Land Reforms

For centuries in India, who owned the soil determined who ate, who starved, who held power and who languished in debt. At its heart, land reform seeks to reshape this structure. By altering laws on ownership, tenancy and property rights it aims to ensure that those actually tilling the fields were fairly compensated and that the country’s agricultural output was increased.

It has seen the focus of debate shift from feudal landlords in 1947 to satellite mapping today.

The Roots: How British Taxation Practices Damaged the Countryside

India’s post-independence leaders found an economy that had been hollowed out by taxation practices designed to extract revenues and not to promote agricultural production.

Three such systems were employed by the British –

• The Permanent Settlement (1793) introduced by Lord Cornwallis in Bengal, Bihar and Odisha created a class of Zamindars (landlords) who wrung a large surplus from the peasants who farmed the land.
• The Ryotwari System which was prevalent in Madras and Bombay bypassed middlemen and created a direct relationship between the cultivator (ryot) and the Crown but heavy taxation drove many into the clutches of moneylenders.
• A similar set of principles were followed in the Mahalwari system prevalent in Northern India where tax was levied on a village (mahal) basis.

When the British left, they left behind an economy where many villagers lived in poverty, without any security of tenure.

The Evolution: Six Phases of Agrarian Reform

1. Tearing down the Middlemen (1947-1950s)

• The new republic’s first task was to abolish intermediaries such as Zamindars and Jagirdars who siphoned off a large chunk of revenue for themselves.
• States such as UP enacted the Uttar Pradesh Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Act, 1950.
• The First Five Year Plan (1951-1956) ushered in an era of direct relationships between cultivators and the state.

2. Protecting the Tenant (1950s-1960s)

• The abolition of big landlords did little to improve the conditions of the tillers who were tenants on the land of the rich.
• The second five year plan (1956-1961) took on the issue of regulating tenancy, fixing arbitrary rent and protecting tenants against arbitrary eviction.
• Operation Barga in West Bengal, which took place later, formalized the rights of bargadars (sharecroppers) ensuring them a share of the harvest and protection against eviction.

3. Capping the Wealth (1960s-1970s)

• To ensure that the rich couldn’t amass huge tracts of land the state enacted ceiling laws which put a limit on the amount of land owned by an individual or family.
• Surplus land was distributed to the landless poor.
• The Kerala Land Reforms Act, 1963 was seen as a landmark in this period.
• Nationwide, over 2 million acres of surplus land were distributed to poor cultivators, aided by targets in the Third Five Year Plan (1961-1966).

4. The Green Revolution and Consolidation (1960s-1980s)

• As the need for more food became apparent, land reforms focused on consolidation and increased output.
• Voluntary donations of land took place through the Bhoodan (land donation) and Gramdan (village donation) movements spearheaded by Vinoba Bhave.
• While these movements had only a small impact, consolidation of land holdings (grouping of scattered plots into larger ones) helped cultivators install tubewells and tractors.
• States such as Punjab and Haryana consolidated farmland leading to the Green Revolution.
• However, by 1973 the Task Force on Agrarian Relations warned that the country was in danger of ignoring distributive justice in pursuit of higher yields.

5. Political Fatigue (1980s-90s)

• The momentum of reform slowed down considerably in the 1980s and 1990s.
• Agrarian elites used loopholes in the law (such as benami transfers) to keep acquiring land.
• Coupled with a lack of enthusiasm from local authorities and a shift towards commercialization the position of small cultivators was further weakened despite being mentioned in the Fourth and Fifth Five Year Plans.

6. The Modern Era (2000s-Present)

• Today the issues are more likely to revolve around factories, roads and forests rather than feudalism.
• The Forest Rights Act, 2006 provided tribal communities with forest land with rights over it.
• The new Land Acquisition Act (RFCTLARR), 2013 replaced the 1894 Act which had governed land acquisition and made compensation, social impact assessment and resettlement mandatory for companies acquiring land.
• The Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme took land deeds online to prevent fraud.
• The NITI Aayog’s Model Land Leasing Act, 2016 sought to enable landowners to lease their land without losing ownership over it making it easier for cultivators to get bank loans.

Why Land Reform Dictates India’s Future

• Growing More with Less: Farmers who expect to be on their land for the long term are more likely to invest in the land. This was the basis on which the Green Revolution was launched in Punjab and Haryana, leading to surplus grain production.
• Dismantling Poverty: Having a land deed goes beyond mere sustenance. By having a land document, vulnerable families escape the clutches of predatory moneylenders and are able to get cheap crop loans to invest in their children’s future.
• Fuelling Industry: New industries, roads, ports, airports and power plants need land. With clear titles and proper compensation industries such as the Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) can be setup without the wrangling of years of litigation.
• Planning Cities Better: As urban areas grow at a dizzying pace better land pooling mechanisms can be used to create residential clusters with roads, utilities and green belts by parceling out farmland to developers – some of whom can be induced to give back a percentage of the developed, high value land to the original owners.
• Defusing Courts: Millions of families in India are embroiled in disputes over land, especially around the division of ancestral property.
• Projects such as PM-SVAMITVA which use drones to map out household property can give villagers greater title security.
• Ecological Balance: Land tenure security encourages communities to take care of the land – by preserving water tables, controlling erosion and protecting forests.

Persistent Concerns

Way Forward

Move Towards State-Guaranteed Titling: India needs to move away from the current system of presumptive ownership to conclusive ownership where the state certifies ownership of property.

Expansion of Voluntary Land Pooling: Wherever possible, and instead of contentious land acquisitions, states should move towards voluntary pooling of land similar to the Amaravati project.

Women’s Names on Deeds: Ensure that women’s names appear on all government housing, agricultural subsidies and land distribution acts to provide them economic security.

Empower Gram Sabhas: Return control of natural resources to local Gram Sabhas. The Gadchiroli district in Maharashtra has seen increased forest cover as well as prosperity for tribal villagers due to this system.

Make Land Resilient: Land policy should tie the security of land to agroforestry so that the country’s farmlands are resilient in the face of climate change.

FAQs

What are land reforms?

They are legislative, administrative and institutional measures taken to redistribute land ownership, ensure security of tenure and update property registration.

What was the first priority of post-independence reforms?

To abolish feudal middlemen (Zamindars, Jagirdars) who did not contribute to enhancing agricultural production and devolved a large chunk of the produce to themselves.

What are the different phases of reform?

Abolition of intermediaries, regulation of tenancy, fixing family land ceilings, consolidation of land during the Green Revolution, political fatigue and finally, modern issues of title registration and tribal rights.

Describe DILRMP?

The Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme is an undertaking to update cadastral (property) survey maps and land revenue records digitally to ensure ease of access and minimize litigation.

Why is consolidation important?

Consolidation of scattered plots into single holdings makes mechanization viable and increases productivity.

What is the biggest issue in land administration today?

Severe land fragmentation (only 14% of Indian farmers have land exceeding 2 hectares).