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Introduction
Generally, Land means an immovable and indestructible three dimensional area consisting of a portion of the earth’s surface, the space above and below the surface, and everything growing on as permanently affixed to it. Reform refers to amendment of what is defective, vicious, corrupt or depraved, rectification or correction, to put into a new and improved form or condition, to restore to a former good state, or bring from bad to good, to change from worse to better, to amend, to correct. Reform seeks to improve the system as it stands.
‘Land Reforms’ is abolishing the existing defective structure of land holdings by introducing a rationalized structure in order to increase the agricultural productivity. Land Reforms refer to all kinds of policy induced, changes relating to the ownership, tenancy and management of land. In simple words, it refers to such institutional changes that make property relations favourable to tiller of the soil and which raise the size of the units of cultivation to make them operationally viable.
The concept of land reforms did not arise in pre-agricultural times because at that time population was scarce and ample land was available. With the rise in population, pressure on land was also enhanced thereby leading to concentration of land in the hands of few persons which ultimately necessitated the urgency of land reforms.
Himachal is an agricultural economy with great dearth, and an unequal distribution of resources including land, there is a large mass of rural population below the poverty line which ultimately leads to enthralling financial and political opinions for land reform. The main purpose of land reforms is efficient use of scarce land resource, redistributing agricultural land in favour of the less privileged class in general and cultivating class in particular. Land reform can be explained as redistribution of land from the rich to the poor. Generally, it comprises of regulation of ownership, inheritance of land, operation, sales, leasing, maintenance of land records, etc. Indeed, the redistribution of land itself requires legal changes.
At the present juncture, every bit of land is to be utilised to meet the needs of ever increasing population which can be made possible only with the equitable distribution of land among the tillers i.e. poor peasants and landless agricultural labourers.
Aim of Land Reforms :
Providing Land to the tiller.
Land reform related Laws in State :
The Himachal Pradesh Nautor Land Rules, 1968 :
'Nautor Land' means the right to utilize, with the sanction of the competent authority waste land owned by the government outside the towns, reserved and demarcated protected forests and outside such other areas as may be notified from time to time by the state government.Under these rules procedure is provided for grant of land to needy section of society.Nautor lands are granted out of Government waste land upto twenty bighas to the applicants subject to the fulfillment of the conditions laid down under the rules. The object of granting nautor land under the rules is to help poor and unprovided residents of Himachal Pradesh .
The Himachal Pradesh Holdings (Consolidation and Prevention of Fragmentation) Act, 1971 :
There is a special scheme called the Himachal Pradesh Grant of Nautor Land to Landless Persons and Other Eligible Persons Scheme, 1975 under which nautor lands upto five bighas are granted to the landless and other eligible persons. Under this scheme the powers have been delegated to the Tehsildars to sanction nautor lands in order to avoid delay.
The Himachal Pradesh Holdings (Consolidation and Prevention of Fragmentation) Act, 1971 provides that wherever consolidation is feasible, it should be carried on to consolidate fragmented holdings in Himachal Pradesh under this Act. Compact blocks were created during consolidation which further aimed at raising the economic standard of rural poor and agricultural production.
The Himachal Pradesh Tenancy and Land Reforms Act, 1972 :
By enacting the Himachal Pradesh Tenancy and Land Reforms Act, 1972 a new era marking abolition of intermediaries on land has ushered in the state. The act inter alia examines the relationship between the landlord and his tenant vis-a-vis the land. From the date of commencement of this Act, all the occupancy tenants in the old areas have become owners of their tenancy land. The small landowners are entitled to reserve land for personal cultivation up to one and a half acres irrigated and three acres un-irrigated land. The non-occupancy tenants in such affected holdings will simultaneously become owners of the remaining tenancy land. The rest of the non-occupancy tenants (including sub-tenants) will become owners of their tenancy land on payment of nominal compensation. The Act tends to protect rights in land of certain weaker sections of the society including widows, un-married woman or if married divorced or separated from husband, a minor, a person with permanent physical or mental disability etc. because of which he cannot cultivate the land himself and also a person under detention or imprisonment shall not be liable for the ejectment. Besides, there were also 4,22,145 non-occupancy tenants in the State, out of which 3,79,676 became owners by virtue of conferment of proprietary rights upon them. The remaining non-occupancy tenants could not benefit from the provisions of the Act as they happened to belong to the protected categories .
Restriction on Purchase of Agricultural Land :
Section 118 of the Himachal Pradesh Tenancy and Land Reforms Act, 1972 imposes patent restrictions on transfer of land in favour of those non-agriculturists who do not cultivate land personally in an estate situated in Himachal Pradesh.69 The Act interdicts nonagriculturalists from procuring/ purchasing any agricultural land in the state so as to discourage speculations in agricultural land.
The Himachal Pradesh Ceiling on Land Holdings Act, 1972 :
Immediately, on merger of areas from the Punjab after 1st November 1966, the pursuance of land reforms necessitated the codification of a uniform tenancy law for both old and merged areas. In the meantime, at national level the Government of India appointed Central LandReforms Committee. Thereafter the Government of India issued guidelines for imposing Land Reform Legislations 1972 envisages a ceiling on land holdings with a view to controlling concentration of land in a few hands, and to subsequently distribute surplus land among the landless. The Act provides ceiling on land holdings beyond permissible area and bars future acquisitions beyond the limit prescribed under the Act. The ceiling is for a family of husband, wife and three minor children. The surplus area above the ceiling was vested in the state government, which was distributed among the landless agricultural laborers and eligible persons i.e. to those persons whose holdings do not exceed one acre.
The Himachal Pradesh Village Common Lands Vesting and Utilization Act, 1974 :
This Act, namely, The Himachal Pradesh Village Common Lands Vesting and Utilization Act, 1974 sought to stream line the utilization of village common lands popularly known as ‘Shamlat’ Land. The common lands of the villages were vested in the state government subject to exceptions laid down in the Act. The land vested in the state Government was used for the distribution among the landless and eligible persons as well as for the development purposes of the state.
Conclusion :
To summarize, Land reform is the major step taken by government to assist people living under adverse conditions. It is basically redistribution of land from those who have excess of land to those who do not possess, with the objective of increasing the income and bargaining power of the rural poor. Though land reforms in Himachal Pradesh have not brought about any revolutionary changes in the agrarian structure yet it shall not be fair to term these as insignificant and a futile exercise. The near absence of landlessness in the state could be attributed to the positive effect of the land reforms despite the fact that the disparities in the ownership continue to persist. The composite effect of the land reform legislations, distribution of cultivable waste land among the poor peasants and the landless during 1970 under the Himachal Pradesh Nautor Land Rules, 1968 and some rural development programs like 20 point programes, Small Farmers Development Agency (SFDA) and Marginal Farmers and Agricultural Labourers (MFAL) scheme and other rural development programs contributed to the agricultural growth and socio-economic improvement of the people particularly the small and marginal farmers and those belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
By: Pooja Sharda ProfileResourcesReport error
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