Introduction:
The stigma of Indian Agriculture is the highly defective structure of its land holdings.The measures of land reforms aim at correcting it. The term 'land reforms' involves procurement and redistribution of large holdings of agricultural land among the small farmers and landless agricultural labourers. It is an instrument to bring about improvements in the institutional framework of land.The responsibility of land reforms is owned by the government with a view of benefiting those who either have petty holdings or have no land at all. As big land owners are quite unlikely to share their holdings with their landless counterparts, intervention by the government using force of law/legislation is necessary to secure social justice for the masses.
Land Tenure System:
Land tenure may be defined as the system in which land is held by an individual or the actual tiller of the land; it determines his rights and responsibilities in connection with his holding. Obviously, land tenure system refers to law/rules and regulations which confer ownership rights upon an individual or actual tiller of the soil. It determines the status of the actual tiller of the land and his relations with the state.
In Zamindari system, there is a separation of ownership of land from its cultivators. Under this system, one person known as zamindar owns a village and is responsible for the payment of land revenues to the government. This system existed in West Bengal, some parts of U.P, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. Now this system has been abolished. It consisted of 2 types:
Permanent Settlement: The land revenue is fixed for permanent basis.
Temporary Settlement: Land revenue was assessed for a period ranging between 20 to 40 years
Merits
1. Zamindars were faithful to the government.
2. Government receives fixed revenue every year without botheration.
3. Zamindars – leaders of the village and help the cultivators.
Demerits
1. Quality of cultivation suffered.
2. The problem of ‘Absentee of Landlordism’.
3. Based on Exploitation.
4. Sub-renting
5. Insecurity of farmers.
6. Torture of the Agents of Zamindar.
7. Farmers lost interest in the land.
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