What is Land reform?

Agro productivity is affected by two type of factors:

INSTITUTIONAL
FACTORS
TECHNICAL FACTORS
1. land tenure system
2. size of land
holdings
3. land distribution
1. climate, soil, rainfall
2. farm mechanization
3. farming techniques: use of hybrid seeds, fertilizer, pesticides,
irrigation methods
Reforms related to ^institutional factors are called land reforms.
Lets check some more definitions
def1
Land Reforms is a planned and institutional reorganisation of the relation between
man and land
def2
Land Reforms mean deliberate change introduced into system of land tenure and the
farming structure
def3
Land reforms imply such institutional changes which turn over ownership of the
farms to those who actually till the soil, and which raise the size of the farm to make it
operationally viable.
def4
Land reforms mean, such measures as, abolition of intermediaries, tenancy reforms,
ceiling on land holdings, consolidation and cooperative farming etc.
def5 Improving land tenure and institutions related to agriculture.
def6
redistribution of property rights
For the benefit of the landless poor.
def7
integrated program
to remove the barriers for economic and social development
Caused by deficiencies in the existing land tenure system.
Ya but why learn so many definition? Ans. UPSC may directly give you a definition and ask
you to comment on it-just like they do in public administration paper I. Example
Mock Questions:
1. Land Reforms is a planned and institutional reorganisation of the relation between man and
land. Comment.
2. Land reform is not confined to just redistribution of property rights among the landless
poor. Comment.
3. Examine the change introduced into system of land tenure and the farming structure during
first five year plan.
4. Define Land reforms. Examine its role in removing the barriers for economic and social
development in India.
Land reforms: broad vs narrow sense
broad sense narrow sense
concerned with land rent, land ownership, land holding, land
revenue+ credit, marketing, abolition of intermediaries, etc.
Concerned only with land
ownership and land
holdings.

What are the objectives of Land reforms?

Increase production
Tenant farmer has no motivation to improve agricultural practices because
He doesnt own land=cant get loans through banks / formal institutions.
He doesnt own land=why bother?
He has to pay heavy rent to the landowner=hardly any surplus income left to invest in
hybrid seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, machinery etc.
In other words, the agrarian structure that we inherited from the past (Zamindari,
landlessness etc.) obstructs increase in agricultural production. Land reforms will remove
these obstructions.
Land ownership/ tenure security will motivate farmers to work harder, invest more and
thus produce more =more income=standard of life improved + poverty decreased.
For Development of Indian agriculture the importance of land reforms is greater than that of
technological reforms. (according to Nobel prize-winner Gunnar Myrdal and K.N. Raj, etc.)
social justice
1. Zamindari abolition= also eliminates Begari (forced labour)
2. Land ceiling = reduces the inequality of income and land ownership
among villagers. Provides land to landless labourers.
3. Tenancy reforms= reduces rents. Landowner cannot evict a tenant
farmer as per his whims and fancies.
1+2+3= Rural power structure changed. Upper caste domination
decreased. Empowerment of SC/ST/OBC farmers, agri.labourers.
Thus land reform=> Social justice + Egalitarian society.
Economic
development
1. on one hand: land reform increase production
2. on the other hand, land reforms will also provide social justice.
3. Abolishing intermediaries (Zamindar, Talukdar, Jagirdar etc)= the State
directly comes in contact with farmers. This direct relation will help in
rural Development and agri. Development as per five year plans.
1+2+3=long term economic development.
Improve
standard of
living
When,
1. agro production increased
2. social justice given
3. Economic development achieved.
1+2+3= villagers standard of living automatically increases.
Mock Questions
1. Land reforms have been treated as an integral part of eradicating poverty, and increasing of
agricultural production. Comment.
2. Explain the role of Land reforms in providing social justice and moving towards an
egalitarian society.
Post-Freedom: Towards land reforms
At this time, we had two set of victim-farmers
1. Those refugee-farmers who migrated from Pakistan.
2. Those exploited by zamindars, landlords and moneylenders.
So first question: what was done for those refugee farmers?
Government settled them in Eastern parts of current Punjab (because from this area, muslim
farmers had migrated to Pakistan so land was available)
First, each refugee farmer family given 4 ht. of land, irrespective of how much land they
owned in Pakistan. Government also gave them loans to buy seeds/fertilizers, so they can
start temporary cultivation.
Later, each refugee family was asked file application regarding how much land they owned
in Pakistan.
These claims were verified by village assemblies and each family was allotted proportional
land in Punjab. by 1950 this work was finished.
Now moving to the second type of victim-farmers: those exploited by zamindars, landlords
and moneylenders. What was done for them?
November 1947: the AICC appointed a special committee to draw up an economic
programme for the Congress.
name of this committee= Economic Program committee
Chairman= Nehru.
Other members: Maulana Azad, N.G. Ranga, G.L. Nanda, Jayaprakash Narayan etc.
For land reforms, committee recommended that:
1. All intermediaries between the
tiller and the state should be
eliminated
aka Zamindari abolition. Covered in this article.
2. Maximum size of holding should
be fixed. The surplus land over
such a maximum should be
acquired and placed at the
disposal of the village
cooperatives.
aka Land ceiling. Covered in next article.
3. Present land revenue system to be
replaced by progressive
agricultural income tax.
Not covered in any article. because income from
agriculture is exempted from income tax. And
therefore, many filmstars use fake papers to claim they
are farmers. (and then they dance in Dawoods Party
@dubai, earn money, manipulate the account books to
show that cash coming from their agriculture income
and thus evade tax.)
4. All middlemen should be replaced
by non-profit making agencies,
such as cooperatives.
aka Cooperative farming. Will be covered in future
article.
5. Pilot schemes for cooperative
farming among small land holders
6. Consolidate small land holdings
and prevent further land
fragmentation.
Aka consolidation of land holdings. Will be covered in
future article.
Lets start with Land Reform Method #1: Zamindari Abolition. But first question:
Why Abolish Zamindari?
in the first article under [Land reform], we saw the three land tenure system of British-
Zamindari, Ryotwari and Mahalwari.
In Zamindari areas (BeBi: Bengal, Bihar), the British government outsourced the land
Revenue collection work to Zamindars. Similarly in the Princely states had Jagirdars.
These intermediaries would:
1. Force the tenants to provide demand free labour (Begari)
2. evict tenants as per their whims and fancies = no tenure security
3. Enjoyed lavish lifestyle, did not add anything to agriculture productivity, yet charged high
rent they were like todays Middleman @APMC Mandi that we saw under [Food
processing] article series.
Therefore, it was necessary to remove these intermediaries,
1. Because Art. 23 prohibited Begari. But at the grassroot level, Begari couldnot be stopped
unless Zamindari itself was abolished.
2. Because Art. 38 wanted to minimize inequality of income, status and opportunities. When
Zamindars control ~40% of Indias cultivated land, there was no opportunity / status for
tenant farmers working under them.
3. Because Art. 39 wanted equitable distribution of the material resources of the community
for common good. But in villages, these Zamindars control ponds, lakes, forests, grazing
lands etc. and didnt allow others to freely access them.
4. Because Art.48 wanted to organize agriculture and animal husbandry on modern-scientific
lines but Zamindars were orthodox rent-seeking mindset, and tenant farmer had neither the
money nor the motivation to scientific farming.
5. Because First Five year plan also asked for abolition of intermediaries/zamindars to increase
agro. Production, farmers income, to provide social justice and move towards an egalitarian
society.
First Amendment, 1951
You already know that First amendment =>9
th
schedule, whatever laws listed this schedule,
courts cannot inquire into them. But first Amendment is not just about 9
th
Schedule
/Zamindari abolition. It dealt with many other issues as well.
Microsoft released Windows 8 Operating System. Later, they realized limitations, problems
with Win8, so recently they released an upgrade Windows 8.1 to fix it.
Similarly, Constitution came into force from January 1950. But from January 1950 to May
1951 (=~15 months), government realized variety of deficiencies/problems with
Constitution. So, cameup with First amendment to fix those issues in 1951.
#1: SEBC
Before Amendment
Art. 15: State cannot discriminate against any citizen..
So according to this (original) provision, if government provided reservation or any welfare
scheme for SC/ST/OBC/PH, then general category could approach court saying were
discriminated against and hence our fundamental right is violated.
Another Angle:
DPSP Art.46: State should promote with special care the educational and economic interests
of the weaker sections of the people and protect them from social injustice.
But this Directive principle cannot be implement because of Art.15
so, government had to fix this inconsistency with Art.15.
After the 1
st
Amendment
Article 15 shall NOT prevent the State from making any special provision for the
advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes (SEBC) of citizens or for
the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes.
In other words, if government makes law for SEBC/SC/ST, they cannot be challenged in
courts on the grounds that Art.15 is violated.
#2: Freedom of Speech
before
Amendment
Some courts held the 19/1/a (freedom of speech) so comprehensive and
sacrosanct that
Even if a person advocated murder, violence or hatred against any
caste/religion/person/nation, he could not be convicted.
What if an ACIO leaked national security related data to a journalist? Both
could still claim immunity on the grounds of freedom of speech.
after
State can make law to put reasonable restriction on freedom of speech, with
respect to:
1. National security
2. friendly relations with foreign countries
3. public order, decency or morality
4. contempt of court
5. Defamation or incitement to an offence.
#3 Freedom of Profession
BEFORE 1
ST
AMENDMENT
Art. 19(1)(g): The citizen has right to practice any profession or to carry on any occupation,
trade or business.
Now suppose
1. A person without MBBS degree, starts a clinic.
2. A person without doing any pharmacy course, opens a medical store
But if the State authorities tried to stop him, he could approach courts saying my
fundamental right is violated!
Another angle: According to Industrial licensing policy, atomic energy is reserved for public
sector. But an entrepreneur could challenge this in court and start his own private nuclear
plant. (=risky and dangerous from national security point of view)
AFTER 1
ST
AMENDMENT
1. The State CAN make laws to prescribe professional or technical qualifications necessary for
practicing any profession or carrying on any occupation, trade or business. in other words, if
you open a clinic without doing MBBS, you can be jailed and you cannot claim protection
under Art.19
2. The State can make laws to carry out any trade/business/service by itself or thru its
corporations. And can exclude any businessmen, citizen or private industries from carrying
out those activities. In other words, if state reserves atomic energy or railways for public
sector only then private entrepreneur cannot approach court saying his fundamental right
under Art.19 is violated.


#4: Land Reforms
BEFORE 1
ST
AMENDMENT
by 1949: Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Madras, Assam and Bombay states
introduced Zamindari abolition bills.
They all used the report of the Uttar Pradesh Zamindari Abolition Committee (chaired by
G.B. Pant) acting as the initial model.
but Zamindars approached courts, raising issues like our right to property has been
violated or were not given fair compensation etc.
Hence Union government came up with provisions to prevent courts from entertaining such
pleas.
AFTER 1
ST
AMENDMENT
Added three things to the constitution
1. two new articles (31 A and B)
2. one schedule (9
th
Schedule)
Art 31A:
State can make laws to acquire any estates / rights related to estates.
Estate =also includes any jagir, inam or muafi or other similar grant;
Rights= also includes rights of any proprietor, sub-proprietor, under-proprietor, tenure-
holder or other intermediary- with respect to land revenue.
And courts cannot declare such law 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 Art.31A,
until it receives assent from the President of India.
Sidenote: later Fifth Amendment added more laws that cannot be challenged in courts.
Art31B:
The Acts and regulations listed in 9
th
Schedule of the constitution = cannot be challenged in
courts on the ground that they are violating fundamental rights.
Meaning, courts are prohibited from doing any judicial review of the items listed in
9
th
Schedule.
9
th
Schedule:
The first Amendment act listed 13 acts and regulations in 9
th
schedule. all meant for
abolishing Zamindari. Meaning Zamindars could not approach courts against those laws.
(boring list given @bottom of this current article)
Later 14
th
Amendment, 34
th
Amendment etc. also added more laws related to land reforms
in this 9
th
Schedule. You can read more about them in Laxmikanths appendix for
constitutional amendments.
#4 Minor modification
A few minor amendments in respect of articles 341, 342, 372 and 376.
Anyways we digressed much from the Zamindari abolition topic so lets come back.
So far weve seen:
1. what is land reform
2. what are the objectives of land reform
3. post-independence, how we moved towards land reform
4. we saw how first amendment 1951
modified freedom of speech
modified freedom of profession
Protected Zamindari abolition/law reform laws via Art 31A, 31B and 9
th
Schedule.
Now lets talk about the actual Abolition of Zamindari:
Timeline of Zamindari Abolition by States
Era States that abolished Zamindari
1948 to 50s Madras, Bombay and Hyderabad states
1951 Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Assam
1952 Orissa, Punjab, Swarashtra and Rajasthan
1953 Vindhya Pradesh and Bhopal
1954 West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi
Zamindari Abolition Acts: Salient Features
Since land = falls under State list, so state legislatures had to enact the zamindari abolition.
Meaning no uniformity. Different states have different provisions. But lets check the
common features of all such state acts.
#1: Compensation
Ownership and land revenue related rights of the zamindars = abolished.
Lands transferred to the (superior) tenants.
State governments gave compensation to Zamindars ~670 crore rupees.
Some states created Zamindari Abolition fund and gave Bonds to Zamindars as
compensation. These bonds could be redeemed after a period of 10 to 30 years. (why long
term bonds? why not pay all cash upfront? think about the fiscal deficit angle!)
State Compensation to Zamindar
Jammu
Kashmir
No compensation paid to them. And this also led to Hindu-Muslim bitterness
because Almost all Zamindars were Hindu (in Jammu region).
Uttar
Pradesh
Compensation according to Zamindars income.
Small Zamindar= Annual income times 20
Big Zamindar= Annual income times (2 or 4)
In other words- compensation formula inversely related to Zamindars
income during British raj.
#2: Common Land/resources
Example wasteland, grazing land, ponds, wells, forest area surrounding the village.
earlier Zamindars controlled such common land/resources and
charged fees from villagers, if they wanted to use it.
did not allow SC/ST to full access these common land/resources.
These Zamindari Abolition acts, transferred the ownership of such common land/resources
to Village Panchayat. And Forest area= gone to Forest department.
#3: Ownership
transfer
Bhumidhar=tenant farmers, who cultivated Zamindars land.
In Uttar Pradesh, Bhumidhar can become owner of the land after
paying 10 times the annual rent to his Zamindar.
#4: Personal
Cultivation
Land which was cultivated by the zamindar himself = exempted from
purview of these acts. Zamindar was permitted to keep this land.
#5: Direct
payment of land
revenue
Now Farmer was made directly liable for paying land revenue to the
state government. (Because Zamindar is no longer the middleman in
land revenue hierarchy.)
Zamindari Abolition: Limitations/Obstacles/Negative points
#1: Land reform Delayed= Land reform Denied
After laws were passed, Zamindars went to SC/HC to stay the law implementation. This
greatly reduced the effectiveness of these legislations.
^to understand this, lets check the #Epicfail of Bihar:
1946 Bihar government passed resolution to abolish Zamindari.
1949
Act was passed State assembly but landlords approached the courts and the
government too felt it necessary to repeal the legislation.
1950
State legislature passed New Act, with some amendments. But Zamindars again
approached courts.
1951
Union government brings 1
st
Amendment, gives immunity to all such Zamindari
abolition acts/ regulations from judicial review.
But Even, after the law was finally implemented, the Zamindars refused to cooperate with
the revenue authorities and tried all means to scuttle it implementation. The petty revenue
officials at Village and Tehsil level, either turned blind eye or actively sided with Zamindars
for bribes. Thus many years had passed by for the intention of Zamindari abolition became a
reality.
#2: Personal cultivation
Most state laws permitted Zamindars to keep part of land for personal cultivation. But the
definition was vague. Zamindars misused this loophole to evict tenant farmers and keep
most of the land with themselves.
(Counter argument: Zamindar started capitalist farming in the area- led to increase in Agro-
productivity)
#3: New form of Zamindari
Main beneficiaries of zamindari abolition were the occupancy tenants or the upper tenants
or superior tenants- They had direct leases from the zamindar, and now they became virtual
landowners.
But now these new landowners leased the same land to inferior tenants/sharecroppers-
based on oral and unrecorded agreements.
These inferior tenants/sharecroppers could be evicted as per the whims and fancies of the
new landowner.
Thus, even after the abolition of Zamindari, the system of intermediaries and exploitation
continued.
#4: Not much for Ryotwari
At the time of freedom, less than 50% of cultivated land was under zamindari tenure. The
remaining areas (ryotwari/Mahalwari) did not have Zamindari system but they too had
system of intermediaries i.e. big farmer/moneylender leasing land to small farmers- then
charging excessive rent and exploiting them.
The Zamindari abolition did not bring much relief to these people.
Overall
the Main objective of Zamindari abolition = there should be no intermediary/middleman
between the State and the land Revenue payer (farmer). But this objective was not achieved.
Therefore, many economists do not attach much significance to Zamindari abolition.
They opine Zamindari abolition merely changed the hierarchy of land revenue
administration, but did not bring any change in the method of farming nor in the nature of
agricultural units.
Anyways, enough of negative points, lets check some positive points:
Zamindari Abolition: Benefits/Positive points
1. ~1,700 lakh hectares of land was acquired from the intermediaries (zamindars) and as a
consequence, about two crore tenants were brought into direct relationship with the
government.
2. Many millions of cultivators who had previously been weak tenants or tenants-at-will were
became superior tenants= virtual owners. =DPSP Art. 39 fullfilled (right to adequate
means of livelihood for all citizens)
3. Many absentee zamindars actually started direct personal cultivation (so the State cannot
take away their land). They had money to buy high yielding seeds, pesticides, fertilizers,
machineries=agro productivity increased.
4. The entire process occurred in a democratic framework
5. virtually no coercion or violence was used (unlike the land reforms in China, Russia or
Cuba.)
6. Finished in remarkably short period. Perhaps because Zamindars were isolated during and
after freedom struggle due to their soft corner for the British.
#1: Agro Production increased
BEFORE AFTER
Zamindar collected Revenue. Government directly collects land Revenue from farmer.
neither the zamindars, nor the
cultivators took interest in
improvememt of agriculture
1. Cultivators have got ownership rights and hence take keen
interest in land improvement and increase in agriculture
production.
land 2. Government created an enabling atmosphere- agri.
cooperative society, regional rural banks etc. to provide
cheap credit. Subsidy on fertilizers, cheap electricity,
irrigation etc.
=DPSP Art. 48 fullfilled (modern and scientific
agriculture and animal husbandry)
#2: Emancipation
After abolition of Zamindari, the agricultural laborers no longer forced to give free
labors=Begari, Bonded labour declined. Art. 23 fullfilled.
Bargaining power of agri. laborers increased=>higher wages=>declined poverty.
#3: Changed rural power structure
Public land such as village ponds, grazing grounds, village streets etc. which was used by
the Zamindars as personal property, have been declared as community property. =DPSP
Art. 39 full filled (material resources of community).
This disarmed the Zamindars of economic exploitation and dominance over others. Thus,
Transferred power from Zamindars to peasants.
#4: Towards an Egalitarian Society
Abolition of intermediaries=> asset distribution=> egalitarian society.
The Planning Commission estimates that after Abolition of Zamindari, at least twenty
million tenants were brought into direct relationship with the governments.
empowerment of those who have out of the development process.
= DPSP Art.38 fullfilled. (securing a social order, minimize inequality of income, status,
facilities and opportunities.)
#5: Rise of middleclass
Since the intermediaries were removed=>farmers dont have to pay heavy rent=>these
farmers could generate profit=>could sent their kids to school and colleges.
So in a way, land reforms helped in expansion of Indian middleclass.