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Land Reforms in India: Top 6 Measures

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This article throws light upon the top six measures of land reforms in India. The
measures are: I. Abolition of Intermediaries II. Tenancy Reforms III. Ceilings on
Land Holdings IV. Consolidation of Land Holdings V. Compilation and
Updating of Land Records VI. Co-Operative Farming.
I. Abolition of Intermediaries:
Before the attainment of independence we had four tenancy systems in the country.

1. Ryotwari system
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2. Mahalwari system
3. Zainindari system

4, Jagirdari system

1. The Ryotwari System:

This system was introduced by Sir Thomas Munro in 1792. Under this system, the
responsibility of paying land revenue to the Government was of the proprietor, who is
the registered holder of the land.

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There was no intermediary between him and the state. He was at liberty to sublet his
property or to transfer it by gift, sale or mortgage.

He could not be ejected from his land till he paid the revenue.

Advantages of Ryotwari System:

1. The system was successful in abolishing intermediaries.
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2. The proprietor of the land took all interest for improving the land and its other related
facilities, for example, irrigation facilities.

Drawback of the System:

Problem of sub-letting:
In Ryotwari system the land was sublet to the landless peasants. In the long run the
ryotwari system created a group of peasants who were subordinate to the proprietor of
the land. The ryotwari system was abolished by the land reform measures.

2. Mahalwari System:
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This was introduced by the then Viceroy Lord William Bentinck during British rule. It
was first started in Agra and Oudh and was later on extended to Punjab. It is the system,
by which the land belonged to a small group of families who were usually the most
powerful in their region and who were responsible for paying rent to the state.

A typical example of the Mahalwari tenancy system was widely prevalent in Punjab. It
was a kind of Joint landlordism and distinguished from individual landlordism under
zamindari system.

Under the mahalwari system, the land ultimately belonged to the state. The land
belonging to the state was held by mahals (i.e. villages or village communities) and not
by individuals. According to the congress land reforms committee, the ownership of
land under this system was collective. Period of ‘settlement’, fixation of the land revenue
etc. were different in different mahalwari areas.

This mahalwari system also came to an end soon after independence. Today it is not at
all found in north India. The greatest drawback of the Mehalwari system was that
through the presence of certain intermediaries it contributed to the presence of absentee
landlords.

3. Zamindari System:
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This system prevailed in Bengal, UP, Bombay presidency and Tamilnadu. The
Zamindari system was created by Lord Cornwallis who entered into “Permanent
Settlement” with the landlords in 1793, with a view to increase the revenue of the East
India Company. Zamindari means normally a non-cultivating landlord.

Under the settlement, the landlords were recognised as the full proprietors of the land.
In return for this honour, the task of collecting rent from the farmers was entrusted to
them. The zamindars became the intermediaries between the cultivators and the state.
But with the passage of time, the zamindari settlements made these intermediaries the
owners of land thereby creating a permanent interest in land.

In this way, due to vested interest in land, various forms of tenure like Zamindari,
Jagirdari, Inamdari etc. are created artificially. The revenue collectors were raised to the
status of landowners. Earlier, they were responsible for collecting the land revenue for
which they received a commission. Due to the Zamindari settlement, they are iii.ide as
the owners of land.

There are two types of zamindari settlements:

Main Defects of Zamindari System:

1. The zamindars did not take interest in the improvement of land or cultivation. They
concentrated their attention in collecting revenue. That’s why quality of cultivation
suffered.
2. It creates the problem of Absentee-Landlordism. This means, tills system created a
unique agrarian structure in the villages, which conferred a right of the sharing the
produce of the land on a few without participating personally in the productive process.
It means it gave rise to what is known as “absentee landlordism”. This problem resulted
in the decay of the agriculture.

3. The zamindari system was based on exploitation. The zamindars were conferred
unlimited rights to extract as much rent as they wished.

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4. This system also suffers from the problem of sub-renting. The zamindars subdivided
the land and rented it out to other small zamindars, who failed to give rent to the main
zamindars. The ultimate result was the reduction in the number of actual cultivators
possessing occupancy rights.

5. This system led to a mass litigation and agrarian discontentment.

6. This system has created a kind of insecurity in the minds of the cultivators.

7. Farmers lost interests in the land.

The independent Indian Government after realising the evil consequences of zamindari
system abolished it.

4. Jagirdari System:
This system was found mainly in the former princely states of Rajasthan. Under this
system jagirs were granted to certain military commanders, ministers and courtiers who
took revenue for their own support or for the military force which they were obliged to
maintain.

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This system thus created a class of unproductive mass of people by granting them jagir
lands. The Rajasthan Jagir Abolition Act was passed in 1952 and implemented in the
year 1954. This put an end to Jagirdari Tenancy system in Rajasthan.
Consequences of the Abolition of Intermediaries:
1. The first step in the land reforms programmes undertaken by the Government is the
abolition of intermediaries. So the Zamindars, Jagirdars and others who used to
function as Intermediaries between the government and the tenant farmers have
become extinct.

2. The abolition of intermediaries gave relief to the tillers. Their exploitation ceased to
exist.

3. Transfer of the land of intermediaries to the tillers reduced. Land inequalities ceased
to exist.

4. The ex-landlords or the Zamindars and Jagirdars withdrew their status and took to
new occupations.

5. The new proprietorship of land resulting from the abolition of intermediaries,

provided opportunities for land improvement and land production.

II. Tenancy Reforms:

The state governments were forced to enact tenancy legislations in order to remove the
evils of the tenancy system.

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The tenants of India are divided into three categories:

1. Permanent or occupancy tenant.

2. Temporary or non-occupancy tenant.

3. Sub-tenants.

Occupancy or permanent tenants enjoy permanent rights like the owner. They do not
face the fear of eviction as long as they pay rent on time. The non-occupancy or
temporary tenant and sub-tenants are in a precarious condition. Their very existence
depends on the mercy of landlords. They can be evicted from land on minor pretexts.
They do not make any improvement on the land for the fear of eviction.

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The tenants in India had three important problems:
1. The tenants were forced to pay high rents for the lands they cultivated.

2. The tenants enjoyed no security of tenure.

3. The tenants did not have the right to become the owners of the land they were
cultivating.

Due to these above problems the Indian tenants took no interest in cultivation. It
otherwise halted the progress of the Indian agriculture. After independence, state
governments took steps to pass tenancy to overcome the defects of the tenancy system.

The tenancy laws passed by various governments, though the provisions are not similar
in all cases.

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These are:
1. Regulation of the rent.

2. Security of the tenure.

3. Right of ownership.

1. Regulation of the Rent:

Before independence rents were fixed either by custom or by the market forces of
demand and supply, hill due to the increasing growth of population, there has been a
continuous demand for land, which led to a continuous rise in rents; oilier factors were
also responsible to a continuous rise in rents.

They were defective land tenure system, absence of cottage industries, apathetic of the
government towards the tenants etc. The Miles of rent were not uniform throughout
India.
The tenants had no voice to protest against the high rate of rent levied by the landlords.
So the legislations were passed to fix fair rents for the lands.

2. Security of Tenure:
In most of the states legislations were passed in order to grant the tenants the
permanent rights on land.

Legislation for security of tenure had three essential aims:

1. Tenants cannot be evicted without any reason. They can be evicted in accordance with
the laws. Land may be resumed by an owner on the ground of personal cultivation only.
In the event of resumption, the tenant is assured of a prescribed minimum area.
Security of tenure creates interest among the cultivators for improving their land.

The basic objectives are:

1. Increase in productivity.

2. Promotion of social justice.

However, tenancy legislations in India are not uniform throughout the country. It varies
from state to state.

3. Right of Ownership:
Some states have passed the legislations to confer the right of ownership on the tenants.
Under the tenancy law, the tenants could acquire the ownership of the lands, which they
have been cultivating by paying some amounts. This is conferment of ownership rights.

The policy of land to the tiller was expounded as early as 1948 by the
Congress Agrarian Reform Committee through provisions like:
1. Right of pre-emption or the first option to purchase the land if the land owner wanted
to sell it.
2. Rights of voluntary purchase when the tenant can, at any time, make an offer to
purchase the tenanted land according to the procedure laid down.

3. The conferment of the ownership right of the tenancy land on the tenant from a
specified date by a notification, according to the provisions made in the law.

In the course of the Third Plan, steps were taken to complete the programme for
conferring rights of ownership on the tenants of nonrefundable lands. Tenants of
owners holding land exceeding a family holding as prescribed in different states were to
be declared owners of the land and no right of resumption was to be granted to the
original owners.

The question that arose was whether rights of ownership should also be conferred upon
the tenants of small owners.

In view of the large number of petty-owners Involved, the matter was left to the states to
adopt measures given the constraints of a given condition. As a result of these measures
till 1989-90, the estimates show that about 7.7 million tenants have acquired ownership
of 5.6 million hectares of land. Whenever ownership rights have not been conferred on
tenants, provisions of security of tenure have been made.

III. Ceilings on Land Holdings:

Ceilings on Land Holdings mean the fixation of maximum limit (Ceiling Limit) on the
individual land holdings. Land ceiling is one of the measures to take away surplus land
from those who cross the limit of land possession beyond a contain point.

In January 1959, at the Nagpur conference of the Indian National Congress, It was
resolved that agrarian legislation to cover restrictions on the size of land holdings must
be implemented in all states by the end of 1959.

The idea was to reduce the extent of Inequality in the ownership of land. Moreover, land
being in limited supply as compared to the demand for it, the producer of the land, its
proper rationing and distribution was considered highly conducive in agricultural
growth and employment.

It was realised that social in-equalities and exploitation cannot be eliminated unless
ceilings are imposed on land holdings and the surplus lands are distributed among the
landless and marginal workers. However, for about 15 years after independence the
policy on ceiling remained unclear.

Finally, they were introduced in two phases:

Phase—I:
Pre-revised ceiling laws (1960-72)

Phase—II:
Revised ceiling laws after the National Guidelines (1972):
The important provisions of ceiling legislations constitute:
(a) Unit of application.

(b) Upper limit for land holding.

(c) Exemption.

(d) Availability of surplus land and its distribution.

(a) Unit of application:

In the first phase, the basis of ceiling fixation was an individual as a unit instead of a
family.

In the second phase, a family has been accepted as the unit of application of ceilings
consisting of husband, wife and children.

(b) Upper limit for land holding:

In the first phase there were wide variations in the ceilings on land holdings. Different
states fixed different upper limits for land holdings.

Example:
In Andhra Pradesh—the limit of ceiling varied from 27 to 216 acres of land.

In Rajasthan—it varied from 22 to 366 acres of land.

In the second phase (revised policy) the upper limit of ceiling has been lowered. Upper
limit has been fixed at 10 to 18 acres depending on the productivity of the land (where
two crops are raised). The upper limit has been fixed at 27 acres (where one crop is
raised). However for the remaining types of land, the ceiling limit is fixed at 54 acres.
The 1972 legislation prescribed three categories of ceilings:
1. For irrigated land-ceiling limit is 10 to 18 acres.

2. For partly-irrigated land-ceiling limit is 27 acres.

3. For dry land—54 acres.

(c) Exemption:
Certain types of land such as, orchards, grazing lands, sugarcane fields of sugar
factories, co-operative farms are exempted from ceiling laws. There are also exemptions
in favour of plantations of tea, coffee, rubber and cocoa. Exemptions are also given for
the land held by industrial and commercial undertakings.

(d) Availability of surplus land and its distribution:

The progress in respect of surplus land and its distribution has been quite
unsatisfactory. The Sixth Plan target was that the entire surplus land to be taken into
possession and distributed by 1982-83. But still today it is not achieved.

Failure of Land Ceiling:

Several factors are responsible:
These are:
1. Illegal transfer of land.

2. Judicial interventions.

3. Inefficient administration.

4. Political pressure.

5. Non-availability of land records.

6. Loopholes in ceiling laws.

IV. Consolidation of Land Holdings:

It means bringing together the various small plots of land of a farmer scattered all over I
he village as one compact block. It is through purchase or exchange of land with others.
This measure is designed to solve the problem of fragmentation of land holdings.
Advantages of Consolidation of Land Holdings:
1. It prevents the endless subdivision and fragmentation of land holdings.

2. It saves the time and labour of a farmer, since all his lands are brought together, as
one compact block.

3. It encourages improvement on land, in the form of building, fencing etc.

4. It promotes for mechanisation and large-scale cultivation.

5. It is very much helpful in irrigation.

6. It lowered down the cost of cultivation.

7. It reduces litigation among farmers.

Though consolidation of land holdings is a very useful instrument in solves the problem
of fragmentation, the task is not completely accomplished unless laws are passed to
prevent fragmentation in future.

Obstacles to the Speedy Implementation of the Consolidation of

Land:
There are so many obstacles in the speedy Implementation of land
consolidation:
1. Poor response from the cultivators.

2. Wide variation in the quality of land.

3. Complicated and rigid process of land consolidation.

4. Lack of proper enforcing machinery.

5. Lack of political will.

V. Compilation and Updating of Land Records:

Compilation and updating of the land records are an essential condition for the effective
implementation of land reforms programme.
Land records include:
(a) the survey number of the land.

(b) the total size of the land.

(c) the name of Its owner.

(d) information regarding Irrigation facility.

(e) the level of fertility of land.

(f) the types of crops raised in the land.

In India, most of the farmers do not have proper records in this Regard. In government
offices also proper records are not maintained. In recent years, efforts are being made to
maintain the land records through computerization.

Among the measures taken in the Seventh Plan for updating I mill records
are the followings:
1. A sum of Rs. 36.71 crore has been provided at the centre for the centrally sponsored
scheme of financial assistance to assignees of ceiling surplus land, strengthening the
revenue machinery and updating of land records. For the programmes in the states, a
sum of Rs. 353.88 crore and for the union territories Rs. 5.24 crore have been provided.

2. For updating land records, a restructuring of the revenue administration is being

attempted.

3. Modern technology is being developed and planned to reduce the cost of settlement
operations, i.e. maintaining and updating of records by use of equipment and new
technology.

4. Eight pilot projects on computerization of land records have been taken up.

VI. Co-Operative Farming:

It constitutes one of the aspects of land reforms. It has been advocated to solve the
problems of sub-division and fragmentation of holdings. In this system, farmers pool
their small holdings for the purpose of cultivation and reap benefits of large scale
farming. Here the farmers retain their ownership right on their land and are free to
withdraw their membership at anytime.

Co-operative farming was proposed for India due to the following causes:
1. It solves the problem of fragmentation of land holding.

2. It would facilitate extensive agriculture, scientific fanning, adopting new potential

technologies, mechanization of agriculture etc.

3. It contributes to higher agricultural productivity and production.

4. It provides more income to the farmers and raises their standard of living.

Related Articles:
1. Essay on Land Reforms in India (397 Words)
2. Certain Measures for Land Reforms in Various States of India
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

 I. Abolition of Intermediaries:

 II. Tenancy Reforms:

 III. Ceilings on Land Holdings:

 IV. Consolidation of Land Holdings:

 V. Compilation and Updating of Land Records:

 VI. Co-Operative Farming: