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    Scanned 20210531-1246

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    cULTURE AND ITS DEVELOPMENT IN INDIA 155 policies, demand ete. The cultivators also should co-operate with various government Gepartments for implementing their programme ricultural mechanisation corporation may also be set up for supplying various inputs (ana on loans. (a The Government should also provide adequate transport and marketing faci make provision for consolidation of holdings.' rTros, in conclusion, it can be said that economic factors are playing a dominant role in ining the cropping pattern in India. Although Indian farmers are very much poverty stricken Tanservaive sill their cropping pattern can be changed through appropriate changes in economic five Whenever farmers in India see a better cropping pattern they try to adjust with it. To adopt cx cropping pattem farmer should possess requisite volume of capital and know-how just for ing the cropping pattern in India LAND TENURE AND LAND REFORMS IN INDIA Gis 4. Land Tenure Systems in India tem has its importance as it can locate the owner of land, influence the productivity and and can also effectively influence the social organisation prevalent in the area. Land tenure gem prevalent in India during the pre-independence period can be broadly classified into three aps: (a) Ryotwari, (6) Mahalwari and (c) Zamindari Temure. (@ Ryotwari Tenure, The Ryotwari tenure system was first introduced in Madras tp 1772 and eh this system was also extended to Bombai, Berar and Madhya Pradesh. This tenure sysieu! a systematic outcome of Hindu tradition. Under this Ryotwari tenure, every individual registered; * holder is recognized as the proprietor of land and is responsible for the payment of land revenue the Government. The Ryot possess the right to sub-let his land property or to transfer the land aif, sale or mortgage. Under this system, a ryot cannot be ejected by the Government till he y his land revenue. Accordingly, under this system, there was practically no room for any mediary owners of the soil and the state. ( Mahalwari Tenure. Under this system of tenure, lands were held jointly by the village vcnnities and were eollestively and severally liable forthe land revenue. This was frst introduced ‘Agra and Oudh and then it was extended to Punjab and Haryana. As per this system, the village sn or shamlat and waete lands’are-the properties of the village community: This waste land free to rent it out and divide the rent among all members of the community. This system of tenure the product of Muslim tradition. introduced in Bengal in 1793 by Lord (© Zamindari system. The Zamindary system was first i few persons and were responsible for the nwallis. Under this system land was held by one or @ ryment of land revenue, British East India Company adopted this Zamindari system in order to tea privileged and a loyal class who had a vested interest on land. The Zamindari settlements agzin of two types--permanent settlement and temporary settlements. The system of permanent tlement prevailed in Bengal, North Madras and in Banaras. Under the temporary settlements land cae Was subject to revision and the system was prevailing among some Zamindars of Bengal talukdars of Oudh, The Zamindari system had resulted in intermediary tenure and developed a ite class which continuously exploited the cultivators and took no initiative for the improvement Sericulture, Although British rulers pleaded that “Zamindars were the most enlightened section and | NCAER ER Cropping Pattern in Madhya Pradesh, pp. 49-51: ities and also land tenure sys INDIAN ECONOMY AND ITS DEVEro; - ~ is in land and better agric thus their effort could result in permanent improvements 1m la fer agriculture ey were very much interested Zamindars as they wer interested in ex oppression and tyranny. All these this contention was totally nullified by these fa os amption. ing exorbitant rent and indulged into conspicuous cons” OE ence farming. This Zamindati s e Indian agriculture to subsistence farming Perit we systems of tenure earned a bad name ang bolished after indepen, i ce 5 c e thi their 150 years of rule, all the t if Lord Comwalis and Sir Thomas Munro, the resp, jaok at the system in 1940 they would pt h Thus during Thus H. Venkatsubbiah observed, and Ryotwari, were 0 I shape protagonists of Zamindari recognise them as such.” 1 = System, Land tenure system has got its specific import Importance of Land Tenure System. Lan Portas fg he development of agriculture, The following are some of the importance of land tenure sygey the development of agriculture , actual owner. Land tenure system prev C by the government. Locating owners of land is important for recovering svelopment programmes. : ; ailing in the country helps to locate iy ( Locating ¢ land Iso to implement agricultural de actual owner of 1 ao Development of Agriculture. Land tenure system helps a cultivator to establish righ cwnerhip of and by farmers. Ths woul help the farmers to establish a link between the caltvaiog acre evernment Land tenure system makes the ownership of land more secure and permanen, wihich is very much important for the development of agriculture. In this connection, Arthur Youg ly observed, “the magic of private ownership turns dust into gold. Give a person a secured to a large mountain and he will tum it into a garden, However, if the same garden is leased rine years, he will turn it into a desert.” whie Importance of Society. Social structure of a country is also influenced by the land tenure system. If the land distribution pattern in a country is skewed or uneven then it paves the way fi exploitation of farmers. But when the farmer’s right over the land is already established, it may lead to equitable distribution of income and thereby the society will become comparatively peaceful Features of an Ideal Land Tenure System. Ideal land tenure system should maintain certia, basic features which are important for pi erving the interest of the farmer, in general. The second five year Plan document has identified the following features for an ideal land tenure system (@ The tiller or cultivator of the land should posse: land. a definite and permanent right over his (ii) Rent should be collected from the cultivators at reasonable rate. (iii) The limits of cultivation process must be specified clearly. (#) Farmers should be given the full rights to transfer the ownership of the land. (») Fixation of rents on land should be flexible (v) Inequalities in the distribution of land should be reduced to the (vii) The land tenure system should establish farmer. minimum. a direct contact between the government and Thus in order to ensure an ideal land tenure system the above mentioned features should previl in the system and also be S,mentioned fatten. Sake ntained in the long run. 4.6.2. Land Reforms in India By the term ‘land reforms’, we mean reforms of institutional factors related to land: In order to 78 the agricultural production and also increase the level of income and standard of living of 1. H. Venkatsubbiah, Indian Economy since Independence, p. 51 : im VV vats insrutional fictors along with technical factor are playing an important role, These cont factors ince Tand tenure rye, land holdings, farming stuetre land dsbution, veamediaries 1° and reform meastres have been introduced by various underdeveloped and developing countries forataining «rational and distribution pattern and viable farming structure, Accordingly, B.V. Long fe qhty observed. “In most of the underdeveloped counties land reforms is one of the main ret erstones of agrarian policy.” In order fo attain institutional changes in agrarian structure, land sche are considered effective, Prof. Gunner Myrdal argued, in this connection, “Land reforms is etna an institutional reorganisation of the relation between man and land” ‘The term ‘land reforms’ has two different senses, In a narrow sense, land reforms are sie vith those reforms related to land ownership and land holdings. But in broad sense, the term ‘land wyms’ is used to mean those measures of reforms necessary to raise agricultural productivity wrrah include reforms relating to fixation of rent on land, abolition of intermediaries, credit and wenkting arrangements” etc, The following are some of the important general measures incorporated in land reforms : 1, Measure related to Distributive justice, These measures are aimed to attain distributive juste in land sharing through abolition of intermediaries, redistribution of land among landless cultivators recovered through abolition of intermediary tenure and ceiling on land holdings. 2. Tenancy measures. Land reforms also inelude some tenancy measures like ceiling on land holdings, fixation of tenure, regulation of rent, remission of rents during natural calamities ete. 3. Measures for Agrarian Reorganisation. These measures of agrarian reorganisation are mostly related to the size of holdings, The problems arising out of continuous fragmentation and subdivision of holdings are attempted to be removed through consolidation of holdings, co-operative faming etc 48.3. Need or Role of Land Reforms in India There isa great need for land reforms in a country like India where majority of its population is still depending on agriculture, One of the main reason behind the backwardness of Indian agriculture is the defective land policy followed in the country. Accordingly, Harold Man observed, “The fundamental sbatacle 10 rural progress was not technical but the institutional framework of Indian agriculture.” There are number of defects of land policy pursued in India, The Planning Commission of India has iatined some defects of our land policy. These are : (i) Presence of multiplicity of intermediaries jaincen the Government and cultivator, (i) lack of adequate security of tenure, (iti) Fixation of high eng lack of incentive, (iv) large scale sub-division and fragmentation of holdings and the iments arising out of it towards adoption of modem and scientific methods of cultivation, (») lee distribution of land, (vi) low productivity per hectare of land, and (vil) inereasing inequality “en rich and poor as a result of green revolution. e ltis being increasingly felt by renowned economists like G. Myrdal and K.N, Raj that in order itd agriculture of our country land reforms is considered much more important than ; ical reforms. The following are some of the important land reforms in India, (9 Economic holding. Land reforms can pave the way for creating economic holding through ‘edistribution of land to small and marginal farmers. This will facilitate adoption of modem, ™proved farming techniques. ie __INDIAN ECONOMY AND Hi) Providing incemivs. Removal of needs and tency sem floyay Beak seas ec erdhs of lan! Vo dctial cultivators through land reform: bY the j 'S can en, i peeate ines su of clivation tothe tiller of the soil. This will ereate incentive in the mien one to devote much more effort and to raise the volume of investment for Adopting net ye technology. B New (ii) Increase in Productivity and Production. Land reform measur for the farming community as the reform of the of holding along with development of co-operati and the volume of productions, FEF 8 have specigt land tenure system and incr farming can lead to increqge inpattty () Establishing Link between Government and farmers, Land reforms can stablish link between Government and farmers by abolishing intermediaries, Thig will facia government fo implement plan for agricultural development in a smooth manner () Ataining Social Justice, Land reforms can pave the way for attaining social justeg the millions of farmers in India by transferring them ownership righte to land, fixing grt on land holdings and by abolishing the system of exploitation of farmers, bee ina agricultural county fike tly mentioned. “Redistribution of lang tural landless poor for taking up land lation of holdings, tenancy regulation ang Thus itis found that land reforms have a special importance In this connection, the Seventh Plan document has righ Provide a permanent asset base for a large number of and other supplementary activities. Similarly consolid: Gating of land records would widen the access of small and marginal land holders to impros technology and inputs and thereby directly lend to increase agricultural production,” | 4.6.4. Objectives of Land Reforms in India As mentioned in the Second Five Year Plan of the country, to create necessary conditions for evolving an agrarian economy Productivity and also to establish an egalitarian Society as early as possible. The Fifth Plan daft mentioned that “the objectives of land policy have been to remove such motivational and oll impediments in agricultural production as arise from agrarian structure inherited from the Los also to eliminate all clements of exploitation and social injustice within the agrarian system 9 fo ensure equality of tenurial status and opportunity to all sections of rural population.” | Thus 7 reforms in India aim at conferring security of tenure, fixation of rents, conferment of ‘ownership through the abolition of intermediaries and bringing the actual tiller in direst contact with the Following are some of the important objectives of land reforms in India. ae (© Rational use of Resources. One of the important objectives of land reforms in India| make provision for more rational use of scarce land resources by changing the conditions of z imposing ceilings on land holdings, so as run the cultivation process in a most economical without any waste of land, labour and capital, 1. Draft Fifth Five Year Plan, 1974-76, Vol. I, p. 42, the objective of land reforms wi with high degree of efficiency ad brought under direct relationship with the state. But inspite of all these attempts, a ran absentee landlords still exist in our country. H. Venkatsubbiah has stated, “The p: Government at the Centre and in States began to give thought to curtailing the dy, ' Power of zamindari rentier only at a subsequent stage of their agrarian policy.” (iii) Tenancy reforms. Tenancy problem in India is quite acute. The Fourth Plan observed that about 12.7 per cent of the total agricultural population are tenants and oneal constitute about 23.6 per cent of total cultivating household of our country. Only a smal of the tenants of the country have acquired permanent rights and a great majority of theae om (nearly 82 per cent) mostly in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Punjab, Tamil Maen Cy West Bengal have ure tenure.? In India tenants are broady divided into three Permanent tenants, (5) Tenants at will or temporary tenants and (c) Sub-tenants, — Measures of tenancy reforms include : (a) regulation of rent, (b) security of tenure, ang 2 eG INDIAN ECONOMY AND ITs | D cultivators. As a result of the abolition of intermediaries more than 2 crore cultivator, ty ra conferment of ownership of tenants. (@) Regulation of rent. Before 1951 tenants in India had to pay 50 per cent of their total produ ‘as rent. Thus the First and the Second Plan recommended that the volume of rent be reduced tothe extent of 20 to 25 per cent of the total production. Accordingly various states have enacted. legislation to regulate rents, even then large variations in the rates of rents fixed by different stes still prevails. But due to the weakness of tenants and prevalence of widespread land hunger thee legislations failed to regulate the rents perfectly, leading to a much of its breach than in its compliance, (6) Security of Tenure. Tenancy legislation in India has also made enough provision for seeuriy of tenure. The legislation made a provision that the tenants cannot be ejected from their land so long as they continue to pay rent. Due to the enactment of tenancy legislation, Indian tenants have acquired complete security in only 9 per cent, and have acquired no security at all in 12 per cent of total cultivated area of te country. (©) Ownership Rights. Tenancy legislation enacted by various state Governments have offered these tenants their rights to purchase their holdings. States like Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh Orissa, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Union territories have already enacted necessary legislations in this regard. But in the states like Assam, Bihar, Jammu & Kashmir and Tamil Nadu no such legislation has yet been enacted for conferring ownership right by purchase. Nearly 3 million tenants and share croppers have already been able to acquire ownership rights over the land area of more than 7 million acres. Besides, provision has also been made to off compensation for permanent improvements and also for remission of rents to tenants during nal (di) Ceiling on land holdings. Imposition of ceiling on landholdings considered as one of he very important measures towards land reforms in the country. In India land reforms had envissse that beyond a certain specified limit, all lands belonging to a particular person would be taken ove! by the Government and then the same be allotted to the landless cultivators and small farmers Imposition of ceiling on land holding is quite justified on the ground that availability of land for cultivation in the country is not only very much limited but also the number of claimants of 1. Venkatsubbiah, H., Indian economy since Independence, p. 51 2. Fourth Five Year Plan, May 1970, pp. 176-77. (CULTURE AND ITS DEVELOPMENT IN INDIA 161 4 is numerous. Thus retaining of a huge area of land by a single household is not at all justified. us imposition of ceiling on land holding can remove inequalities in Iand ownership and secondly tribution of this surplus land will increase the scope of employment in the rural areas. In India, slation for the imposition of ceiling on land holding was implemented in two phases. In its first jase, i.e., till 1972, individual was taken as an unit and in its second phase, i.¢., after 1972, family s taken as an unit in determining ceiling on land holdings. Besides, to have a more equitable ibution of land, ceiling limit was also gradually reduced in various states. The imposition of ceiling on land holdings is a peculiar problem as it is subjected to the Jblems of malafied transfers, payment of compensation and allotment of surplus lands among the \dless or displaced persons. Till 1972, under the old ceiling laws about 23 lakh acres of land were Jared surplus in India and out of which only 12.55 lakh acres were redistributed. States like Bihar, ssa, Karnataka and Rajasthan failed to acquire any surplus land. Moreover, there was lack of iformity about the adoption of this legislation between the different states of the country. Thus in July 1972, a conference of Chief Ministers adopted the following major guidelines for je imposition of land ceilings in India (i) The ceiling limit of the best category irrigated land would range between 10 to 18 acres and that of inferior land will have a ceiling limit of 54 acres. (ii) The unit shall be a family consisting of five members including husband, wife and minor children. If the size of family exceeds five additional land may be allowed and in that case the total area should not exceed twice the ceiling limit for a family. (iii) The ceiling should not operate on those land held under plantation of tea, coffee, rubber, cardamom, cocoa and all other land held by industrial or commercial undertaking. ‘As per guidelines, the ceiling laws were amended in all states and were implemented spectively from January 24, 1971. Accordingly, 17 state Governments revised their ceiling laws. a result of this revision 73.48 lakh acres of land were acquired by the State Governments as Jlus out of which 44.92 lakh acres were distributed among 41.52 lakh landless cultivators. Again .33 lakh persons, i.¢., 45% of the beneficiaries were belonged to scheduled caste and scheduled ibe. Thus the progress in respect of ceiling on land holdings is found very slow in India. In India, ceiling on land holding was never implemented in proper way. Mr. Ladenjinsky rightly ited, “while officially the states accepted the ceiling programmes, they rejected them in practice.” Dr. Khusro rightly observed, “The scheme of motioning, through imposition of ceiling on ent holding, ended virtually in a fiasco. Its breakdown is a supreme example of how a perfectly yund programme can come to naught on socio-political grounds.” ' ‘The successful implementation of land ceiling legislation needs a strong and efficient administrative chinery in villages where official machineries are easily influenced by powerful vested interests, .6.6. An Appraisal of Land Reforms in India igh the land reforms programme in India was started with good spirit and enthusiasm but the onse from such programme was lost in the mid-stream. Inspite of having ambitious programmes, land reforms in India could provide very little justice to the rural poor people of the country. In is connection, Prof. M.L. Dantwala rightly observed, “By and large, land reforms in India enacted far and those contemplated in the near future are in the right direction ; and yet due to lack of plementation the actual results are far from satisfactory.”* » Khusro, A.M,, Economies of Land Reform and Farm size in India, 1973, p. xiii - Report of the Tokyo Seminar on Problems of Economic Growth, Congress for Cultural Freedom, p. 2. 166 INDIAN ECONOMY AND ITS 4,7. GREEN REVOLUTION OR NEW AGRICULTURAL STRATEGY IN INDIA 4.7.1. Introduction of New Agricultural Strategy or Green Revolution and its Fen The new agricultural strategy was adopted in India during the Third Han Jey during | : Suggested by the team of experts of the Ford Foundation in its report “Inrfa's Crisis of Fogg Steps to Meet it” in 1959 the Government decided to shift the strategy followed in agricutturay of the country. Thus, the traditional agricultural practices followed in India are gradually jg replaced by modem technology and agricultural practices. This report of Ford Foundation supp to introduce intensive effort for raising agricultural production and productivity in selected regi of the country through the introduction of modem inputs like fertilisers, credit, marketing fig etc. Accordingly, in 1960, from seven states seven districts were selected and the Gover introduced a pilot project known as Intensive Area Development Programme (IADP) into seven districts. Later on, this programme was extended to remaining states and one distrit from state was selected for intensive development. Accordingly, in 1965, 144 districts (out of 325) were selected for intensive cultivation and the programme was renamed as Intensive Agricultural Ang Programme (IAAP). | uring the period of mid-1960s, Prof. Norman Borlaug of Mexico developed new high yielig varieties of wheat|and accordingly various countries started to apply this new variety with mich | promise. Similarly, in the kharif seasoy in 1966, India adopted High Yielding Varieties Programme (HYVP) for the first time, This programme was adopted as a package programme as the very suc ‘of this programme depends upon adequate irrigation facilities, application of fertilizers, high yielding varieties of seeds, pesticides, insecticides etc. In this way a new technology was rs adopt” im Indian agriculture. This new strategy © popularly known as modern agricultural technoly revolution. } ten ywe Aqnicalln Arco fh seeds, and manure and also providing funds till the farmers receives payment from sale of which is at time delayed and staggered. Use of input by farmers is also sensitive to credit mee the agriculture sector. In this context, the predominance of informal sources of credit for famsen a concem. According to NSSO 70th round data, as much as 40 per cent ofthe funds of farmer ip come from informal sources. Local money lenders account for almost 26 per cent share of agricultural credit. Though in the mean time, there has been decline in informal sources over tie enhancing access to Institutional credit for farmers need to be addressed. There is also need address the problem of availability of credit on several fronts 4.8.1. Types of Agricultural Credit in India Considering the period and purpose of the credit requirement of the farmers of the country, agricultua) credit in India can be classified into three major types : (@) Short term credit. The Indian farmers require credit to meet their short term needs vie, purchasing seeds, fertilise Paying wages to hired workers etc. for a period of less than 15 months Such loans are generally repaid after harvest. (6) Medium term-credit. This type of credit includes credit requirement of farmers for medium period ranging between 15 months and_S.years and it is required for purchasing cattle, Pumping sets, other agricultural implements etc. Medium term credit are normally larger in size than short term credit, (©) Long term credit. Farmers also require finance for a long period of more than 5 j for the purpose of buying additional land or for making any permanent improvement on Tand like sinking of wells, reclamation of land, horticulture ete. Thus, the long term credit requires sufficient time for the repayment of such loan, 4.8.2. Sources of Agricultural Credit in India Group. RBLand NABARD-Fable 49 shows the contribution ofthese diets wih al a gcutTURE AND ITS DEVELOPMENT IN INDIA ine acl a oe ee ae TABLE 48. Borrowing of Cultivators from Different Sources (Percentages) |_i9siss2_ | 1961-67 1995.96 69.7 49.2 161 10 ae $8 88 32 50 ariyes and friends 142 88 87 30 > Tandlords and others 33 14s 88 10.0 > > (wl 92.7 813 368 25.0 om RS) 18.5 39 5.0 Cooper 3.3 26 29.9 40.0 Commercial and Rural Banks 09 06 294 300 (9) t (9) 73 18.7 632 15.0 xa BR 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 1. All India Debt and Investment Survey, 1961-62. 2 All India Debt and Investment Survey, 1981, Sarvekshana July, 1986, 3. Eeonomic Survey, 1998-99, can be revealed from Table 4.9 that among all the different non-institutional sources the cootitution of money lenders were highest and that was to the extent of 69.7 per cent. But its coorrbution gradually came down to 49.2 per cent in 1961-62 and then to 7.0 per cent in 1996, Total

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