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Land reforms: the need and scope in India - Part 2
11.0 Acharya Vinoba Bhave’s Bhoodan MOVEMENT
It has been over sixty years since the birth of the Bhoodan-Gramdan movement. Bhoodan and its offshoot, the Gramdan movement, were visible at the ground level as a movement for around 25 years and after its end, many decades have gone by.
On August 15, 1947, the country became independent. But that was just the transfer of political power at the Centre. As Gandhiji had written in his Last Testament, from the point of view of the seven lakh villages of the country, the social, moral and economic freedom of the country was yet to be attained. Therefore, taking some steps in the interests of the farmer after independence was but natural. But vested interests were strong in the State structure; and there were some limitations of the democratic structure and the process too. On the other hand, it was impossible to bring about land reforms through violence. But the need for redistribution of land was acutely felt.
The first Five Year Plan accepted that the farm labourers who did not have tenancy rights would hardly gain from the State-sponsored redistribution schemes and mentioned Bhoodan in this connection.
Vinoba had come into limelight when he was selected as the first satyagrahi by Mahatma Gandhi in 1940 to start individual Satyagraha. Vinoba had spent years in the Gandhi ashrams pursuing his spiritual quest which included experiments in the realm of Gandhian constructive work. In Pochampalli on April 18, 1951 an incident occurred that started the Bhoodan movement. When the dalits in the village demanded land, Vinoba casually asked those present, whether they could do something in this regard. An individual named Ramchandra Reddy got up and announced that he would be willing to donate 100 acres of land.
The donation made by Ramchandra Reddy was to fulfill a wish of his late father. It was not a donation that had been given for the landless, acknowledging their right over land; nor had Vinoba asked for such a donation. This incident could very well be viewed as a peculiar incident in a particular circumstance. But the genius of Vinoba realised its implications. He realised that this could be a non-violent way through which land could be redistributed, and that too without creating any ill will among different sections of the society.
A trust was formed to administer the 100 acres of land received in Pochampalli and it was decided that the dalit families would work on it collectively. At Tangalpalli, the next destination, Vinoba received 90 acres of land. He, then went marching forward and kept on receiving more and more land. It was indeed strange that people were coming forward to donate land to an individual, who had neither any temporal power nor the backing of any organisation. Certainly it was the strength of his charisma, the power in his words that was working wonders. The unique movement caught the attention of the entire country.
During the 58 days of Telengana march, Vinoba received 12,201 acres of land in 200 villages. The work of redistributing the land also started. For redistributing the land, the Hyderabad provincial government formulated rules and authorised the committee nominated by Vinoba for distribution of the donated land.
11.1 Spreading the movement
In April 1952, at the Sarvodaya Conference at Sewapuri, Sarva Seva Sangh, an all-India organisation of the Gandhians took over the task of Bhoodan movement. Uptil now only Vinoba was walking on foot, collecting donations of land; now the work of Bhoodan began in all the regions of the country. Apart from Gandhian constructive workers, workers of political parties also started taking part in the Bhoodan work. Upto the time of the Sewapuri Conference, more than 1 lakh acres of land had been received as Bhoodan. At the Conference, it was resolved that 2.5 million acres be obtained within two years. In an appeal addressed to all the countrymen, Vinoba made three claims for Bhoodan: “Firstly, it is in tune with the Indian culture and ethos. Secondly, it has the potentiality to usher in social and economic revolution. And thirdly, it can help in establishing world peace”.
The Bhoodan movement had spread to almost all parts of the country and had taken the shape of a countrywide movement. But the government failed to take advantage of this psychological moment. In Bihar, the movement received a total of 22.32 lakh acres, and what was particularly significant was that this land was donated through 286,420 donation deeds.
11.2 Sulabh Gramdan
Vinoba Bhave also put forth the scheme of ‘Sulabh Gramdan’, whose main features were:
- At least 75 per cent of the landowners should surrender ownership of their land to the village community–that is, gramsabhas, meaning the assembly of all the adult male and female population–and the land so donated would vest in it.
- This land should at least be 51 per cent of the entire cultivable village land.
- At least 75 per cent of the people of the village should accept Gramdan.
- Five per cent of the land vested in the gramsabha would be given to the landless.
- The remaining 95 per cent of the land would remain with the original owners and their descendents. However, it can be transferred within the village only, and that too with the permission of the gramsabha.
- The villagers would give 2.5 per cent of their earnings or produce to the gramsabha with which the ‘gram-kosh’ would be formed. This would be used for providing aid to the needy, for overall development of the village or for public works. On fulfillment of these conditions the village would deemed to be a gramdani village. All the adult men and women of the village would sit together in the gramsabha and discuss and decide about the village affairs, make plans and execute them. The decisions of the gramsabha would be taken by consensus–either by unanimity or with everyone’s consent, and not by vote. Only such a decision-making process is in tune with freedom, and only it would be able to lead the people towards gram-swaraj. Division between majority and minority would break the unity of the village. The gramsabha should have all the powers that are necessary to discharge its duties.
11.3 The end
The movement had the benefit of Vinoba’s extraordinary charismatic leadership. But that too had its limitations. It was Vinoba who gave vision to the movement and decided about its strategy and programmes. So when Vinoba withdrew, the movement collapsed. The movement was essentially an ideological one, and therefore, it was necessary that the workers should have understood its ideology thoroughly. For this reason, Vinoba always used to stress on study, but its inadequacy always remained a matter of concern. Nor were there adequate training facilities. Therefore, there was always ideological confusion among the workers and even in the second and third leadership tiers of the movement. Jayaprakash Nayaran once admitted candidly: “Even we ourselves do not fully understand this new method, so others too naturally do not understand it.” Most of the workers who came from the political background could not perhaps completely change their old mindset. However, it has to be conceded that the workers of the movement worked impartially. They rose above pettiness and worked selflessly and honestly. This movement only gave hardship to the workers, there was no incentive or promise of power or money or position. Even then, the dedicated workers worked for years, facing ridicule, opposition, privations. This undoubtedly is one of the greatest achievements of the movement. The movement could not fulfil its announced objectives. This was only natural. Its aim was so high that it was bound to fail. But what it achieved in concrete terms and also intangibly has to be taken into account by any authentic history. The main achievement of this movement is that it put forward an alternative. It presented a new process for change; and it gave several ideas and programmes in this connection. The ascension of ideas during the course of this movement is simply astonishing. This ascension is a valuable treasure of the entire humankind. The seed it sowed can never be lost. And it should not be lost, as therein lies not only the survival but also the progress and evolution of the human race.
12.0 Land Ceiling : A Failure
The purpose of ceiling legislation, logically speaking, was to ration out land—the most scarce yet the most basic asset in Indian rural life—among those who were actual tillers, viz., landless labourers, sharecroppers or small holders. This could be done by imposing a limit on the possession of land by big holders. Apart from the objection by landlord classes against ceiling legislation, a very large number of loopholes were left in the ceiling legislation. Consequently, evasion was possible even within the legal provision.
The natural result of this was that very little surplus could be acquired after the imposition of ceiling. The intentions of land reform and the provision of ceiling were thus watered down in the process of implementation.
Secondly, law provided a number of exemptions for sugarcane farms, orchards, mango groves, grazing lands, lands for charitable and religious trusts, cattle breeding farms. All these provisions of exemption were used by the vested interests to evade ceiling on holdings.
Thirdly, the judgement of the Supreme Court that compensation should be paid at market value added another dimension to the problem in favour of vested interests. On 26th August 1974, the Parliament passed unanimously the 34th amendment to 9th Schedule of the Constitution and thus took the land ceiling law away from judicial review.
Fourthly, even when ceiling has been imposed on a family basis, the definition of family included husband, wife and 3 minor children. For instance, if a ceiling of 15 acres has been provided for a family and there are two major children, then the total land that can be held by the family is 45 acres—15 acres for the family and 15 acres for each of the two major children. This is obviously unjust. A better course would be to treat major children as part of the family and give an additional 3 acres of land to each member of the family, subject to maximum of twice the ceiling. For instance, if there are 7 members of the family, including 2 major children, the total land made available to them would be 7 x 3 = 21 acres and not 45 acres as at present. This has now been accepted as a guideline in national policy. This course can restrict the ration of land to the owning classes so that more surpluses emerge for distribution among the landless labourers and small farmers.
The ceiling of land holdings was never implemented properly. In the words of Ladejinsky “while officially the states accepted the ceiling programmes, they rejected them in practice”.
(Wolf Ladejinsky (1899 – 1975) was an influential American agricultural economist and researcher, serving first in the US Department of Agriculture, then the Ford Foundation and later the World Bank.)
12.1 Prevention of alienation and restoration of alienated tribal lands
Article 46 of the Constitution enjoins upon the states to promote the interests of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and to protect them from social injustice and all forms of exploitation. Following this obligation, the State Governments have accepted the policy of prohibiting the transfer of land from tribals to non-tribals and for restoration of land which has been transferred from tribals, back to them. The states with large tribal populations viz., Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat, Bihar, Orissa, Rajasthan, Assam and Tripura have enacted laws for the purpose. Reports received from various States indicate that as on 30th September 2001, about 3.75 lakh cases of tribal land alienation have been registered so far, covering 8.55 lakh acres of land. Out of them, 1.62 lakh cases have been decided in favour of tribals covering 4.47 lakh acres. In other words, about 52 per cent of area claimed by tribals has been restored. The Courts have, however, rejected 1.54 lakh cases covering an area of 3.63 lakh acres. Tribals in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh have benefited substantially from this drive.
12.2 Women and land rights
To improve the status of women in landed property, states like Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh have amended the Hindu Succession Act, 1956. Some states like Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh have decided that issues relating to property rights would be dealt with in accordance with appropriate personal laws. Other states have yet to take adequate steps to provide the Constitutional/legal protection to women with respect to their rights in landed property.
12.3 Computerisation of land records
Since the inception of the Scheme regarding computerisation of land records, there is a gradual progress in the implementation of the Scheme. Upto 31st December 2001, the Scheme was implemented in 569 districts of the country.
13.0 AN APPRAISAL OF LAND REFORMS
Land reform programmes were started with a thunderous enthusiasm, but soon the vitality of this enthusiasm was lost and the implementation of land reforms became a very tame affair. There is no doubt that land reforms were conceived broadly in a proper perspective but being riddled with loopholes, they have brought little justice to the rural people. Professor M.L. Dantwala rightly observes : “By and large land reforms in India enacted so far and those contemplated in the near future ... are in the right direction; and yet due to lack of implementation the actual results are far form satisfactory”.
13.1 Reasons for the poor performance of Land Reforms Programme
In a forthright analysis, the Planning Commission Task Force headed by Mr. P.S. Appu mentions the following as the principal reasons for poor implementation of land reforms : lack of political will; absence of pressure from below because the poor peasants and agricultural workers are passive, unorganised and inarticulate; lukewarm and often apathetic attitude of the bureaucracy, absence of up-to-date land records, and legal hurdles in the way of implementation of land reforms. The Task Force categorically concludes : “In a society in which the entire weight of Civil and Criminal laws, judicial pronouncements and precedents, administrative tradition and practice is thrown on the side of the existing social order based on the inviolability of private property, an isolated law aiming at the restructuring of property relation in the rural areas has little chance of success. And whatever little chance of success was there completely evaporated because of the loopholes in the laws and protracted litigation”.
The basic problem in the implementation of a programme of land reform is to break the stranglehold of the vested interests in land and the legal support given by the judiciary to the vested interests in the name of sanctity of private property. Obviously, the talk of strengthening administrative machinery without creating conditions for breaking the stranglehold of the holy trinity, i.e., landlord-moneylender-trader, is nothing but lip service to the poor peasantry. In case a frontal attack has to be made with a view to ensuring justice to the rural proletariat engaged in cultivation, the bold suggestions given by the Task Force on Agrarian relations must be implemented in letter and spirit .
- Judiciary should not be involved at any stage in the implementation of land reforms. This suggestion has been given because civil legislation in India by its very nature is time-consuming and dilatory. Moreover, the decision of the Court depends upon the production of evidence and experience shows that the stronger party (viz., the landlord) has always been able to produce greater evidence by using all kinds of pressures - both legal and illegal.
- Organisation of the poor peasantry into strong trade unions is a pre-condition of land reform. The State can provide representation to the poor peasantry, specifically in the administrative machinery at various levels. For instance, land reform committees at the village, taluqa or district levels should have a majority representation of marginal farmers, sharecroppers and landless labourers. These committees should be made responsible for the implementation of land reform. The naked truth is that the share-cropper is at the mercy of the landlord for his very existence. The support given by the judiciary and the whole army of officers like tehsildars, consolidation officers, patwaris, etc., has created a feeling in the mind of the poor peasantry that the state apparatus is in collusion with the big landed aristocracy.
Plugging the loopholes: Following the report of the Task Force on Agrarian Relations the Government thought of initiating measures so as to plug loopholes in the existing tenancy laws to ensure security of tenure, conferment of ownership rights on cultivating tenants and sharecroppers.
Ceiling laws in all the states were revised or enacted in accordance with the national guidelines. Most of the revised ceiling laws were included in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution, for giving protection from being challenged on constitutional grounds.
However, the implementation of revised ceiling laws has been practically stalled in Gujarat, Haryana and Punjab. The Punjab and Haryana High Courts struck down certain provisions of the Punjab Ceiling Law and held that the definition of “person” so as to include “family” is artificial and unconstitutional. It also held that if some persons were to be deprived of land, compensation will have to be paid at the market value of land in accordance with Article 31-A of the Constitution. This judgement was also availed of by the land owners in Gujarat to stall implementation of ceiling legislation in that state.
The mere inclusion of a law in the Ninth Schedule to the Constitution is no guarantee against the law being challenged in the courts of law. The laws have been challenged on various other grounds, such as (i) inconsistency with Articles 14, 19 and 31 of the Constitution, (ii) discrimination between major sons and the minor sons as well as major daughters and unmarried minor daughters, (iii) the basis of classification of land, (iv) rates of compensation, (v) the manner of computing standard acres, (vi) arbitrariness in the definition of the word ‘family’, etc. Towards the end of 1984, there were as many as 1.6 million land ceiling cases pending in the courts all over the country.
Giving an overall assessment of the land reform measures, the Sixth Plan (1980-85) mentioned : “If the progress of land reforms has been less than satisfactory, it has not been due to flaws in policy but to indifferent implementation. Often the necessary determination has been lacking to effectively undertake action, particularly in the matter of implementation of ceiling laws, consolidation of holdings and in not so vigorously pursuing concealed tenancies and having them vested with tenancy/occupancy rights as enjoined under the law.”
Following the directions given by the Sixth Plan, some state governments barred the jurisdiction of civil courts and made provisions in ceiling laws for appeal and revisions through revenue courts and tribunals. The scope of appeals and revisions was restricted to not more than one each. A number of states took measures for reduction of permissible time for filing of appeals and revisions of petition.
The Sixth Plan Mid-term Appraisal commended the efforts of the West Bengal Government in providing security of tenancy. It mentioned : “In West Bengal share-croppers are being registered in the record of rights under a special programme to enable them to get the benefit of security of tenancy .... The mechanism evolved in this regard in West Bengal for the recorded sharecroppers and assignees of ceiling surplus land may be adopted with suitable modifications in other areas also.”
The Mid-term Appraisal drew attention to the fact that the mere transfer of ownership or provision of security of tenancy was not enough in itself either to raise productivity or bring the marginal farmers/ landless labourers above the poverty line. “Unless the beneficiaries of land reform, most of whom belong to the poorest segments of the community, are supported by other ongoing rural development schemes like IRDP, DPAP, NREP, etc., it would be difficult for them to make productive use of the land or to reap the benefit of security of tenancy.” But the unfortunate fact is that land reforms are a low priority item in our development strategy, despite all talk of socialism and building up an egalitarian society and lifting people above the poverty line.
13.2 Five Year Plans and land reforms
Although emphasizing the role of land reforms, the Seventh Plan clearly states : “Land Reforms have been recognised to constitute a vital element both in terms of the anti-poverty strategy and for modernisation and increased productivity in agriculture. Redistribution of land could provide a permanent asset base for a large number of rural landless poor for taking up land-based and other supplementary activities. Similarly, consolidation of holdings, tenancy regulation and updating of land records, would widen the access of small and marginal land-holders to improved technology and inputs and thereby directly lead to increase in agricultural production”. Yet in practice, it was found that “there was little or no linkage between this Programme and IRDP or the NREP/RLEGP, and it functioned in isolation”.
As a ritual the Ninth Five Year Plan (1997-2002) devoted two paragraphs on land reforms. It stated: “All possible efforts would be made to detect and redistribute the surplus land and to enforce ceiling laws with firmness. ... Absentee landlordism must be eliminated by plugging the legal loopholes, tightening the implementation machinery and providing for speedy adjudication of disputes in revenue courts. ... Rights of tenants and sharecroppers need to be recorded and security of tenure provided to them. This alone would provide incentive for increasing investment in agriculture, as experience in certain parts of the country has shown. Preference should be given to poor, especially women with respect to wastelands and common property resources”.
Dr. P.K. Agrawal who has made a study of land reforms in selected states has put forth certain additional and very useful suggestions. They are :
- Excess land taken over from big landholders should be distributed expeditiously and to assist the land reform beneficiaries, there is a strong need to link them for timely supply of inputs nd investment to Jawahar Rozgar Yjana/ Prime Minister’s Rozgar Yojana.
- Priority should be given to preparation, maintenance and computerisation of land records. All tenants including share croppers should be identified and their rights should be recorded and permanent heritable rights should be conferred on them on the lines of “Operation Barga” implemented by the West Bengal Government in a campaign mode. Certified extract of the record should be issued in the form of updated “Farmers Passbook” or otherwise.
- Special attention should be paid to tribals. Loopholes in laws applicable to them need to be plugged and administrative machinery need to be strengthened. Cadastral surveys showing the extent, value and ownership of land of tribal areas should be completed where it has not been done.
- The definition of personal cultivation should lay stress on the following ingredients: (a) the person claiming to be in cultivation of the land must bear the entire cost of cultivation; (b) He must cultivate his own land by his own labour or by the labour of any member of his family; (c) He or member of his family should reside for the greater part of the year in the locality where the land is located; and (d) cultivation should be the main source of his income
- No transfer of agricultural land should be permitted to a non-agriculturist.
- Resumptions of land by landowners from tenants for self cultivation should not be allowed except in case of physically handicapped or serving army personnel.
- In case of a dispute between the landowner and the persons claiming to be tenants/share-croppers, the onus of proof should be shifted to the landowner. The tenant/share-cropper should be allowed to deposit the share of the produce of the land owner with the nearest authority.
- Recognised Peasant Organisations/Agricultural Labour Organisations or acknowledged voluntary organisations should be associated with the identification of informal tenants/share-croppers and permitted to file claims for conferment of occupancy right/ownership right to the concerned person before an appropriate authority.
- Political will should be created. For this landless, small and marginal farmers’ representatives should be given representation in local panchayat bodies and ministries so that they are associated at each decision making level.
- The poor peasants may be provided legal aid upto the level of the Supreme Court. The Lok Adalats should be empowered to dispose of land reform litigations along with prompt disposal of cases by rural courts i.e. Nyaya Panchayat/rural Nyayalaya.
13.3 Land Reforms and New Economic Policy (NEP)
Mr. P.S. Appu while recommending the ‘Barga Operation’ type land reform adopted by the Left Front Government in West Bengal in 1977, mentions: “The emphasis should now shift to the role of land reform in fostering agricultural growth and augmenting employment opportunities. An improvement in the incomes of the rural poor is a matter of high priority not just for altruistic reasons. Increasing incomes mean increased purchasing power. The resulting spurt in the demand for goods of mass consumption will foster industrial growth. And that could pave the way for the success of the new economic policy that depends on the market as the engine of economic growth. We need certain minimal measures of land reform to facilitate the growth of the Indian economy on the capitalist path of development that we have now chosen”.
Dr. P.K Agrawal reinforcing the view of P.S. Appu mentions: “According to protagonists of farmers, the fort built by liberalisation and globalisation is made on sand. Unless purchasing power is given in the hands of the teeming millions, liberalisation cannot sustain. Land reform provides on area in which no financial investment is required. It certainly requires a government with strong political will which can withstand initial upheavals or shocks before achieving the goal of egalitarian society through stable instrumentality of land reform”.
Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act (Land Acquisition Act), 2013
The act is titled “Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (LARR
Act)”.
Main features
- Defines various types of “public purpose” projects for which the Government can acquire private land
- Acquiring land: For private projects, 80% affected families must agree. For PPP project, 70% affected families must agree. It is only then land can be acquired. Naturally, it is a tough process now.
- Social impact assessment: Under SIA, consent of the affected artisans, labourers, share-croppers, tenant farmers etc. is to be obtained, whose sustainable livelihoods will be affected because of the given project.
- Compensation: Compensation will be in proportion to the market rates - four times the market rate in rural area and two times in an urban area. Affected artisans, small traders, fishermen etc. will be given one-time payment, even if they don’t own any land.
- To ensure food security: Fertile, irrigated, multi-cropped farmland can be acquired only as the last resort. If such fertile land is acquired, then Government will have to develop equal size of wasteland for agriculture purpose.
- Private entities: If Government acquires the lands for private company- the said private company will be responsible for relief and rehabilitation of the affected people. Additional rehabilitation package for SC/ST owners.
- Safeguards: State Governments to setup Dispute Settlement mechanisms.
- Accountability: Head of the department will be made responsible for any offense from Government’s side. If project doesn’t start in 5 years, land has to be returned to the original owner or the land bank.
