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Land Tenure Systems

Land Tenure – Meaning:

Land tenure refers to the way in which land is held by an individual from theGovernment. It shows the relationships between the land holder and the State.The absolute ownership of land rests with the Government. Government givesproprietary rights to individuals or communities. Thus, whom we call a land owner,is in that sense is the proprietor of that land and he has to pay land renew forthat.

History of Land Tenures in India:

In ancient times, the State of India claimed a share of the produce of the landfrom the cultivator. The laws of Manu mention one sixth of the gross produce atthe legitimate share of the King. During the war and other emergencies, it wasincreased to one fourth.

The institute set up by Timur represented the first systematic attempt in thedirection of converting the State’s share of the produce into money. Sher-shahmade some improvement. However, it remained incomplete due to his short reign.

The most famous settlement was made under Akbar by his able Finance Minister,Todarmal. While fixing the revenue, scientific and detailed investigation was madeto assess the taxable capacity of different soils. Land was carefully measured anddivided into four classes representing different grades of fertility. TheGovernment’s share was fixed as one-third of the gross produce. Thus, Mughalsdid not introduce any fundamental changes in the ancient revenue system but puta coherant system in place of customary and unwritten usages of the Hinduadministration.

Malik Amber of Ahmednager made similar improvements in the Deccan. He fixedone-third of the gross value of produce as the revenue. Maratha rulers continuedthe system. They fixed `Kamal’ or the maximum rates for the best lands. Theassessment was not permanent in majority of the cases. However, `Miras’ tenurewas subject to the payment of fixed assessment.

In the declining days of Mughal Empire, the control over the revenue officialsbecame weak. The flow of income started declining. So, the system called‘revenue farming’ was introduced in Bengal in the reign of Farukhsiyer (1713-19).Under this system, the revenue farmer paid the Government nine-tenth of thewhole collection and kept the rest as his collection charges. However, in the laterperiod, the right of collecting land revenue for a pargana or a district was sold bypublic auction to the highest bidders. Due to this, the exploitation of thecultivators started. The revenue farmers became more dominant. This revenuefarming system which started during the Mughal rule in Bengal was soon extendedto other parts of the country.

In Deccan, Nana Fadanis, in the later part of the 18th Century, had introduced arevenue system which was very efficient and equitable. It was universallyrecognised.

The revenue farming system even came to the Deccan. In Konkan, the Khots whowere earlier revenue farmers acquired landlord rights. In United Provinces and inPunjab revenue farmers succeeded in acquiring certain overlord rights.

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The disorders in the revenue administration resulted in many complexities of landtenures and rights.

Land Tenures under British Rule:

Under British Rule, there were three main types of land tenure systems in India.They were Zamindars, Mahalwari and Rayatwari.

i. Zamindari: This system was introduced by Lord Cornwallis in Bengal in 1973.

Under this system, the lands of a village or few villages was held by oneperson or few joint owners who were responsible for payment of landrevenue to the Government. There used to be number of intermediariesbetween the Zamindars and the actual tillers of the soil. The system tookwere various forms such as Zamindari, Jagirdari, Inamdari, etc. In manycases revenue collectors were raised to the status of land owners. Thissystem was introduced in many parts of the country. In this system, tillersof the soil were exploited by way of exhorbitant rents. There were noincentives for them to improve the land or to use better cultivationpractices. There were many other social evils of the system. It is said thatthe British introduced Zamindari system to achieve two objectives. First, ithelped in regular collection of land revenue from a few persons i.e.Zamindars. Secondly, it created a class of people who would remain loyal tothe British ruler in the country.

ii. Mahalwari: Under this system, the village lands were held jointly by the

village communities, the members of which were jointly and severallyresponsible for the payment of land revenue. Land revenue was fixed for thewhole village and the village headman (Lumberdar) collected it for which hereceived ‘Panchatra’ i.e. 5 per cent as commission.

iii. Rayatwari: It was introduced by Sir Thomas Munro first in Madras state and

then in Bombay State. In this system, there was a direct relationshipbetween Government and the tenant or Rayat i.e. individual land holder.Every registered holder was recognised as its proprietor and he could sell ortransfer the land. He was assured of permanent tenure as long as he paidthe land revenue. The land holder was also allowed to sublet his land. It wasa better system as compared to Zamindari or Mahalwari and similar otherforms of tenure.

Though we have discussed the above three main systems of land tenure, therewas lot of intermixing of characteristics of these systems. It is said that thesethree systems gravitated towards the tendencies of the Zamindari system. TheMahalwari system in states like Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh subletting androck renting became common. It became common even in the Rayatwari areas.There was no proper revenue record. This was the situation which prevailed at thetime of independence.

Post-independence Period:

Our leaders had thought about the need for land reforms even prior toindependence. For instance, the Agrarian Reforms Committee under ShriJ.C.Kumarappa had given the guidelines for the formulation of land reform policiesin the independent India. The committee recommended that

i. all intermediary interest should be abolished and land should belong to

the tiller;

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ii. leasing of land should be prohibited except in case of widows, minors

and other disabled persons.

iii. All the tenants who had been cultivating land for a period of 6 years

should be granted occupancy rights

iv. The tenants should have the right to purchase the holdings at

reasonable price to be determined by the land tribunal;

v. The agrarian economy should provide an opportunity for the

development of the farmers.

Abolition of Zaminari and Intermediaries Acts;

India’s First Five year plan has clearly mentioned the land policy and the specificland reform measures to be undertaken. Most of the states passed the legislationsfor abolition of zamindari and similar exploitative land tenure systems. The first actin this respect was passed in Madras in 1948. The other states followed it. Nowland tenure systems like Zamindari, Mahalwari, Jagir, Inam, etc. are abolished in allthe states in the country.

It has been said that in implementation of land reforms, this first and the importantstep of abolition of zaminari was completed peacefully.

As a result of abolition of Zaminari and intermediaries, about 26 lakh intermediariesand 20 lakh tenants got proprietory rights of lands i.e. they became the landowners. This has resulted in improving their economic and social conditions. Theland revenue income of the states also increased.

Tenancy reforms:

Tenancy refers to the relation between the land holder (owner) and the actualtiller of the soil. Many of the land owners did not cultivate their lands personallybut gave it to some tiller and took rent for that. They were absentee landlords.The tenancy prevailed in all forms of land tenure systems including Rayatwarisystem. The main reason was the increase in the population of landless labourers.In 1951, of the total families dependent on agriculture, as many as 23.6 per cent

families belonged to the tenant class. The National Sample Survey (8th round)indicated that the lands leased out varied from 11 per cent to 26 per cent of thetotal, in different states. The tenants were exploited by the land owners by way

of heavy rents (50 per cent or even 2/3rd of the produce). There was noprotection of tenure (evictions on minor pretexts). Thus, there were no incentivesfor tenants to make land improvements or to increase production. Thisnecessitated enacting the legislation for tenancy reforms. Tenancy Acts werepassed in most of the States, they provided for

i. regulation of rents

ii. security of tenure, and

iii. confirment of ownership on tenants.

Bombay State promptly enacted the legislation as early as in 1950. As regards theregulation of rents, different states fixed different rates. For instance, in Bombay(Maharashtra), Gujarat and Rajasthan, one-sixth of the grass produce has been

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fixed as the maximum rent; while in Punjab rent fixed is one-third of the produce.

It was found that there were large scale evictions of tenants on the plea ofresumption for personal cultivation.

As reported in the draft fourth five year plan, as a result of tenancy legislations inIndia, 3 million tenants or share croppers became the land owners. Uttar Pradeshwas in the forefront in this respect. The next state in order is Maharashtra where13.56 lakh tenants got the ownership rights of about 32 lakh hectares of land bySeptember, 1992.

Protection of tenants and regulation of rent is the first step in the tenancyreforms. The ultimate object of the reform is "land to the tiller". The Tenancy Actshave been moved in that direction.

It could be said that the land reform measures adopted by the States soon afterindependence, provided a sound basis for agricultural developments that tookplace in the country in the later period.