7/28/2019 Land Reforms- in India post independence
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Ceiling on Land Holdings
Why do we need such ceilings?o Land is the principal source of
income in the rural areas. Social justice is
compromised if land is concentrated in hands of few
o Application of capital intensive techniques in agriculture
will lead to large scaleunemployment. Hence it is necessary to have
a large number of small peasant
proprietors.
But arent small farms less productive?o No conclusive proof.o
Contradicting studies exist
Legislation on ceiling in India has been enacted in two phaseso
Upto 1972, landowner was treated as the unit of applicationo After
1972, family was treated as the basis of land holding.
Problems relating to ceiling
o Malafide transferso Compensation and allotment of surplus
land
Till 1972, no land was declared surplus in Bihar, Karnataka,
Orissa and Rajasthan Only about 23 lakh acres were declared surplus
(till 1972) New ceilings were prescribed in 1972 Till 2004, a total
of 73.36 acres of land was declared surplus out of which 54 lakh
acres has
been distributed to 54.84 lakh beneficiaries.
Tardy progress of land ceilings may partly be explained by
litigationIs land ceiling a failure?
A large number of loopholes existed in the legislation, making
evasion possible Law provided a number of exemptions for sugarcane
farms, orchards, grazing land etc. They
exemptions were used for vested interests
SC ruled that compensation should be paid at market rate The
definition of family under the legislations made it possible to
still amass huge land
holdings
Appraisal of LR
Reasons for poor performance
Lack of political will Absence of pressure from below because
the poor peasants are passive and unorganised Apathetic attitude of
the bureaucracy Legal hurdles Lack of proper land records Loopholes
in the laws
So how can it be improved?
Judiciary should not be involved at any stage in the
implementation of land reforms
