What are Land Reforms?
India under the British Raj had witnessed a lot of such atrocious regulations that exploited the poor and helpless in many aspects. Among them, land ownership contributed significantly to preventing the socio-economic growth of the backward population.
The government of independent India came up with acts and laws to establish equal rights and ownership of land, which now constitutes a crucial episode of India’s economy. In the following lesson, you will come across a detailed discourse on land reforms in India after independence and their importance.
The instruments that are visualized for social justice are known as Land Reforms. It is because the Land Reforms that are divided as the sharp class division which is between the rich Landowning classes and the impoverished peasants who have no security of tenure seek to do away with the exploitative relationships. It is a step that is taken against the concentration of Landholdings in the hands of non-cultivating owners or few absentees, who on the size of holdings impose the ceilings and those Landholdings can be owned by families. Mainly, the concept of redistribution of Land is studied under Land Reforms but their scope is much wider.
In simpler terms, Land Reforms refer to the redistribution of Lands from the rich class to the poor class. It includes operations, leasing, regulations of ownership, sales, and the inheritance of Land since Land redistribution requires legal changes.
Why Were the Land Reforms Introduced?
Almost all agricultural lands of India before independence were owned by intermediaries, like jagirdars and zamindars, among others, and not by the farmers who worked in these lands to produce crops. These farmers naturally suffered from exploitation when the landowners paid no heed in agricultural requirements and were solely concerned about the rent they collected from these labourers.
After independence in 1947, an inadequate agricultural output was apparent. In order to fix this situation, the Indian government took measures to alter existing regulations for a better outcome. These acts formed agrarian reforms in India after independence.
Objectives of Land Reforms
The Indian government aimed at speeding up the socio-economic advancement of rural India and its agricultural industries with this land reform system. Some of the main objectives of Land Reforms are listed below-
The primary objective concerned an overall renewal of law structure for agricultural lands in India.
These acts aimed at an equal and uniform distribution of agricultural lands so that concentration of ownership was not in few hands.
Abolition of intermediaries of the medieval land-ownership system in India.
Facilitating optimum agricultural produce with healthy and economic practices.
Ensuring social and economic justice for previous violations of the tiller’s rights.
Uniform ownership of land would prevent exploitation of tenant farmers and will help in reducing rural poverty.
Elimination of the exploitation in the Land relations.
To increase agricultural production and infuse equality in society.
To restructure the agrarian relations in order to achieve an egalitarian social structure.
To realize the age-old goal of Land to the tiller.
Land Reform- Types
Pre-Independence:
The farmers did not have ownership of the Lands in which they used during the British Raj.
The Landlords of those Lands were Jagirdars, zamindars, etc.
Many issues were confronted in front of the government and it became a challenge in front of independent India.
Post-Independence:
Read on to get detailed descriptions on some of the most notable acts from the long list of land reforms in India since independence.
The Land Reforms in post-independent India had various components:
Abolition of Intermediaries- The first step taken by the Indian government under land reforms post-independence was passing the Zamindari Abolition Act. The abolition of the zamindari system was done that removed the layer of intermediaries who used to stand between the state and the cultivators. In many areas, superior rights were taken away from the zamindars and weakened their economic and political power.
The primary reason of a backward agrarian economy was the presence of intermediate entities like, jagirdars and zamindar who primarily focussed on collecting sky-rocketing rents catering to their personal benefits, without paying attention to the disposition of farms and farmers. Abolition of such intermediaries not only improved conditions of farmers by establishing their direct connection with the government but also improved agricultural production.
Regulation of Rents
This was in direct response to the unimaginably high rents which were charged by intermediaries during British rule, which resulted in a never-ending cycle of poverty and misery for tenants. Indian government implemented these regulations to protect farmers and labourers from exploitation by placing a maximum limit on the rent that could be charged for land.
Tenancy Reform- The tenancy Reform led to the introduction of regulation of rent, providing security tenure, and conferring ownership to the tenants. In the pre-independence period, the rent which was paid by the tenants was exorbitant producing 35% to 75% of gross throughout the country. The primary attempt of the Reform was either to regulate rents and give some security to the tenants or outlaw tenancy altogether.
Legislations were passed in all states of the country to grant tenants with permanent ownership of lands and protection from unlawful evictions on expiry of the lease. This law protects tenants from having to vacate a property immediately after their tenure is over unless ordered by law. Even in that case, ownership can be regained by tenants with the excuse of personal cultivation.
Ceilings on Landholdings- This Reform referred to the legal stipulation of maximum size after which no farm household or farmer can hold any Land. By the year 1961-62 the government of all states passed the Land ceiling acts and in order to bring uniformity across states, a totally new ceiling policy was evolved in 1971.
This law was enacted to prevent the concentration of land ownership in a few hands. It placed an optimum limit on the total measure of land which an individual or a family can hold. Along with fixation of land ceilings, this rule enables the government to take ownership of the additional or extra amount of land, which in turn, is given to minor tillers or farmers with no land.
With the help of these Reforms, the states were able to identify and take possession of Lands exceeding the ceiling limits from the households and redistribute them to the Landless families.
Consolidation on Land Holdings- The term consolidation referred to the redistribution or reorganization of the fragmented Lands into one single plot. The trend of the fragmentation of Land increased because of the growing population and fewer work opportunities and this fragmentation made the personal supervision and the irrigation management tasks very difficult. Therefore, the act of Landholdings consolidation was introduced which states that if there are few plots of Lands of a farmer then those Lands were consolidated in one bigger piece which was done by the process of exchanging or purchasing.
A major problem of the agrarian structure of India is land fragmentation, which hinders large-scale farming and production. This problem was solved with this regulation which permitted farmers to consolidate minor fragments of land owned by them into a singular piece of land. This enabled tenants to carry out agricultural operations in a larger field, which could be done by exchanging land or purchasing additional pieces.
Lands reforms constitute an important part of CBSE Class 12 Commerce syllabus and might contribute to long-answer-type questions in final exams like writing a short note on land reforms in India. If you are looking for more information on the topic, land reforms in India after independence pdf from Vedantu can help with detailed explanation on crucial concepts. You can avail these study materials from our website, or you can install the app from PlayStore.
FAQs on Land Reforms
1. Why Do We Need Land Reform?
There are several benefits that land reforms present us with. Some of them have been mentioned below.
These reforms secure ownership of land by cultivators.
Farmers and labourers are ensured complete payment for their works and are saved from exploitation.
Proper ownership, reasonable rent, free transferability, and security of tenure enable better production at lower or no extra expenses.
Abolishing intermediaries facilitate the establishment of more viable relations between governments and cultivators, making it easier for authorities to implement regulations.
2. Why Were Land Reforms Not Implemented Successfully? In Which States Were Land Reforms Successful?
Some of the major reasons for the unsuccessful implementation of land reforms were as follows.
A variety of political complications prevented the timely implementation of mentioned land reforms, which enabled tenants to devise tricks to avoid these policies.
Specified terms of these reforms freed tenants from its obligations if their farming land was being used for cultivation for domestic needs. A lot of cultivators used this exception to their advantage.
Corruption among government officials and procedures also added to the final doom of proper implementation of land reforms.
The only two states where land reforms attained utmost success were Kerala and West Bengal.
3. How Does Land Reform Affect the Economy?
With the effective implementation of land reforms, the government expected to open up more employment opportunities in rural India, leading to a reduction in poverty. This, in turn, would lead to increased agricultural production, directly fuelling the country’s economic growth.
4. What are the Bhoodan and Gramdan movements?
A disciple of Mahatma Gandhi, Vinoba Bhave noticed some of the problems that were faced by the Landless Harijans in Telangana. He led movements in order to bring a non-violent revolution. The Bhoodan movement was about requesting the Landed classes to voluntarily give the parts of their Lands to the Landless and the movement began in 1951. Later in 1852, the Bhoodan movement led to the Gramdan movement whose objective was to persuade the leaseholders and Landowners to renounce their Land rights in each village and all these Lands would become the property of the village association.
5. What is the need for Land Reforms?
The need for Land Reforms is felt because of the following reasons-
It is an instrument for direct and indirect poverty.
For the enhancement of agricultural incomes.
For sponsoring greater households food security.
For increasing employment opportunities.
For strengthening the flights of the indigenous farmer groups.
In order to lead gender equality.
For the reduction of migration of rural unemployed segments.
For the encouragement of conservation and management of the ecology.
For providing direct support to the vulnerable groups.
6. What are the effects caused by Land Reforms?
The power structure including both the political and the economic are altered by Land Reforms as the Lands have always been the sources for income, statues, wealth, and a reflection of the caste structure and the interlocking class of the Indian society. Land Reforms also enable a more equitable distribution of Lands which thereby generate incomes on a more equitable basis. Land Reforms not only increase the incomes and employment in the agriculture sectors but they do have an effect on the industrial sector as well.
7. What is the impact of Reforms on the Indian Economy?
The competition in the sectors like banking is increased as the Reforms happen, This leads to more consumer choice and increased efficiency. Reforms also lead to an increase in investments and the growth of the private players in the industrial sectors. Reforms lead to the reduction of poverty. Also, there is an expansion in the civil aviation sectors and an increase in air travel because of the Reforms. To learn more about the impact of Reforms, students can visit Vedangtu’s study material on the Indian economy during Reforms which would help the students with better understanding.
8. What are some of the accomplishments of India because of Land Reforms?
The most successful Land Reforms that have happened in India till now are in the states of West Bengal and Kerala which led to successful legislation of redistribution of Land with ceilings on private Land properties. Though in some states clashes among the communities happened which led to hindrance in the Land Reforms. These states were MP, Andhra Pradesh, and Bihar.
