IndexImportant Provisions of the Zamindari Abolition ActAnalysis of the Zamindari Abolition ActRental ReformsReorganization of Land TenuresAnalysis of the Land Roof ActFrom the year 1949 to 1951, the states of India independently brought the Zamindari Abolition Act into force. Uttar Pradesh was the first state in India to implement the law relating to abolition of the zamindari system. Later states like Madras (later called Tamil Nadu), Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, etc. they have implemented the Zamindari abolition act almost on the lines of the UP Zamindari abolition Act. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Important provisions of the Zamindari Abolition Act Zamindari can own a portion of their lands for personal cultivation. Those retained lands were called "Khudh Khast" lands. Excess lands will be confiscated from the zamindars. Compensation will be paid for the stolen lands. In this regard, the government's decision would be final and unjustifiable. Surplus land will be sold to tenants at a minimum price. The tenants who got the lands were called 'Bhoomidhars', the tenants who were unable to pay the full amount, could pay the amount in installments and were called 'Sirdars'. Barren lands, ponds and forests were taken away by Zamindars and transferred to village panchayats. The above provisions were challenged in court, arguing that they were contrary to the article. 31 of the Indian Constitution. The government subsequently made changes to the Constitution. Golaknath, a zamindar of Punjab, challenged the amendment of the Constitution and the confiscation of his lands in court. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Golaknath, ruling that parliament cannot change the Constitution. However, subsequently, to accommodate the Zamindar Abolition Act and to introduce freer and more effective land reforms, Article 31 of the constitution was repealed. Analysis of the Zamindari Abolition Act The provision of the Zamindari Abolition Act provides that the Zamindari may retain certain lands for their personal use. However, how much personal arable land can be conserved has never been defined. At that time the shareholding cap had not yet been introduced. When the law was passed, there were no documents showing rent information. The Zamindars showed the tenants as their servants and maintained the lands. Forests were massively depleted as the law stipulated that forests under the control of Zamindar would be transferred to village panchayats. The government must pay compensation for the confiscated lands. This provision of the law has increased the pressure and burden on the state treasury. The states of India had the power to enact laws relating to the Zamindari Abolition Act as the territory comes under the state list of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India. There was no uniformity in the law in each state. Tenancy Reforms Tenancy cultivation is quite common in rural India where land is cultivated by small farmers and they share the crop with the owners as rent payment for the use of the land. Ensuring fair rent, security of tenure and the conversion of tenant farmers into owner-cultivators were the main objectives of tenancy reforms. The excess lands confiscated from Zamindar were given to the tenants for a minimum amount ranging from eight to ten times the annual rent. The lands were given only to tenants who paid rent in cash. Bargadars or sharecroppers were those tenants who paidthe rent in the form of nature and there was no accommodation for them in the deed and therefore there was no benefit to them regarding the use of the land. However, sharecroppers were later accommodated in the lease deeds. The terms and conditions between landowners and peasants were always oral. It has become difficult to identify the tenure of tenants working on their respective lands. The fair rent goal of the rental reforms was never implemented. The rental reforms included the following measures: Rent ceiling: The maximum rent payable by the tenant was set. In most states it cannot exceed a quarter or a fifth. Tenure Security: Land tillage security is provided whereby tenants now cannot be evicted at will except for self-cultivation provided rent is paid. Granting of property rights to farmers: Legislative changes have been made to provide for the granting of property rights to all cultivating farmers upon payment of a certain sum to the owners. Tenancy reforms have progressed in a large number of states, although with varying degrees of success with quite a number of landless peasants and laborers being granted property rights. However, the reform process suffered from ineffective implementations of huge laws for the following reasons: Improper use of exemptions and escape clauses: There were escape clauses in the legislation which were abused by large landowners. For example, landowners resorted to expelling tenant farmers under the pretext of self-cultivation. In fact, the rent was increased at will without a formal contract. The term self-cultivation has been very loosely defined. In this way the owners were able to recover a substantial part of the land. These owners do not cultivate the land but rent it informally on a crop-sharing basis. Growers with these informal leases are under constant threat of eviction. Fictitious handover of land by tenant farmers to landowners: The landowners on paper proved that the tenant farmers were voluntarily handed over the very land in favor of the landowners. Lack of Information and Economic Support among Poor Tenants: The policy required payment of a specific amount to owners to obtain ownership rights, but farmers lack resources to acquire land from owners. Non-availability of updated Land Ownership Records: It has also created problems in the proper implementation of land reforms. Lack of political will to rigorously implement tenancy reforms: Since big politicians were big landowners, the slow progress of reforms was in their interests. done to fix rent rather than reduce it. In many places rents have been set at an already prevailing or traditionally set level. Therefore the implementation of the tenancy reforms left much to be desired. The land favored wealthy landowners and created greater tenure insecurity in the form of informal land leasing. The limitation of the tenants' resources also prevented large transfers of land to them. Reorganization of landholdings Reorganization of landholdings involves changing the size of farmers' lands so as to make them a viable economic unit. This will help adopt modern technologies and improved agricultural practices. Land reorganization is undertaken through the following measures. Land Ceilings Act Per