers, cheaper electricity, irrigation etc.
After abolition of the Zamindari System, agricultural labours were no longer forced to provide free
labour or begari and the practice of bonded labour declined as well. Public land, such as village
ponds, grazing grounds, village streets etc., that were used by the Zamindars only as personal
property, were declared as community property. This disarmed the Zamindars of economic
exploitation and dominance over others. Thus, power was transferred from the Zamindars to peasants.
Since the intermediaries were removed, farmers did not have to pay heavy rent. Therefore, they could
generate profit and were able to send their kids to school and colleges, which resulted in the
expansion of Indian middleclass.

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 THE HARYANA PANCHAYATI RAJ ACT, 1994
Haryana, one of the smaller states of India in terms of its size and population, was a part of Punjab till
November 1966 when it attained statehood. Till 1966, Panchayati Raj was only a gradual headway in
Haryana, part of Punjab. Afterwards, its progress accelerated in the State of Haryana but not
significantly. Elections were not held regularly. The legitimate autonomy of panchayati raj
institutions was not present due to the state government’s control over their supervision. In 1973, zila
parishad was abolished on the recommendations of Maru Singh Ad-hoc Committee on Panchayati
Raj, 1972. The Committee mentioned that there was unnecessary overlapping of functions between
zila parishad and panchayat samiti and therefore, the zila parishad should be abolished and its
functions should be added on to the functions already assigned statutory to panchayat samiti. The
panchayat samiti, the committee argued, should be strengthened financially and administratively to
play a large role in development processes. However, the recommendations of this committee were
not accepted by the government, which preferred instead to accept the recommendations of the ad-
hoc committee constituted by it in 1972 to evaluate the performance of zila parishads. This latter
committee had expressed the view that the zila parishads be abolished as these were superfluous
bodies which had failed to perform the coordinating functions for which they had been constituted.
The zila parishads were abolished with effect from July 13, 1973 on the recommendations of the ad-
hoc committee. The abolition of the zila parishad was also justified by the state government on the
grounds that there was no clear cut demarcation of powers between the zila parishads and panchayat
samitis. Therefore, Haryana had only a two tier panchayati raj system from 1973 to 1994.

CHAPTER III, THE HARYANA PANCHAYATI RAJ ACT, 1994

SABHA AREA ESTABLISHMENT AND CONSTITUTION OF GRAM SABHA AND GRAM
PANCHAYATS
Section 7: Demarcation of Sabha Area-

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(1) The Government may, by notification, declare any village or a part of a village or group of
adjacent villages with a population of atleast 500 people to constitute one or more sabha areas.
Provided that Government may in exceptional cases, by reasons to be recorded in writing, relax the
limit of population of 500 people.
Provided further that neither the whole or any part of a –
(a) municipality constituted under the Haryana Municipal Act, 1973 OR
(b) cantonment

shall be included in a sabha area unless the majority of voters in any municipality desire the
establishment of a Gram Panchayat in which case the assets and liabilities, if any, of the municipality
shall vest in the Gram Panchayat and the municipality shall cease to exist.

(2) The population shall be ascertained on the basis of last preceding decennial census of which the
relevant figures have been published.

(3) Government may, by notification, include an area in or exclude any area from the sabha area.

(4) If whole of the sabha area is included in a municipality or a cantonment, the Gram Panchayat
shall cease to exist and the assets and liabilities of it shall vest in the municipality or cantonment, as
the case may be.

(5) If whole of the sabha area is included in the Faridabad Complex under the Faridabad Complex
(Regulation and Development ) Act, 1971, the Gram Panchayat shall cease to exist and its assets and
liabilities shall be vested in the Faridabad Complex.

Section 8: Establishment and constitution of Gram Panchayat-

(1) The Government may, by notification, establish a Gram Panchayat by name in every sabha area.

(2) Every Gram Panchayat shall consist of-

(a) a Sarpanch who shall be elected by the Gram Sabha from amongst its voters, by secret ballot
(b) 6 to 20 Panches from wards in a Panchayat area in the manner prescribed.

(3) All the above seats referred to in clause (2) (b) shall be filled in by persons chosen by direct
election from the wards in the Panchayat area and for this purpose each Panchayat area shall be
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divided into wards in such manner that the ratio between the population of each ward and the number
of the seats of Panches allotted to it shall, so far as possible, be the same throughout the Panchayat
area.

Section 9: Reservation of seats in Gram Panchayat-

(1) Seats shall be reserved for Scheduled Castes in every Gram Panchayat and the number of seats so
reserved shall bear, as nearly as may be, the same proportion to the total number of seats to be filled
by election in that Panchayat as the population of the Scheduled Castes in the Panchayat area bears to
the total population of that area and such seats may be allotted to such wards having maximum
population of persons belonging to Scheduled Castes.

(2) Not less than one-third of the total number of seats reserved under sub-section (1) shall be
reserved for women belonging to the Scheduled Castes and such seats may be allotted by rotation and
by lots to different wards reserved under sub-section (1).

(3) Not less than one-third (including the numbers of seats reserved for women belonging to the
Scheduled Castes) of the total number of seats to be filled by direct election in every Panchayat, shall
be reserved for women and such seats may be allotted by rotation and by lots to different wards in a
Panchayat except those falling under sub-section (1) and (2).

(4) The offices of the Sarpanches in the Gram Panchayat in a block shall be reserved for the
Scheduled Castes and Women.
Provided that the number of offices of Sarpanches reserved for the Scheduled Castes in the Block
shall bear, as may be, the same proportion to the total number of such offices in the Block as the
population of the Scheduled Castes in the State bears to the total population of the State.
Provided further that not less than one-third of the total number of offices of Sarpanches in the block
shall be reserved for women including one-third offices of women Sarpanches from Scheduled
Castes.
Provided further that the number of offices of Sarpanches reserved under this sub-section shall be
rotated to different Gram Panchayats first having the largest maximum population of Scheduled
Castes and secondly having the second largest maximum population of such classes and so on.

(5) The reservation of the seats under sub-section (1) and (2) and the reservation of office of
Sarpanches (other than the reservation of women) under sub-section (4) shall cease to have effect on
the expiration of the period specified in Article 334 of the Constitution of India.

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(6) Every Panchayat shall have one Panch belonging to Backward Classes if their population is two
percent or more of the total population of the sabha area and such seat shall be allotted to such ward
having maximum population of persons belonging to Backward Classes.

(7) Reservation of seats as mentioned in aforesaid sub-sections shall be reviewed after every
decennial census.

Section 10: Term of office-

The term of office of Sarpanch shall be five years unless removed otherwise.

Section 11: Meeting and quorum of Gram Sabha-

(1) Every Gram Sabha shall hold two general meetings one during the period commencing on the
15th day of May and ending with the 15th day of June and the other during the period commencing on
the 15th day of November and ending with the 15th day of December each year at such dates and times
as may be fixed by the Block Development and Panchayat Officer concerned.

(2) In the event of the Sarpanch failing to hold two consecutive general meetings of the Gram Sabha
on the dates fixed under sub-section (1), he shall automatically cease to hold office from the date on
which the second meeting was to be held. The Block Development and Panchayat Officer shall
immediately intimate the happening of such cessation to the Director who shall accordingly notify
this fact to the Zila Parishad, Panchayat Samiti, Gram Panchayat and the Sarpanch.

(3) The Director may reinstate the Sarpanch on his showing sufficient cause for the default within a
period of thirty days from the date of the notification of his cessation as Sarpanch.

(4) The Sarpanch may, at any time and where a requisition in writing of the Panchayat Samiti or of
not less than one tenth of the total number of members of the Gram Sabha has been received by him,
shall within thirty days from the receipt of such requisition, call an extra-ordinary general meeting of
the Gram Sabha.

(5) If a general meeting as required by sub-section (1), or an extra-ordinary general meeting as

required by sub-section (4), is not called, the Block Development and Panchayat Officer shall call
such meeting.

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(6) The meetings of the Gram Sabha shall be conducted and the time and place of such meeting shall
be published in such manner as may be prescribed.

(7) For any extraordinary meeting of the Gram Sabha one-tenth of the total number of its members
shall form a quorum.

(8) The Block Development and Panchayat Officer or the Gram Sachiv, as the case may be, of a
Gram Panchayat shall attend every general meeting of the Gram Sabha ; and if for any reason beyond
his control the Block Development and Panchayat Officer is unable to attend any meeting, the Social
Education and Panchayat Officer or such Block Extension Officer as may be deputed by the Block
Development and Panchayat Officer shall attend the meeting. The Gram Panchayat may call every

village level functionary serving in the sabha area to attend such a meeting and tender advice in
respect of any matter coming up before it.

(9) Save in the circumstances beyond human control, every Panch shall attend the
Gram Sabha meetings.

Section 12: Powers and functions of Gram Sabha-

The Gram Sabha shall exercise and perform the following powers and functions:-

(i) it shall consider the budget prepared by the Gram Panchayat and the future development
programmes and the plans for the sabha area at its Sawani meeting. The Gram Sabha at its Hari
meeting shall review the general progress of the development plans

(ii) it will consider the actual income and expenditure of the Panchayat concerning last financial year

(iii) it will consider and scrutinise the existing schemes and all kinds of activities of Panchayat

(iv) it shall maintain a complete register for all development works undertaken by Gram Panchayat or
by and other Government department specifying the costs, date of completion of work name of assets
etc.

(v) it will scrutinise the completed works and all kinds of activities of the Gram Panchayat

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(vi) it can ask questions to the Sarpanch and Panches of the Gram Panchayat to clarify the particular
activity, income expenditure scheme and other matters and Sarpanch and Panch of the Gram
Panchayat shall be responsible to it

(vii) it shall locate the places of schemes and other works

(viii) it shall consider audit reports and thier compliances

(ix) it shall consider the progress report of every kind of Gram Panchayat works and

(x) it shall exercise and perform such other powers and functions as may be prescribed

CONCLUSION
It is clear that state level political leaders and bureaucracy have a major role to play in the functioning
of the panchayati raj system in the state. The Panchayat Raj Act also has a number of provisions
giving control of panchayats to the bureaucracy and the state government. Therefore, in order to
make panchayat institution of self-government and meaningful institutions for enlisting people’s
participation, the leadership at the grass roots level has to be strengthened. One possible way to
achieve this goal is to reduce economic inequality in the distribution of land and assets in the rural
economy of Haryana. The reservation for weaker sections can only be effective if land and assets are
given to them. The experiences of Haryana so far reveal that even though in some panchayats, SCs
had cornered sarpanchship, the real power of sarpanch has remained in the hands of dominant castes.

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY
- Dr. Badruddin, Commentary on Revenue Laws, Panchayat Laws and Rent Laws, The Law House
Rohtak, 4th edn., 2015.
- www.panchayatgyan.gov.in
-www.legalbites.com

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