Land Laws Historical Background and Reforms
Land Tenure • Name given in Common Law System to the legal regime in which land is owned by an individual, who is said to "hold" the land.
2
Land Tenure • Name given in Common Law System to the legal regime in which land is owned by an individual, who is said to "hold" the land.
2
• Monarch – King – considered to be the owner of Land. • ll !rivate owners are either its tenants or sub-tenants. • "he term "tenure" "tenure" is is used to signify the relationshi! between tenant and lord, not the relationshi! between tenant and land. #
Three kinds of Rights.. • Use rights • Control rights • Transfer rights
$
Use rights • %ights to use the land for – gra&ing, – growing subsistence cro!s, – gathering !roducts, etc.
minor
forestry
'
Control rights: • %ights to ma(e decisions how the land should be used including deciding what cro!s should be !lanted, and to benefit financially from the sale of cro!s, etc.
)
Transfer rights: • %ight to – sell or – mortgage the land, – to convey the land to others through intra*community reallocations, – to transmit the land to heirs through inheritance, – and to reallocate use and control rights. +
Role of Land Laws / Land Reform Laws • Land Reform of Agrarian Reform involves the changing of laws, regulations or customs regarding land ownershi!. • Land reform may consist of a government*initiated or government s!onsored actions relating to redistribution of Land.
• Land reform refer to transfer of ownershi! from the more !owerful to the less !owerful. • Such as from a relatively small number of wealthy owners with e-tensive land holdings to individual ownershi! by those who wor( the land.
• Such transfers of ownershi! may be with or without com!ensation/ com!ensation may vary from to(en amounts to the full value of the land.
01
00
nderstanding of Land Tenure.. • !re-British !eriod • British !eriod • !ost nde#endence !eriod
02
!re-British !eriod • ncludes.. –3re Mughal %ule –Mughal %ule – 0# th to 0th Century.
0#
• State nterest – ssessment, Measurement and Collection of Sovereign Share – %evenue from griculture. • Land may be given as gifts to – %elatives, 4enerals, rtists etc. 0$
• 5o interference with 6illage Life. • 7ull autonomy • 3ro!rietary %ights for land must be with 3easants. • %evenue collection – against !roviding security and not against !ro!rietary rights. 0'
• %evenue Collection method – Mughal 8ra. • Ministers including %a9a "odarmal : Mu&affar Khan * given tas( for land revenue
0)
• Com!endium of Land %ecords !re!ared. • ;ata Collection from entire country. • Census Method introduced. • 7irst Systematic Ma! created describing different land holdings. 0+
• 0'+0 – ntroduction of a %ational %evenue ssessment based on survey and land holdings. • Methods of Measurement including <4a&= >?ard@ and <6igha= >)1 SA. ?@ introduced. • Measurement methods im!roved – Bamboo instead of %o!es. 0
• Classification of Land for collection of revenue including.. – 7ertile Land – Semi 7ertile – asteland
0
British !eriod • "he British domination over ndian land started in the 0+th century and by the end of that century the British rule e-tended over large areas with the fall of 6arious local !owers. • British inherited the institutional form of agrarian system from the Mughals. 21
• ;ifferent %evenue systems were introduced in various !arts of British ndia. • Reason$ British anne-ed different !arts of ndia in various !eriods. • "hree Broad revenue systems were introduced.. 20
%. &amindari s'stem (Landlord Tenure) *. R'otwari +'stem (,ultiators Tenure) . ahalwari +'stem (0oint 1illage Tenure) 22
%. &amindari s'stem • Lord Cornwallis is considered to be the father of Damindari system in ndia. • Ender this system, the land was held by a !erson who was res!onsible for the !ayment of land revenue. • "hey could acAuire the land mostly free of charge from the government during the British rule and it is called estate. 2#
• Landlords never cultivated the land they owned and rented them out to the cultivators. • n this system between the actual state and the tiller there grew an intermediary who was interested in the land only to the e-tent of e-traction of e-orbitant rent. • Covered about '+F Country 2$
*. R'otwari +'stem • "oo( Birth in Madras 3residency in 0+2 and in Bombay 3residency in 00+*0 • 3ro!rietary %ights of 3easant over Land. • %es!onsibility to !ay revenue to 4overnment was of the cultivators himself and not of any intermediary. • %yot >Cultivators@ have full rights over land regarding Sale, "ransfer, Lease etc. 2'
• Could not be evicted as long as they !ay land revenue. • System covered nearly all southern and western states of ndia. • 8ven states of Gai!ur and Godh!ur also had this category of revenue system. • Covered about #F of Cultivated area in ndia 2)
. ahalwari +'stem • ntroduced by illiam Bentinc( in gra and Hudh, latter e-tended to other states. • 8ntire 6illage considered as collective Enit. • 6illage Communities held 9oint res!onsibility to ma(e !ayment of land revenue. 2+
• mongst these three, %yotwari System resembles Mughal %evenue system. • Considered to be most convenient and a!!ro!riate instrument for social develo!ment. 2
• British legislations institutionali&ed transfer of land which created abuse of land mar(et. • Legislations enacted during 0'1s in %yotwari and Mahalwari areas enabled moneylenders to recover debts from mortgage and land holdings. • t caused serious im!act on transfer of land from holding of cultivators to non cultivators. 2
• s a result society in these areas !olarised into landlords and rich !easants versus tenants and agricultural labourers. • ;istribution of Land became highly uneAual. #1
%esults.. • 8-!loitation of 7armers, Cultivators • gricultural 4rowth rate in %yotwari and Mahalwari reas remained higher than areas having Damindari System. #0
• 3roductivity in agriculture is mainly de!endent on two sets of factors, they are – "echnological and – nstitutional.
#2
• "echnological factors are the uses of agricultural in!uts and methods such as im!roved seeds, fertili&ers, im!roved !loughs, tractors, harvesters, irrigations etc. • ll these factors hel! to raise !roductivity, even if no land reforms are introduced. ##
• "he institutional reforms include the redistribution of land ownershi! in favor of the cultivating classes so as to !rovide them a sense of !artici!ation in rural life, im!roving the si&e of farms, !roviding security of tenure, regulation of rent etc. #$
• lso these institutional factors, such as the e-istence of feudal relations, small si&e of farms, sub* division and fragmentation, insecurity of tenancy rights, high rents, etc. hel! the !easantry to raise !roduction. #'
+co#e of Land Reforms • Land reforms in general and tenancy reforms in !articular aim at redistributing ownershi! holding from the view !oint of social 9ustice, and reorgani&ing o!erational holdings from the view!oint of o!timum utili&ation of land. #)
• "he entire conce!t aims at the abolition of intermediaries and bringing the actual cultivator in direct contact with the state. • "he !rovisions of security of tenancy and rent regulation !rovide a %easonable atmos!here in which the agriculturist feels sure of rea!ing the fruits of his labour #+
"enancy %eforms • "erm refers to the reforming of defective structure of land holdings and a !lanned and institutional organi&ation of the relation between Man and Land. • griculture System that e-isted at time of inde!endence consisted several defects including "enancy. #
• "enancy – nsecurity of tenure and high rates charged by landlords. • %eforms aimed at.. – 8liminating all the forms of e-!loitation and social in9ustice within agrarian system. – "o !rovide security for tillers of the soil. – "o remove such im!ediments to increase agricultural !roduction as arise from agrarian structure inherited from the !ast. #
• Hne of the ma9or as!ects of the land reforms in ndia has been the "enancy %eform. • Broadly, "hree categories of "enants were available
$1
Tenants.. 0. Hccu!ancy "enants 2. "enants at will #. Sub "enants.
$0
%. 2ccu#anc' Tenants • Hne ho en9oys !ermanent and heritable rights on the land. • "hey had security of "enure and could claim com!ensation from landlords for any im!rovement affected on the land. $2
*. Tenants at will • Hne who did not have security of tenure and could be evicted from the land whenever landlord so desire. • 5o security of "enure and also may be com!elled to !ay e-orbitant rent to the landlords. $#
. +ub Tenants • Hne who were a!!ointed occu!ancy "enants.
by
$$
3efects in Tenanc' • nsecurity of "enure • %ac(*%enting • Lac( of ncentives cultivators.
to
actual
$'
• nformal – Hral "enancy has continued to e-ist till today. • "enancy without legal sanctions and !ermissions or without any written agreements. • 8-tracts higher rents from tenants. • Convenient devise of landlords nullifying tenancy reforms.
for $)
