Land Reforms History — Set 7

Correct Answer: B. Landlords who own land but do not cultivate it, collecting rent from tenants

Absentee landlordism refers to a situation where landowners do not personally cultivate their land but collect rent or lease from tenant cultivators while living elsewhere. This was widespread in colonial India where zamindars often lived in cities and managed their estates through agents. Absentee landlordism created inefficiency as landlords had little incentive to invest in land improvement. Post-independence land reforms, particularly ceiling laws and tenancy reforms, aimed to end absentee landlordism by giving land to actual tillers.

Correct Answer: C. Article 39(c)

Article 39(c) of the Directive Principles of State Policy directs the state to ensure that the operation of the economic system does not result in concentration of wealth and means of production to the common detriment. This article complements Article 39(b) which addresses equitable distribution of material resources. Together, Articles 39(b) and (c) provided constitutional justification for land ceiling laws that limited accumulation of agricultural land. Courts have generally upheld land reform laws as being in conformity with these directive principles.

Correct Answer: B. Extending protection to more land reform laws in 9th Schedule

The 17th Constitutional Amendment Act 1964 amended Article 31A to include more categories of property in its protective ambit and added 44 more laws to the 9th Schedule, most of which were land reform laws passed by various states. This was done because new land reform laws were being challenged in courts on property rights grounds. The amendment broadened the definition of 'estate' in Article 31A to cover more types of agricultural land. This effectively shielded a wider range of land reform legislation from judicial challenge.

Correct Answer: B. It ruled Parliament cannot take away fundamental rights, threatening land reform laws

In I.C. Golaknath v. State of Punjab (1967), the Supreme Court ruled that Parliament cannot amend Part III (Fundamental Rights) of the Constitution to take away or abridge fundamental rights. This threatened land reform laws placed in the 9th Schedule as they curtailed the right to property (then a fundamental right). The 24th and 25th Constitutional Amendments (1971) were enacted to overcome Golaknath, asserting Parliament's power to amend any part of the Constitution. This political-judicial tension eventually led to the Kesavananda Bharati case (1973) and the Basic Structure doctrine.

Correct Answer: B. Tenants cannot be evicted except for specific legal reasons and are protected from arbitrary eviction

Security of tenure means that agricultural tenants are legally protected from arbitrary eviction and can only be removed for specific legally defined reasons such as non-payment of rent or personal cultivation need of the landlord (with restrictions). Post-independence tenancy reform laws in most states provided statutory security of tenure to various categories of tenants and sub-tenants. Security of tenure was seen as essential for investment in land improvement by tenants. Without it, tenants would not invest in the land they might lose at any time.

Correct Answer: C. Odisha

Odisha (then Orissa) had the highest number of gram-daan declarations during the Gramdan movement, with thousands of villages declared as gram-dana. This was partly because many of these declarations were in tribal areas where community ownership was already traditional. However, actual implementation of collective farming in these villages was minimal. The declarations remained largely symbolic rather than transforming into functioning village cooperatives. Bihar and Uttar Pradesh also had significant Gramdan activity.

Correct Answer: C. State List

Land and land reforms fall primarily under Entry 18 of the State List (Schedule VII of the Constitution), making land legislation the responsibility of state governments. This is why land reform laws vary significantly across states. The central government can only issue guidelines and incentives; it cannot directly enact land reform laws for states. Entry 18 covers 'land, that is to say, rights in or over land, land tenures including relations of landlord and tenant, and the collection of rents.' This decentralized approach has led to wide variation in land reform achievements across states.

Correct Answer: B. Cooperative joint farming

The Balwantrai Mehta Committee (1955) on community development recommended cooperative joint farming as the desirable goal for Indian agriculture. It advocated that after land reforms distribute individual holdings, these should gradually be pooled into cooperative joint farms. Nehru was attracted to this idea of cooperative farming similar to Israeli kibbutzim. However, the Congress Working Committee rejected mandatory cooperative farming in 1959 and stuck to voluntary cooperatives, reflecting political resistance from rich farmers who had influence in the Congress party.

Correct Answer: B. Providing long-term credit for land improvement and development activities

NABARD (established 1982) inherited functions from the former Land Development Banks that provided long-term credit for agricultural land improvement, land development, irrigation works, and reclamation of wastelands. State Land Development Banks (now called State Cooperative Agriculture and Rural Development Banks) operate under NABARD's refinance umbrella. These banks provide long-term (15-25 year) loans for agricultural investment including land leveling, well construction, and irrigation infrastructure. Land is mortgaged as security for such long-term loans.

Correct Answer: A. Madras Estates Land Act 1908 and Abolition Acts post-1948

In Andhra Pradesh, zamindari abolition was implemented through the Madras Estates (Abolition and Conversion into Ryotwari) Act 1948 for the Madras portion and the Hyderabad Land Revenue Act and subsequent abolition acts for the Hyderabad portion. The Madras Act converted zamindari estates into ryotwari holdings, eliminating the intermediary landlord class. This was followed by the Andhra Pradesh (Andhra Area) Land Reforms Act 1956 after state reorganization. The abolition significantly affected the Nellore, Krishna, and Godavari district zamindars.