UP PCS Mains-2024

Approach Briefly describe Land reform. Highlight the important provisions of Uttar Pradesh Zamindari Abolition and Land Reform Act 1950. List the major hurdles in implementing land reform in the state. Discuss steps taken by the government. End with a suitable conclusion.

Introduction

Land reform is defined as the form of agrarian reform which involves the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership. It consists of government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution of agricultural land.

The contribution of the agriculture sector is significant in the economic development of the state, and around 65% of the total population is dependent on agriculture. According to the agriculture survey of 2014-15, approximately 68.7% of land is used for cultivation.

The Government of Uttar Pradesh enacted the Uttar Pradesh Zamindari Abolition and Land Reform Act in 1950, which came into effect in 1952.

Body

The provisions related to Land Reform in the Act:

• Abolishment of Zamindari System: The rights, interests and titles of the zamindars related to land were shifted to the Government of Uttar Pradesh. Zamindars were not only deprived of their rights, but all their estates were taken away by the government.
• Compensation: It provided zamindar’s right to acquire fair compensation from the state. The compensation was eight times the value of the net assets of the zamindar.
• Rehabilitation Grant: Only the zamindars were entitled to this grant. The grant was proportional to the income of the zamindar, it was highest for those with low incomes and lowest for those who had comparatively larger incomes.
• Cultivating Rights are Protected: The Act stated that one who cultivates the land should be the owner of the land. It protected everyone’s cultivating rights from a zamindar, a thekadar, to a tenant or a sub-tenant. Thus, everyone who was cultivating the land retained the possession of that land.
• Establishment of New Institutions: The U.P Zamindari Abolition and Land Reform Act had set up two new institutions, the ‘Gaon Samaj’ and the ‘Land Management Committee’. Gaon samaj was vested with all lands of common utility such as public land, pathways, wasteland, village forests, bazars and melas.
• Cooperative community: The Act intended to create a co-operative community to facilitate economic and social development and encourage social responsibility and community spirit.
• Tenure system in Uttar Pradesh: Before the enforcement of the Act, there were fourteen categories of land tenure. The Act narrowed down and classified the land tenures into four categories, namely Bhumidhar, Sirdar, Asami and Adivasi.
• Prohibition of the accumulation of land: The Act put a ceiling to prohibit accumulation of land. A tenure holder cannot acquire more than 12.5 acres of land through purchase or gift.

Major hurdles in implementing land reform in the state:

• Lack of accurate land records: Patwaris or Lekhpal, a village level land record keeper responsible for maintaining ownership and tenancy records, had acquired enormous powers and misused it for personal benefit in collaboration with the landlords.
• Problem of illiteracy: Literacy rate of Uttar Pradesh was about 12 percent in 1951, and most of the population of state was illiterate, which was the major hurdle in understanding the provisions of the Act.
• Lack of Financial Support: Poor implementation of the Uttar Pradesh Zamindari Abolition and Land Reform Act was mostly attributed to the lack of proper fiscal assistance.
• Lack of Pressure from the Bottom: The major issue was that those who benefited from land reforms did not belong to a uniform social or economic class such as the poor peasants and agricultural laborers. They were passive, unorganized, and non-cooperative.
• Lack of Political Will: It is believed that the effective enactment of progressive land reform measures and their implementation was hindered due to the lack of political will because big zamindars were politically influential.
• Bureaucratic Corruption: Land reforms provided a golden opportunity to Revenue Department functionaries to make money illegally because in many cases, high-ranking officials were landlords.

Steps taken by Uttar Pradesh government:

• Gharauni Yojana: The government has announced that about 2.5 crore people living in villages will be granted Gharauni certificates by October 2023. It will facilitate transfer of ancestral land and properties to their rightful owners.
• SVAMITVA Scheme: It is a scheme for mapping the land parcels in rural inhabited areas using drone technology. It will ensure clarity on property rights. Uttar Pradesh is successfully implementing this scheme.

Conclusion

Though the pace of implementation of land reform has been slow, the objective of social justice had been achieved to a considerable degree. Land reform has a great role in the rural agrarian economy that is dominated by land and agriculture. New and innovative land reform measures should be adopted with vigour to eradicate rural poverty.