Indian Agricultural: Growth, Generation, Policy & Problem Indian Agricultural | Page 24

Pg.no. 23
Goals
Land distribution has been part of India’s state policy from the very beginning. Independent India’s
most revolutionary land policy was perhaps the abolition of the Zamindari system (feudal land holding
practices). Land-reform policy in India had two specific objectives: "The first is to remove such
impediments to increase in agricultural production as arise from the agrarian structure inherited from
the past…The second object, which is closely related to the first, is to eliminate all elements of
exploitation and social injustice within the agrarian system, to provide security for the tiller of soil and
assure equality of status and opportunity to all sections of the rural population.” (Government of India
1961 as quoted by Appu 1996)
Categories
There are four main categories of reforms:
Abolition of intermediaries (rent collectors under the pre-Independence land revenue system);
Tenancy regulation (to improve the contractual terms including security of tenure);
A ceiling on landholdings (to redistributing surplus land to the landless);
Attempts to consolidate disparate landholdings;
encouragement of cooperative joint farming;
settlement and regulation of tenancy.
States which implemented land reforms in India
Zamindari Abolition Act was passed by UP, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, etc. Surplus lands
were confiscated from zamindars. As in Golaknath case, Supreme court ruled that the provisions of
Zamindari Abolition act contradicted with Article 31 of Indian Constitution, the parliament took steps to
repeal Article 31. Later Land Ceilings Act was passed by different states.
Ramesh Kumar P