LAND REFORM
OBJECTIVES FOR THE THIRD PLAN LAND reform programmes, which were given a place of special significance both in the First and in the Second Plan, have two specific objects. The first is to remove such impediments to increase in agricultural production as arise from the agrarian structure inherited from the past. This should help to create conditions for evolving as speedily as possible an agricultural economy with high levels of efficiency and productivity. The second object, which is closely related to the first, is to eliminate aft 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.
2. The principal measures for securing these objectives were the abolition of intermediary or 'rent-receiving' tenures and the reform of tenancy, including regulation and reduction of rent and security of tenure. A further step to which tenancy reform led was the conferment of right of ownership on tenants.
3. In pursuance of the second object, in particular it was proposed that steps should be taken to reduce disparities in the ownership of land a policy widely accepted as being essential for the economic development of countries with limited areas of land and large population dependent on it. It was realised that with the existing pattern of distribution of agricultural holdings and the predominance of small farms, redistribution of land in excess of any given level of ceiling was not likely to make available any large results in the shape of surplus land for distribution. It was considered, however, that such reduction in disparities was a necessary condition for building up a progressive cooperative rural economy. At the same time, such redistribution of land as might be possible would, along with other measures which have been taken for resettlement on waste lands, afford a measure of opportunity to the landless section of the population, to whose problems special attention was drawn both in the First and in the Second Plan. It should be stressed that the princi- ples on which the scheme of land reform is based do not merely involve adjustments between the interests of different sections of the popula- tion which depend on land, but are part of, a wider social and econom- ic outlook which has to be, applied in some, measure to every part of the economy.
4. it will be seen that, with the implementation of a programme of land reform on the lines described above, the vast majority of cultivators in India would consist of peasant-proprietors.
They are to be encouraged and assisted in organising themselves in voluntary co-operative bodies for credit, marketing, processing and distribution and, with their consent, progressively also for produc- tion. To the extent such reorganisation is carried out at the village level, some of the difficulties arising from small and uneconomic holdings could be diminished and the weaker in each community could be assisted to raise their standards. It has always been stressed that as each phase of land reform is implemented, it will become possible to give fuller assistance, to cultivators in increasing agricultural production and in diversifying the village economy. Greater cohesion among cultivators and the strengthening of the village community will also lead to a larger local effort and more rapid economic and social progress.
5. As legislation has been enacted in one State after another, there has been greater understanding of the need for land reform and the purposes it is intended to achieve. The Bhoodan and Gramdan movements have greatly helped to create a favourable atmosphere for implementing progressive measures of land reform. Yet, the total impact of land reform has been less than had been hoped for. For this there are several reasons. In the first place, there has been too little recognition of land reform as a positive programme of develop- ment, and it has been only too often regarded as extraneous to the scheme of community development and the effort to increase agricultur- al production. Secondly, there has been insufficient attention to the administrative aspects of land reform. Frequently at the lower levels of the administration, collusion and evasion have gone unchecked, and there has been failure also to enlist the support and sanction of the village community in favour of effective enforcement of legal provi- sions. In the third place, it has not been sufficiently realised that the reform of land tenures and the early enforcement of ceilings are an essential foundation for the building up of the cooperative rural economy. While removing such shortcomings in the legislation or the rules as may come to notice, it is important that the land reform programme should be completed with the least delay, so as to eliminate any feeling of uncertainty arising from delays in implementation. This aspect has been specially stressed by the Panel on Land Reform constituted by the Planning Commission to assist in the study of proposals for the Third Plan.
ABOLITION OF INTERMEDIARY TENURES 6. Work on the abolition of intermediary tenures like zaminda- ris, jagirs and inams, which
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covered more than 40% of the area of the country, has been fully carried out except for a few minor tenures such as those held by religious and charitable institutions and service inams. These reforms have brought more than 20 millions of tenants into direct relationship with the State and improved their social and economic position. As a result of the abolition of intermediary tenures, considerable areas of cultivable waste land and private forests came under the management of Government.
7. Several States with intermediary tenures did not possess the requisite revenue administration. Over the past few years, they have done much to strengthen their revenue agencies but there is need for further improvement, especially at the village level. There has been progress also in survey and settlement and in the preparation of records of rights, but much still remains to be done. Largely on account of the heavy burden thrown on the revenue administration, there has been a measure of delay in the assessment and payment of compensation to intermediaries. Out of a total amount of Rs. 670 crores (Rs. 520 crores as compensation and Rs. 150 crores for interest charges), so far compensation to the extent of only Rs. 164 crore has been paid, mainly in the form of bonds. It is important that in the course of the Third Five Year Plan, all the States concerned should arrange to issue the compensatory bonds still outstanding and complete records of rights and other administrative tasks arising from the abolition of intermediaries.
REDUCTION OF RENTS 8. Ten years ago the coustomary level of rents commonly paid by tenants-at-will, non-occupancy tenants and share-croppers over the greater part of the country was one-half of the produce or more. In addition to rent, very frequently there were other payments which enhanced the burdens borne by tenants. The situation was reviewed at length in the First Five Year Plan which suggested that a rate of rent exceeding one-fourth or one-fifth of the produce would call for spe- cial justification. Over the past few years, all States have enacted legislation for regulating rents which a landlord may receive. In some States, as in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, the maximum rent now stands at one-sixth of the produce. In Assam, Kerala, Orissa and Union Territories, the rent payable is about one-fourth of the produce or less. In several States, the normal level of rent is still about a third of the produce. It is to be hoped that in these States rents will be reduced to the level envisaged in the first two plans so as to facilitate more rapid improvement in the economic conditions of tenants.
9. In the early years of tenancy legislation, it was observed that reduced levels of rents-and indeed other conditions of tenancy- provided for by legislation were far from adequately enforced, and to a large extent customary rates of rent continued to prevail. Where arrangements for leasing land are arrived at between individual par- ties, variations from the norms set by legislation can occur for a variety of reasons, for instance, if the owner undertakes to provide seed or bullocks or pay for irrigation. In the beginning, there is also considerable ignorance on the part of tenants of the rights granted by legislation. Where there is pressure on land and the social and economic position of tenants in the village is weak, it becomes difficult for them to seek the protection of law. Moreover, resort to legal processes is costly and generally beyond the means of tenants. Thus, in many ways, despite the legislation, the scales are weighed in favour of the continuance of existing terms and conditions. Effective implementation of tenancy legislation, therefore, requires specially vigorous and sustained action on the part of governmental agencies. There must be special efforts not only to acquaint tenants with the rights due to them but also to bring about greater under- standing on the part of the people of each area of the objects of land reforms and of the need to complete them without delay.
10. Although, in the past, rents have generally been paid as a proportion of the gross produce, with progress in the rural economy and larger use of money as the medium of exchange, it would be desira- ble, as a matter of policy, to hasten the transition from rents in kind to cash payments. With cultivators having to purchase a growing proportion of their requirements, such as fertilisers, implements etc., in cash, the change-over to cash rents is likely not only to reduce the burden on tenants, but also to promote investment in agri- culture. As suggested in the Second Plan, commutation of rents in kind into cash payments might be facilitated if, with due regard to conditions of each district, rents could be declared as multiples of the prevailing land revenue assessment. Where this is not feasible, suitable norms could be proposed on the basis of other criteria. It would greatly assist the enforcement of rents prescribed by legisla- tion if State Governments could make it obligatory on the part of owners to furnish receipts for the rents received by them and if, as is already the practice in some States, tenants could deposit the rents due from them with the appropriate revenue officer, the land owner being advised accordingly.
SECURITY OF TENURE 11. Legislation providing for security of tenure has been enact- ed in eleven States and for all the Union Territories. In four States Bills are before the legislature and will be enacted in the near future. Pending legislation, ejectment of tenants has been stayed. Legislation for security of tenure has three essential aims-.firstly, that ejectments do not take place except in accordance with the provi- sions of the law; secondly, that land may be resumed by an
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owner, if at all, for 'personal cultivation' only; and thirdly, that in the event of resumption the tenant is assured of a prescribed minimum area.
12. In the first phase of tenancy legislation it was perhaps inevitable that the provisions regulating the rights of owners and tenants should be somewhat elaborate. Such complexity comes in the way of making the legislation effective. In the light of the experi- ence gained, it is suggested that steps should be taken to simplify the existing legislation wherever possible, and to strengthen or modify provisions which are in practice difficult to enforce.
13. As stated earlier, the impact of tenancy legislation on the welfare of tenants has been in practice less than was hoped for. One of the principal reasons for this is that in a number of States eject- ments of tenants have taken place on a considerable scale under the plea of 'voluntary surrenders'. Two main recommendations on this subject were made in the Second Plan. The first was that voluntary surrenders by tenants of lands held by them should not be regarded as valid unless they were duly registered by the revenue authorities. Secondly, in the event of surrender of tenancy, the land owner should be entitled to take possession of land only to the extent of his right of resumption permitted by law. On the whole, both legislation and administrative action have fallen short of these recommendations. A few States have provided for registration of surrender of land by tenants. Registration of surrenders is essential and a provision on these lines should be a feature of tenancy legislation. The second lacunas in the existing legislation concerns the conditions applicable to surrenders. In two States effect has been given to the recommenda- tion in the Second Plan that resumption of land arising from a volun- tary surrender by the tenant should take place on conditions identical with those governing resumption for personal cultivation. In Maha- rashtra and Gujarat, the overall limit for resumption applies also to surrenders, but other conditions governing surrenders are different. As was pointed out in the Second Plan, most voluntary surrenders of tenancy are open to doubt as bonafide transactions. This has been confirmed by such enquiries and investigations as have been undertak- en. it is, therefore, important that early steps should be taken to remove legal and administrative deficiencies relating to the registra- tion of 'voluntary surrenders' and resumption of land arising from them.
14. In most States legislation provides for a definition of `personal cultivation' which is, as a rule, a necessary condition for resuming land from tenants. There are three elements in `personal cultivation', namely, risk of cultivation, labour and personal super- vision. The obligation of the owner to bear the entire risk of culti- vation implies that wages will be paid in cash or in kind, but not as a share of the crop. While the expression `labour' is generally defined to include `labour by the owner or by a member of his family', this is not an obligatory element in personal cultivation'. In the Second Plan, the proposal was made that where land is resumed on grounds of `personal cultivation', it would be desirable to provide for personal labour as a necessary ingredient, in the absence of which the ejected tenant should have the right of restoration. So far this suggestion has not found its way into the legislation undertaken by the States. A provision on these lines is desirable and would serve to make the legislation more effective. As an essential element in 'supervision', the Second Plan envisaged residence during the greater part of the agricultural season by an owner or a member of his family in the village where the land is situated or in a nearby village within a distance to be prescribed. The Panel on Land Reform has suggested that the condition of residence in these terms should apply during the period the main agricultural operations are undertaken. This suggestion should be considered by State Governments and the current definitions of 'personal supervision' modified to the extent necessary.
RESUMPTION OF TENANCIES 15. The main recommendations in the Second Plan for regulating resumption of tenancies on grounds of personal cultivation were as follows :
(1) The area to be resumed should be declared within a certain period and should be demarcated in advance.
(2) Oweners with very small holdings, for instance, those having one-third of a family holding or less should be free to resume their entire land for personal cultivation. Those with holdings above this level might resume land for personal cultivation subject to a mini- mum area being left with the tenant.
(3) Right of- resumption may be exercised within a period of five years.
(4) Persons serving in the armed forces or those subject to disabilities, like widows, minors or those suffering from mental or physical infirmities etc., should be permitted to lease out land anti should have the right to resume land for perssonal cultivation when the disability ceases.
16. From the tenor of legislation enacted or under considera- tion, States fall broadly into four categories :
(a) those in which no resumption is permitted, as in Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and in respect of under-raiyats, West Bengal;
(b) those in which the right to resume a limited area for personal cultivation is allowed subject to the condition that a minimum area or a portion of the
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holding is left with the tenant, as in Bihar, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Mysore, Orissa, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Manipur;
(c) those in which the right to resume is subject to the tenant being given alternative land upto a pre- scribed limit for cultivation, the land being found by the State, as in Punjab and Assam, and
(d) those in which resumption is allowed up to the level of the ceiling without any minimum area being provided for the tenant, as in Andhra Pradesh and Ma- dras. Bargadars in West Bengal who are crop-sharers, are not regarded as tenants. They do not have the rights extended to under-raiyats, although strictly speaking they fall within the definition of 'tenant'.
17. Experience of the working of legislation relating, to re- sumption on grounds of personal cultivation leads to certain broad conclusions. In the first place, whatever the conditions, the right to resume land creates uncertainty and tends to diminish the protec- tion afforded by the legislation. Both in the First and in the Second Plan, it was contemplated that it would not be necessary to allow resumption beyond a period of five years. It is considered that except for owners holding land equivalent to a family holding or less, in view of the period which has already elapsed, there should be no further right of resumption. Further uncertainty for tenants would not be in the interest of agricultural development. In the second place, small owners, that is owners with a family holding or less, deserve special consideration. As suggested in the Second Plan, owners with less than a basic holding (that is, one-third of a family holding) should be free to resume their entire area for personal cultivation and to lease out their lands. As regards owners whose holdings lie between a basic holding and a family holding, they may be permitted to resume for personal cultivation, within a specified period, one-half of the area held by the tenant but in no event less than a basic holding. Where a tenant is left without any land or with area smaller than a basic holding the Government should endeavour to find land for him to cultivate. The general aim should be to encour- age small owners, and specially those among them with very small hold- ings, to enter into cooperative farming societies. Membership in a cooperative farming society would enable them to move to other work if they so desire. For such owners it would not be necessary to pre- scribe a period beyond which resumption for personal cultivation should not be permitted.