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Advantages of Abolition of Zamindari System

The document discusses the zamindari system introduced under British rule in India where landowners collected taxes from tenants. It summarizes how the Congress party aimed to abolish this exploitative system after independence and the steps taken, including establishing a committee that recommended reforms. However, zamindars challenged the abolition in court, requiring an amendment to the constitution to limit property rights. While the system's end benefited tenants, flaws in implementation allowed some zamindars to retain large landholdings. Tenancy reforms were also needed to regulate rents and provide security to tenants.

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Mohd.Zeeshan shaikh
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120 views

Advantages of Abolition of Zamindari System

The document discusses the zamindari system introduced under British rule in India where landowners collected taxes from tenants. It summarizes how the Congress party aimed to abolish this exploitative system after independence and the steps taken, including establishing a committee that recommended reforms. However, zamindars challenged the abolition in court, requiring an amendment to the constitution to limit property rights. While the system's end benefited tenants, flaws in implementation allowed some zamindars to retain large landholdings. Tenancy reforms were also needed to regulate rents and provide security to tenants.

Uploaded by

Mohd.Zeeshan shaikh
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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What is Zamindari system?

The British rule in India introduced permanent land revenue system which, over time,
became widely known as zamindari system. Under this system of land settlement, those who
agreed to pay a fixed sum of land revenue regularly to the British government were made the
owners of demarcated lands. They, in turn, collected whatever land revenue they wanted from
the actual tillers who were their tenants. The zamindari system created one of the worst
exploitative land relations in India and strengthened the feudal socio-economic system.
Role of Congress.
Zamindars became loyal supporters of British rule in India. This annoyed the Congress party,
which was mobilising the Indian masses against British rule. So, the Congress party declared
in one of its annual sessions that after independence it would support abolition of the
zamindari system. For achieving of this resolution, the Congress Agrarian Reforms
Committee was appointed under the chairmanship of J.C. Kumarappa, which recommended a
wide range of reforms in 1949. After independence the Congress government, under the
leadership of Jawaharlal Nehru, abolished the zamindari system. But since the Constitution
had guaranteed the right to property under Article 19, the zamindars approached the Supreme
Court, which ruled that the policy of abolition of the zamindari system violated the right to
property and was hence ultra vires of the Constitution. The Congress government amended
the Constitution to limit the scope of the right to property. Thus, a major institutional
/structural was achieved by abolishing the zamindari system of land relations.

ADVANTAGES OF ABOLITION OF ZAMINDARI SYSTEM.


 The abolition of intermediaries made almost 2 crore tenants the owners of the land
they cultivated.
 The abolition of intermediaries has led to the end of a parasite class. More lands have
been brought to government possession for distribution to landless farmers.
 A considerable area of cultivable waste land and private forests belonging to the
intermediaries has been vested in the State.
 The legal abolition brought the cultivators in direct contact with the government.

EXPLOITATION LOOPHOLES IN ACT


Nobody shed tears over the abolition of the zamindari system in India. However, the
zamindars’ lobby was still powerful at the state level to frustrate the main objective of this
land reform measure. There were, however, certain important weaknesses in the manner in
which some of the clauses relating to zamindari abolition were implemented in various parts
of the country. For example, in UP, the zamindars were permitted to retain lands that were
declared to be under their “personal cultivation.” What constituted “personal cultivation” was
very loosely defined making it possible for not only those who tilled the soil, but also those
who supervised the land personally or did so through a relative, or provided capital and credit
to the land, to call themselves a cultivator. Moreover, in states like UP, Bihar and Madras, till
land ceiling laws were introduced there was no limit on the size of the lands that could be
declared to be under the “personal cultivation” of the zamindar. This result that even
zamindars who were absentee landowners could now end up retaining large tracts of land.
TENANCY REFORMS
 After passing the Zamindari Abolition Acts, the next major problem was of tenancy
regulation.
 The rent paid by the tenants during the pre-independence period was exorbitant;
between 35% and 75% of gross produce throughout India.
 Tenancy reforms introduced to regulate rent, provide security of tenure and confer
ownership to tenants.
 With the enactment of legislation (early 1950s) for regulating the rent payable by the
cultivators, fair rent was fixed at 20% to 25% of the gross produce level in all the
states except Punjab, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Tamil Nadu, and some parts of
Andhra Pradesh.
 The reform attempted either to outlaw tenancy altogether or to regulate rents to give
some security to the tenants.
 In West Bengal and Kerala, there was a radical restructuring of the agrarian structure
that gave land rights to the tenants.

ISSUES
 In most of the states, these laws were never implemented very effectively. Despite
repeated emphasis in the plan documents, some states could not pass legislation to
confer rights of ownership to tenants.
 Few states in India have completely abolished tenancy while others states have given
clearly spelt out rights to recognized tenants and sharecroppers.
 Although the reforms reduced the areas under tenancy, they led to only a small
percentage of tenants acquiring ownership rights.
Literature review.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
http://www.isec.ac.in/JSED/JSED_V3_I2_179-198.pdf
https://niti.gov.in/planningcommission.gov.in/docs/reports/publications/pub1966land.pdf
https://charansingh.org/sites/default/files/1947%20Summary%20of%20Abolition%20of
%20Zamindari%20July-2020.pdf

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