GS – III Economy

Land Reforms

Adil Baig AM
Land Reforms
Agenda
 Historical Background
 Objectives
 Land Reforms & Effects
 Abolition of intermediary
 Land Tenancy Reforms
 Land Ceiling
 Land Consolidation
 Recent Reforms
 Land Record Digitisaiton
 Land Acquisition – LARR Act, 2013

GS III – Land Reforms

Historical background
• The genesis of the structure of power and authority in rural India can be traced to land. There is
an ever-changing relationship between land, power and people.
• In a narrow sense, land reform means the redistribution of surplus land to small farmers and
landless tillers,
• More broadly, it includes regulation of ownership, operation, leasing, sales, and inheritance of
land
• Land reforms have been major instruments of social transformation, especially in an economy
based on feudal and semi-feudal production relationships.
• At the time of independence, there were three types of land tenure system prevailing in the
country –
1. Zamindari system,
2. Mahalwari system,
3. Ryotwari system

GS III – Land Reforms

Historical background
Zamindari System
 Based on Permanent Settlement of Lord Cornwallis (1793) – Misconception of British
Emperors
 From Intermediaries for Collection Proprietors with Fixed Revenue (10/11:1/11)
 Awadh, Agra, Parts of Orissa, Bengal, Rajasthan
 Exploitation  Exorbitant rents, No interest in Investments, Absentee Landlords

GS III – Land Reforms

Historical background
Ryotwari System
 Ryotwari System was introduced by Thomas Munro in 1820.
 In Ryotwari System the individual cultivators (ryots) were reorganised as proprietors of their
land and was made directly responsible to the state for payment of Land revenue
 Government reserved rights to enhance or reassess the rents by law
 Major areas of introduction include Madras, Bombay, parts of Assam and Coorgh provinces
of British India.
 The revenue rates of Ryotwari System were 50% where the lands were dry and 60% in
irrigated land.
 Problem of Eviction, high rates, Money lenders taking over land

GS III – Land Reforms

Historical background
Mahalwari System
 Mahalwari system was introduced in 1833 during the period of William Bentick.
 It was introduced in Central Province, North-West Frontier, Punjab, Gangetic Valley, etc
 The Mahalwari system had many provisions of both the Zamindari System and Ryotwari
System.
 In this system, the land was divided into Mahals. Each Mahal comprises one or more villages.
 Ownership rights were vested with the peasants.
 The villages committee was held responsible for collection of the taxes.

GS III – Land Reforms

Need for Land Reforms
1. Economic: The landlords, having no personal interest in the lands they owned, did not take
interest in investing on land improvement. As a result, land productivity went on declining.

2. As far as the sociological dimension is concerned, traditionally, the upper castes owned
land and the lower castes were the tenants/agricultural labourers. This social dimension
perpetuated the social inequalities. It is here that the economic inequality created under
the economic dimension got reinforced by the social inequality in agrarian relations.

3. Political reasons – Constitution, Democratic nation, Electoral politics

GS III – Land Reforms

Objectives Land Reforms
1. To make optimum utilisation of limited land resources to ensure maximum benefits

2. To enhance the productivity of land by improving the economic conditions of farmers and
tenants so that they may have the interest to invest in and improve agriculture.

3. To ensure distributive justice and to create an egalitarian society by eliminating all forms
of exploitation.

4. To create a system of peasant proprietorship

5. To transfer the incomes of the few to many so that the demand for consumer goods would
be created.

GS III – Land Reforms

Reforms

GS III – Land Reforms

Reforms
India has seen four ‘experiments’ since independence to redistribute the landholdings. They are:

1. Reforms from ‘above’, i.e., through legislation.

2. Reforms from above from the government coupled with peasant mobilisation; like in Kerala and West
Bengal where land was seized and redistributed; and also to improve the conditions of peasants.
3. Naxalite movement and also the ‘land grab’ movement.
4. Reforms from ‘below’ through voluntary donations by landlords and peaceful processions by farmers like
the Bhoodan movement and the Gram Dan.

GS III – Land Reforms

Abolition of Intermediary
• Zamindari Abolition Act – 26,000 Zamindars were abolished and 30 lakh tenants got land rights
• It led to formation of new class of middle class farmers – Dominant Castes
• The government estimates state that in total during first four Five years Plan, 173 million
acres of land was acquired from the intermediaries
• Abolition of intermediaries is generally agreed to be one component of land reforms that
have been relatively successful.
• Landowners naturally resisted the implementation of these reforms by directly using their
political clout and also by using various methods of evasion and coercion

GS III – Land Reforms

 GS III – Land Reforms

Tenancy Reforms
Exploitation of Temporary tenants with enhancement of rents, eviction on petty grounds, begari
(Free services) demanded tenancy reforms. They are as follows,
1. Regulation of Rent  fixed it to 1/6th to 1/4th
2. Security of tenure  encourages investment  productivity; Operation Barga (14 lakh)
3. Conferment of land ownership

Land Ceiling
 Imposition of land ceiling and distribution of surplus land among the landless labourers
 Redistribution of land ensuring economic justice
 Separate ceiling limits for Irrigated (7 hectares and 10 Hec)) and dry lands (21 hectares)
 1960-72 – Land holder as unit of application
 1972 – Family as basis of holding
 Priority for SC/STs during redistribution
 Issues- Exemptions for plantations, trusts, Major sons, Benami transactions
 under the ceiling law only 1.7 per cent of total cultivated area has been declared surplus and only 1 per
cent of it has been distributed.
Land Consolidation

 Fragmented and scattered land holdings  decline in productivity

 Land pooling of all village lands into one block and dividing into smaller blocks
 4.5 million hectares were brought into it
 Punjab, Haryana, Western UP
Issues
 Emotional attachment to land
 Farmers with fertile land were reluctant
 Inefficient, corrupt officials
 Dissatisfaction post consolidation  Litigations
 Initial gain lost due to inheritance of land by offsprings

GS III – Land Reforms

Co-Operative Farming

 Under Cooperative Farming setup farmers having very small holdings come together and
join hands to pool their lands for the purpose of cultivation.
 Land fragmentation issue is addressed
 Pooling of farms helps in increasing production, and the farmers can have more produce to
sell in the markets after taking out their subsistence need.
 Cooperative farming also helps in mechanisation of agriculture as the owner of the multiple
small farms can pool their money to buy a mechanical tractor or other equipment’s which
they could not afford otherwise.

GS III – Land Reforms

Land Records

 Updating land records  Efficient management, Credit facility

 7th 5 year plan brought a centrally sponsored scheme with aid of technology
 Computerisation of Land Records (CLR) & Strengthening of Revenue Administration and
Updating of Land Records (SRA&ULR).
 Later in 2008, the Cabinet approved merger of these schemes into a modified scheme named
Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme (DILRMP) or NLRMP
 The DILRMP has 3 major components:
a) Computerization of land record
b) Survey/re-survey
c) Computerization of Registration

GS III – Land Reforms

Land Records

Benefits
 Better management of Land administration
 Aids and revolutionises planning process
 Boosts land revenue collection  Fiscal deficit
 Easy land buy/ sell/ transfer/ lease  Ease of Doing business
 Better access to credit
 Real time land ownership data available to citizens
 Prevents frauds

GS III – Land Reforms

Land Records
 The Prime Minister has launched the Swamitva Scheme
and e-Gramswaraj Portal & mobile app as a portal to
prepare and plan Gram Panchayat Development Plans.
 (Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improvised
Technology in Village Areas
 The mapping and survey will be conducted in collaboration
with the Survey of India, State Revenue Department and
State Panchayati Raj Department under the Ministry of
Panchayati Raj.
 E Gram Swaraj portal is the official portal of central govt for
the implementation of Swamitva scheme
 Coverage: Around 6.62 lakh villages in six states i.e. Uttar
Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh,
Uttarakhand and Karnataka (along with a few border villages
of Punjab & Rajasthan)
 It also includes the establishment of Continuous Operating
System (CORS) stations’ network across Punjab & Rajasthan
in the Pilot phase (2020-21). CORS will assist in future
drone flying activities.
GS III – Land Reforms
Land Acquisition in India

 Till 2014, the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 regulated the process of land acquisition.
 While the1894 Act provided compensation to land owners, it did not provide for
rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) to displaced families.
 To this end, the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition,
Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 was passed by the Parliament, (LARR Act)
LARR Act 2013:
 The Act provided for land acquisition as well as rehabilitation and resettlement. It replaced the Land
Acquisition Act, 1894.
 The process for land acquisition involves a Social Impact Assessment survey, preliminary notification
stating the intent for acquisition, a declaration of acquisition, and compensation to be given by a
certain time.
 All acquisitions require rehabilitation and resettlement to be provided to the people affected by the
acquisition.
 Compensation for the owners of the acquired land shall be four times the market value in case of rural
areas and twice in case of urban areas.

GS III – Land Reforms

Land Acquisition in India
 The new law stipulates mandatory consent of at least 70 per cent for acquiring land for public-private-
partnership (PPP) projects and 80 per cent for acquiring land for private companies.
 Purchase of large pieces of land by private companies will require provision of rehabilitation and
resettlement.
 To ensure food security: Fertile, irrigated, multi-cropped farmland can be acquired only in last resort. If
such fertile land is acquired, then Government will have to develop equal size of wasteland for agriculture
purpose.
 The provisions of this act shall not apply to acquisitions under 16 existing legislations including the
Special Economic Zones Act, 2005, the Atomic Energy Act, 1962, the Railways Act, 1989, etc.
 Under Section 24(2) of the 2013 Act, land acquisition made under the old law of 1894 lapses if the award
of compensation had been made five years before the new Act came into force, but has not been paid.
 In such situations, the process will start afresh under the new Act, which mandates higher compensation.
 Pune Municipal Corporation,2014 and Indore Development Authority,2018 case

GS III – Land Reforms

Model Land Leasing Bill – Niti Aayog
 The model Act seeks to permit and facilitate leasing of agricultural land to improve access to
land by the landless and marginal farmers.
 It also provides for recognition of farmers cultivating on leased land to enable them to access
loans through institutional credit
 Defines Lease and Lease agreement
 Rights and responsibilities of land owner: The land owner will give possession of the
leased-out landto the cultivator on the first day of the lease. He will be entitled to automatic
possession of the land on the expiry of the agreed lease period.
 Rights and responsibilities of cultivator: The cultivator, to whom the land has been leased
out, will be entitled to an undisturbed possession and use of this land. He can use the land
only for agriculture and allied activities. Further, he cannot sub-lease or mortgage the land.
He will be eligible to raise loans from banks and other financial institutions without
mortgaging the leased in land.

GS III – Land Reforms

Model Land Leasing Bill – Niti Aayog
Termination of Lease

Adjudication  Gram Sabha, Tahsildhar, District Collector

Special Land Tribunal – State Government

GS III – Land Reforms

Way Forward

1. Protection of the redistributed land against land-grab (Forced grab using money and muscle power)
2. Poor quality land were redistributed  reclamation costly
3. A bottom up approach is necessary for success in land reform (Participation of villagers)
4. Awareness Creation: Making farmers aware of their rights (local language)
5. Collective action: Government should facilitate organization of farmers’ groups and
cooperatives
6. Preventing loss of farmland: prevention of distress sales done due to lack of access to
institutional credit, unfavourable pricing, contract farming, etc.
7. Implementation of a Debt Relief Act to help with debt management as well as
amendment to property law will help prevent loss of farmland.
8. Inclusion of special protection for women in legislation (land rights)
9. Fast track courts for land dispute resolution
10. Digitisation of land records using technology
11. Devolution of powers to gram sabhas
GS III – Land Reforms