Agricultural_ Land_ Transfers_ In_ Tamil Nadu

AGRICULTURAL LAND TRANSFERS IN TAMIL NADU

M THANGARAt!

!\ TW,S\S SUBfl~;TT"D Tel THE UNIVERSITY OF MYSORE FOR l'HE J):'Gi1EE OF DOCTeR CI' PHILOSOPHY IN ECONOMICS THROUGH THE II!STITUTE FOI~ SOCIAL & ECO;\10MIC CHANGE, BN~Gf\LOH[

1988

DECLAMTION "--'-~--- -

I declare that this thesis is the result of my own work and that it has not been either

wholly or in part submitted for any other degree.

The acknowledgements have been made wherever anything has been borrowed from other source.

, ~, !j'r

CERTIFICATE

I certi:fy that I have guided and supervised

the preparation and writing o:f the present thesis

entitled II Agricul tUl'al Land Transfers in Tamil Uadull

by 1f; Thangaraj, \"Iho vrorlwd on this subject in the Institute :for Social and Economic Change, Ban.:,alore,

from June 1982 to August 1988.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The present study entitled "Agricultural Land Transfers in Tamil Nadu" was undertaken at the

Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC), Bangalore. I started my work under the able guidance

of late Dr N D Kamble, ISEC, who unfortunately passed

away during the course of my work. I owe a great

sense of gratitude for him. Later I continued and completed my work under the supervision of

Dr V S Satyapriya, Associate Professor, ADRT Unit

of ISEC. His conceptual clarity and wide range of

knowledge on the subject has been an invaluable asset for the completion of this thesis. It is primarily

due to his interest and impeccable guidance that I

could accomplish my dissertation. I OWe to him a

very special and profound sense of gratitude.

I wish to express my sincere thanks to the

authori ties of tne ISEC for granting me a fellowship,

the Reserve Bank of India for their financial support,

and the authorities of the Universi ty of Mysore for

giving registration facilities. The Director, the

adminis trative and library staff of the Ins ti tute were kind and helpful to me in a number of ways. I

am grateful to all of them.

11

I wish to extend my heart-felt thanks to Dr V B Athreya, Dr G Nancharaiah and Dr A K Rama-

11ngam, for their detailed discussion on the various

aspects of my research work. I am thankful to

Dr Abdul Aziz and Dr P T George for their encouragement

and help.

I am grateful to my fellow Ph D students at

the Institute, who gave me constant encouragement.

In particular, my th anks are due to Desh pande, Gopina th.

Thomas, Shylendra, Rajasekaran, Rajendran, Ekambaram and Parthasarathy.

I express my profound thanks to the 366 res-pondents who willingly gave the detailed information

on which the study is based. I shall be failing in

my duty if I do not make mention of the numerous

Revenue Officials and the staff of the Sub-Registrar's

Office, who helped me in many respects. My thanks are

due to them.

I am also thankful to Mr N Boopathy for getting

the thesis typed neatly and efficiently, and to Mr B G

Kulkarni for drawing the map.

iii

The co-operation and moral support of my

family were vital and a great asset to my research

work. I am indebted to my parents and sisters who

have toiled in educating me from the beginning, I

am also grateful to my wife Mrs Nayagam Thangaraj, who constantly stood by me and gave encouragement

and financial support. Without their co-operation

and inspiration, it would have been difficult to

complete the dissertation.

M Thangaraj

CHAPTER CHAPTER

CHAPTER CHAPTER

CHAPTER

CHAPTER

CHAPTER

I II

III

IV

V

VI VII

I

II

CONTENTS

Aclmowledgemen ts Lis t of Tables

Introduction Land Tenure System and Selection of the Study Review of L1 terature

The Village Settlement

Area

Changing Pattern of Land Ownership

Agricultltral Land Transfers

Summary and Conclltsion

APPENDICES

Bibliography

Schedule

page No

1

17

47

71

95

117

207

218

Table No.

I.1

II.1

I1.2

11.3

I1.4

II.5

II.6

11.7

IV.1

IV.2 .

LIST OF TABLES

Distribution of Number and Area of Operational Holdings in 1970-71. 1976-77 and 1980-81

Progress of Tenancy Registration in 1973

Area Sown and Irrigated by Districts 1979-30

Distribution of Land by Tenurial System (1950-51) Exclusive of Tributory States (Acres) Net Area Irrigated to the Total Area by Taluks in Thanjavur District (1981-82) Net Area Irrigated to the Total Area by TalQ~s in Dharmapl~i District (1981-82) Number and Type of Agricultural Land Transfers in the Selected Villages Between 196'7 and 1983

Distribution of Respondents in the Selected Villages

Distribution of Population (Wet Village) Distribution of Population (Dry Village) Land Tenure System (Wet Village)

Page No.

4

24

38

39

45

46

75

76

77

(ii )

IV.4 Extent of Land Under Inams CI

VI. 1 Registration of Documents by Types of Land Transfers (Wet

120 Village) . VI. 2 Registration of Documents by

Types of Land Transfers (Dry 122 Village)

VI. 3 Distribution of Number and Area of Land Sales (Wet Village) 126

vr.4 Distribution of Number and Area of Land Sales (Dry Village) 130

VI. 5 Distribution of Extent of Land Sold and Land Value (Wet Village) 135

VI.6 Distribution of Extent of Land Sold and Land Value (Dry Village) 137

Vr.7 Distribution of Land Sales by Size (Acres) 139

VI. 8 Distribution of Buyers and Sellers by Caste Groups (Wet Village) 1 L;2

VI. 9 Distribution of Buyers and Sellers by Caste Groups (Dry Village) 143

VI.10 Distribution of Respondents By Religion (~let Village) 146

Vr.11 Distribution of Respondents By Religj.on (Dry Village)

147 VI.12 Distribution of Respondents

by Castes CIvet Village) 148

(iv)

VI.13 Distribution of Respondents 1 Lf9 by Castes (Dry Village) VI .14 Distribution of Respondents

by Residence (\'let Village) 150 VI.15 Distribution of Respondents

by Residence (Dry Village) 151 VI.16 Distribution of Buyers, Sellers,

etc. by Size of Family (\~et Village) 153

VI.17 Distribution of Buyers, Sellers, etc. by Size of Family (Dry Village) 154

VI.18 Distribution of Buyers, Sellers, etc. by the Number of Educated Persons in the Family (Wet

156 Village) VI.19 Distribution of Buyers, Sellers,

etc. by the Number of Educated Persons in the Family (Dry Village) . 157

VI.20 Distribution of Respondents by Tenurial Status (Wet Village) 159

VI.21 Distribution of Respondents by Tenur:Lal Status (Dry Village) 160

VI. 22 Distribution of Respondents by Size of the Land Owned (Wet Village) 162

VI.23 Distribution of Respondents by S:Lze of the Land O~med (Dry Village) 163

VI.24 Distr:Lbution of Area Operated and Number of Operators (Wet Village) 165

(v)

VI.25 Distribution of Pxea Operated and Nwnber of Operators (Dry

166 Village) . .

VI. 26 Number and Area of Landowned by Caste Groups (Wet Village) 168

Vr.27 Number and Area of Operational Holdings by Caste Groups (viet

170 Village) VI.28 Number a~d Area of Land O~~ed

by Caste Groups (Dry Village) 171 Vr.29 Number a~d Area of Operational

Holdings by Caste Groups (Dry Village) 173

,

VI. 30 Distribution of Land Owned Before Purchase or Sale of Land (Wet Vi.llage) 175

VI.31 Distribution of Land Owned Before Purchase or Sale of Land (Dry Village) 176

VI .32 Distribution of Buyers and Sellers by Caste Groups (Wet Village) 179

Vr.33 Distribution of Buyers and Sellers by Caste Groups (Dry Village)

. 180

VI.3i{ Distribution of Buyers and Sellers by Occupational status (Wet Village) 182

VI.35 Distribution 'of Buyers and Sellers by Occupational Status (Dry Village)

. 184

VI. 36 Distribution of Buyers and Sellers br Size of the Holdings Wet Village)

. 186

(vi)

Vr.37 Distribution of Buyers and Sellers by Size of the

188 Holdings (Dry Village) V1.38 Distribution of Buyers and

Sellers by Residence (Wet Village) 192

VI.39 Distribu.tion of Buyers and Sellers by Residence (Dry Village) 193

VI. 40 Distribution of Land Trans-fers by Relationship 196

V1.41 Redistribution of Land Through Ceiling Act. 198

V1.42 Reasons for Sale of Lands (viet Village) 199 V1.43 Reasons for Sale of Lands

(Dry Village) 201

. . .

LIST OF FIGURE~ Page No.

I!.1 Location of the Selected VL11ages in Tamil Nadu 42

V.1 Lorenz Curve Showing Distribution of Land Holdings (1896) (viet

104 Village) V.2 Lorenz Curve Showing Distribution

of Land Holdings (1972) (Wet Village) 105

V3 Lorenz Curve Showing Distribution of Land Holdings (1983) (Ivet

106 Village) V.4 Lorenz Curve Showing Distribution

of Land Holdings (1961) (Dry Village) 112

V.5 Lorenz Curve Showing Distribution of Land Holdings (1985) (Dry Village) 113

VI. 1 Number of Land Sales (Wet Village) 127

VI. 2 Extent of Land Sold (Acres) (\Vet Village) 128 VI. 3 Number of Land Sales (Dry

Village) 131 VI.4 Extent of Land Sold (Acres) (Dry Village) 132 VI. 5 Average Value of Land (Acre) (Wet Village) 136 vr.6 Average Value of Land (Acre) (Dry Village) 138

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Land continues to be an essential resource

in rural India. Given the limited nature, in terms

of extent, of this essential productive resource,

there is a continuous increase in the pressure of

ropulation depending on land for its livelihood.

Distribution of land continues to be skewed favouring

a small number of larger holdings. Land being an

important productive resource its distribution has

acquired an importance in any strategy for agricul-

tural development. The observed skewed distribution

of land at any given point of time in itself is con-sidered as an obstacle to the growth and establishment

of an egalitarian type of agr?~ian society. Advocates

of structural changes stress upon the changes in the

relative position of the different production units

as a pre-requisite for changing their attributes.

The structural changes in land holdings through

concentrated policy measures is expected to bring

about an egalitarian type of agrarian society and the

2

various land legislations are conceived and implemen-

ted towards the achievement of this broad objective. An assumption underlying these various policy

measures is that the working of a free and unregula-

ted land market over time would result in the

concentration of this productive asset. An undue

concentration of land ownership, it is argued, would

not only go against the establishment of an egalitarian

type of agrarian society but also in the process may

lead to many other economic and social problems parti-

cularly if those owning land shun cultivation. State

intervention or policy measures concerning land

reforms are based on the observed skewed distribution

of land holdings supported by intution and scattered

findings. To come to any judgement about the need for such state intervention it is imperative to have

a clear understanding of the processes and factors

that have given rise to the phenomenon.

The Agricultural Censuses for the years

1970-71, 1976-77 and 1980-81 show that the relative

position of agricultural holdings below 2 hectares

(5 acres) in the total number of holdings increased

3

from 70 per cent in 1970-71 to 73 per cent in 1976-77

and to 75 per cent in 1980-81. The share of these

holdings in the total operated area also increased

from 21 per cent in 1970-71 to 24 per cent in

1976-77 and to 26 per cent in 1980-81. The average

size of these holdings was 0.68 hectares in 1970-71,

0.64 hectares in 1976-77 and 0.65 hectares in 1980-81, against the average size of operated area of 2.28

hectares, 2.00 hectares and 1.84 hectares in the

three periods respectively. On the other hand the

proportion of large holdings i.e., above 10 hectares

decreased from 3.9 per cent in 1970~71 to 3 per cent

in 1976-77 and to 2.4 per cont in 1980~81. Their

share in the operated area also decreased from 30.9

per cent in 1970-71 to 26.2 per cent in 1976-77 and

to 23 per cent in 1980-81. The average size of

these holdings also decreased from 18.10 hectares to

17.57 hectares and to 17.41 hectares respectively

during these periods. The Gini coefficients of the

distribution of land holdings also marginally declined

from 0.6387 in 1970-71 to 0.6141 in 1976~77 and to

0.6040 in 1980-81 (Table 1.1).

Table 1.1 Distribution of Number and ~xea of Operational Holdings in 1970-71, 1976-77 and 1930-81

Category of holdings No.of holdings ('000) Area operated(IOOO hectares) and size group 1970-71 1976-77 1980-81 1970-71 1976-77 1980-81

Marginal 36200 44523 50122 14559 17509 19735 (Less than 1 Ha.) (51.0) (54.6) (56.4) (9.0) (10.7) (12,1) Small 13432 14728 16072 19282 20905 23169

(1~0 to 2.0 Ha.) (18.9) (18.1 ) (18.1) (11.9) (12.8) (14.1) Semi-medium 10681 11666 12455 29999 32428 34645 (2,0 to 4.0 Ha.) (15.0) (14,3) (14.0) (18.5) (19.9) (21.2) Medium 7932 8212 8068 48234 49628 48543 (4.0 to 10.0 Ha.) (11.2) (10,1) (9.1 ) (29.7) (30.4) (29.6) Large 2766 2440 2166 50064 42873 37705 (10.0 Ha. and above) (3.9) (3.0) (2.4) (30.9) (26.2) (23.0)

71011 81569 88883 162138 163343 163797 Total (100.0) (100.U) (100.0) (100.0) (100.0) (100-

5

The above figures unmistakably suggest a

relative improvement in the distribution of land

holdings, in terms of share in the operated area, in

favour of the small and marginal farms against large

farms.

How for these relative gains recorded by mar-

ginal and small farms was a genuine result of land

reform measures implemented by the government and. how

far this was due to conscious circumventing of land

reform laws by the large land holders and/or was simply

due to demographic compulsions and economic factors is

difficult to sort out from the secondary data. "In

fact, nowhere in the world have land reform legislat-

ion been so vOluminous as in India, but nowhere else

were there so many 'loopholes' left in the enactments

enabling the vested interests to defeat the spirit of law and exploit them to their own purposes".1

The various land reform measures that are

believed to bring about a change in the agrarian

1 H D Malaviya, Land Situation in India and the Korean Example, quoted in Eashvaraiya. Political Dimension of Land Reforms in India, Ashish Pub~ -fishing House, l\Jew tleIfil-;-l985. p. 3.

.. -

6

structure towards a lesser unequal distribution of the land resource cover broadly; (a) abolition of zamindari and inamdari tenures, (b) fixation of ceilings on agricultural land holdings, (cl distribu-tion of the surplus land consequent to the fixation

of ceilings on land holdings, (d) regularisation of tenancy and fixation of fair rent and (e) reorgani-sation of agricultural land holdings such as consoli-

dation of holdings, prevention of fragmentation of

holdings, etc.

Reduction in the inequality of ownership of

land attempted through the various land reform measures

is considered as a basic prerequisite to solving the

agrarian problems. Despite the implementation of the

various land reform measures and notwithstanding the

observed shifts in the distribution of land holdings

inequality in its distribution still persists. The

operation of the tenancy reforms, as in some states

where tenant cultivation was completely abolished and

ownership rights conferred on the actual cultivators,

would bring about a change in the distribution of

ownership holdings, but the "distribution of

7

operational holdings would remain more or less unchanged due to the operation of this law. Distri-bution of surplus land consequent to the fixation of ceiling on land holdings would have an immediate impact on the size and organisation of the agricul-

tural production tlni ts. The impact would, however,

depend upon the availability of such surpltls lands.

These have far reaching implication for the strategy

for agricultural development. Apart from distributive

justice, an avowed objective of land reforms was the productivity criterion. This is related to the self-

cultivation element implied in the land reform

measures. A decline in the tenant operated area and

the subsequent raise in owner operated area with a

regularised tenancy system would result in better

attention to the land and a higher level of technolo-gical input in the form of seeds and fertilisers.

The structural change that has taken place

favouring an increase in the number of small holdings

and a reduction in the number and area operated by

large farms would however, continue. Apart from the

st.ate administered measures to bring about change in

I:J

the structure of land ownership, the fac~ors that

lead to changes in land ownership may be broadly

classified under economic forces and the growing

population pressure which may be termed as economic

and demographic factors.

In South Asian countries like India, Ceylon,

etc., land tends to pass mainly to wealthier persons

Who draw most of their income from non-agricultural

pursuits. 2 "Indeed, the overwhelming proportion of

land transfers shifted titles from agriculturists to

non-agriculturists. Merchants, non-cultivating land

owners and white-collar workers together bought 76

por cent of all the land transferred by sa1e". 3 With

increasing population pressure on the limited land

resource tile accumulation of land by the rich may be

possible only through poorer quality lands. But with

increasing commercialisation of the agricultural

sector through green revolution and the modernisation

2 Gunnar Iv\yrdal, Asian Drama; An Inguiry into the povert~ of Nations, Vol. II, Penguin Books, 1968, p. 105

3 N K Sarkar and Jabiah, "The DiSintegrating Village" quoted in Gunnar Myrdal, Asian Drama: An 1! nguiry into the Poverty of Na tion s, Vol. II, Penguin Books, 1968, p. 1050.

9

of the non-agricultural sector, it is more likely

that the richer or the relatively richer peasants

tend to invest in the non-agricultural sector which

promises a higher and definite return for their

investment relative to the agricultural sector. If

this judgement is tenable then it is more likely that while the poor get richer through accumulation of

land resource, the rich also may get richer not by accumulation of land resource but through returns

for investments in non-agricultural pursuits. When

the relative prosperity of the peasants is measured through the extent of ownership of land, the major productive resource of the rural economy, then it may turn out that a few small farmers may move-up the scale including those who did not own any land earlier and the relatively large may stay at the same

level if not a few losing land. This tendency is

particularly so in the context of the various land

legislation measures which have an accent on creating

more and more of small farms through confirmation of

ownership rights on tenant farmers and fixing ceiling

on the land holding size. A problem that a researcher

would face in this context is separating out the

10

impact of the various factors operating simulta-

neously.

Systematic analysis on the subject of land transfers are lacking. The validity of the results of

the available studies for generalisations applicable

to wider geographic areas are of a dubious nature.

This is precisely because of the heterogenous character

of the agricultural region and the large number of

factors operating in the rural society simultaneously

in bringing about changes in the structure of land

holdings. This lays emphasis on the need for detailed

investigations specific to area types.

It is in this broad perspective the present study on land transfers in Tamil Nadu is viewed.

Using micro-level data relating to two different

village types in Tamil Nadu the study attempts to

examine the land transfers taking place.in the two

villages over a period of fifteen years and their

impact on the structure of land holdings focussing on

the two major factors - economic and demographic _ leading to such land transfers. The present analysis

need to be viewed in the overall policy context y

11

While the question of generalisation valid for wider

geographic areas based on micro-level data still

remains unanswered, even so policy measures aimed

at bringing about structural changes in land holdings

may have to consider the factors operating outside

the frame of policy measures.

Specifically the present study makes an

attempt to examine land transfers in two villages

under different agro-climatic settings, land tenure

systems and population pressures or densities, covering:

1) the distribution of land holdings at the aggregated level of the village over a period of

time and

2) changes in land ownership taking place over time in the selected villages using the sample

data. Keeping in mind the two broad factors leading

to changes in the ownership of land holdings the

analysis examines land transfers through (1) sale i.e., operation of land market (economic factors) and (2) partitions and other transfers resulting mainly from population pressures (demographic factors) and relating these transfers to the class of peasants,

12

their caste and other demographic and social

characters.

Study Area:

In the light of the above presentation and

the time and other resource constraints of an indi-

vidual research scholar, the study is confined to

two villages selected from the State of Tamil Nadu.

The operation of different land tenure system and the

two different agro-climatic settings with varying

population densities offered an opportunity to examine

in greater detail the objectives set forth in the study. Of the two selected villages one was a highly

irrigated village from a highly irrigated district

while the other was a least irrigated village from

the least irrigated district in the state. The land tenure system operating in these villages was also

different until the introduction of the Madras Estates (Abolition and Conversion into Ryotwari) Act of 1948 and the Ta.mil Nadu Inam Abolition Act 1963. The wet

village (irrigated villag0was selected from Thanjavur district and the unirrigated or dry village from the district of Dharmapuri.

13

Data:

In keeping with the objectives of the study, two sets of data were required: (1) distribution of land holdings in the selected villages over a period

of time, and (2) data on land transfers with details of the nature of transfers, buyers and sellers.

These data were collected from the various

offices of the revenue department at the district,

taluk and village levels. Using the basic informat-

ion available at the Sub-Registrar's Office on land transfers, a list of buyers and sellers of land was

prepared for each of the selected villages. The

detailed information from these buyers and sellers of

land (recorded in the Sub-Registrar's Office) was collected through canvassing a structured questio-

nnaire which included questions on the size and

composition of the households, their socio-economic

background, tenurial status and change in the owner-

ship,of land. However, all those listed in the sale!

purchase transactions could not be contacted for

various reasons like outmigration, residence outside

the sample village and non-availability of the

14

respondents during the course of investigation, etc.

Distribution of land holdings at the village

level relates to three points in time, 1896, 1961

Rnd 1983 for the wet village while for the dry

village these relate to 1961 and 1985. Details on

land transfers for both the villages cover the period

1967 to 1983. Interviewing of the respondents was

carried on during the last and first quarter of 1984

and 1985 respectively.

Ol::

15

(i) secondary data at the village level, (ii) primary data (sample households), and (d) method of analysis.

A review of the literature pertaining to

changing structure of land holdings and land transfers

is presented in Chapter Three. For convenience of

presentation the available literature relating to

changes in the structure of land holdings and trans-

fers are broadly grouped under two headings on the

basis of their data base and coverage : (a) studies relying on secondary macro level data collected by

government and other agencies and (b) studies carried out by individual scholars based on primary/secondary

data at the regional or village level or micro level

studies relating to changes in structure of land

holdings and land transfers. The broad suggestions

or conclusions that emerge from these studies is also

presented in this chapter to reinforce the need for

the type of the present study.

The Chapter Four on village settlements pre-

senting certain broad features of the selected

villages in terms of the revenue settlement, land

'.

16

area, population, the land tenure system, etc., is

designed to serve as a background for the data

analysis presented in the later chapters. Two

chapters, Chapter Five and Chapter Six are devoted

to the data analysis. In Chapter Five the village

level data on land holdings are examined in some

detail discussing mainly the changes in the structure

of land holdings in the light of the differing agro-

climatic factors of the selected villages and other

attributes. Chapter Six presents the analysis of the

data on land transfers that had taken place during

the period 1967-83 in the selected villages along

with the analysis of the data collected from those

involved in the sale/purchase of land. The discussion

is carried out keeping in view the factors contribut-

ing to land transfers and the class or type of holdings

involved in such transactions. Chapter Seven

summarises the discussions in the earlier chapters

and presents the broad suggestions or conclusions

that emerge from the analysis.

CHAPTER II

.hAND TENURE SYSTEM AND SELECTION OF THE STUDY AREA

This chapter is broadly divided into two

sections. In section one, the land tenure system in

Tamil Nadu is highlighted. The discussion in this

section centres around the abolition of Zamindari

and Inamdari system, fixation of ceiling on land

holdings, and tenancy reform. Selection of the study

area, methodology adopted and the nature of data are

discussed in section two. The presentation in sect-

ion two more specifically relates to the salient

features of the selected districts in respect of the

land tenure system, the selection of districts, taluks,

villages and households, nature of data and scope of the study.

I Land Tenure Systems in Tamil Nadu~ Basically three types of land tenure systems,

i This section draws heavily on (1) G Venkataramani, Land Reforms in Tamil Nadu, Sangam Publishers, Madras, 1973, (2) K S Sonachalam, Land Reforms in Tamil Nadu : Evaluation of Implementation 6xfora & ISH Publishing Co., New Delhi, 1970, (3J Govern-ment of India, Report of the National Commission on !\qriculture, 19"'ib, Part XV, Agra.!'ian Reforms, Ministry of Agriculture ana Irrigation, Wew Delhi, -1976.

18

namely, (1) Zamindari; (ii) Inamdari; and (iii) Ryotwari were prevalent in Tamil Nadu.

(i) Zamindari Tenure:

The word "Zamindar" literally means a land

holder. Under this system, the zaminda~ had no pro-

perty title to the lands under his control and acted

only as an intermediary between the cultivators and

the government for purposes of collecting the land

revenue. For shouldering these responsibilities he

was granted 10 per cent of the collection of land 2 revenue. He was exempted from paying land revenue

on the lands cultivated by himself.

The zamindar was appointed to hold office for

his life-time or at the will and pleasure of the

rulers. They slowly increased their power and conso-

lidated the zamindari into a hereditary right. With

their. power, the zamindars had opportunities to buy-up

farmlands that had been hypothecated to them and

extended this practice slowly to assume possession of

? G Venkataramani, 0p. cit., p. 7.

19

other lands under their control in default of rent

payments when they were in arrears.

(ii) Inamdari Tenure:

'Inam' means a gift. Under this system, free

assignment of land was given to certain persons

either for their services during war or any other

services to the government. The ~ lands were

exempted from payment of land revenue. The title to

the land was heriditary and such inams were alienable.

This practice was in vogue in ancient Tamil Monorchies,

prior to Muslim rule. Poets and military personnel

were normally the recipients of such inams. The prac-

tice of gifting lands, however, continued upto the

British Government in India.

(iii) Ryotwari Tenure:

Under BYotwari tenure system, the Ryot or the

cultivator had the right to hold the land as long as

he paid the land revenue to the government. There

was no intermediary between the cultivator and the

20

government under this system as regards payment of

land revenue.

A new agrarian policy was initiated to reorga-

nise the existing land tenure system. The land reform

legislations starting with the Zamindari Abolition

Act, 1948; Inam Abolition Act, 1963; Protection of

Tenants Act, 1955; Fixation of Fair Rent Act, 1956;

the Record of Tenants Act, 1969, and the Imposition

of Ceiling on Land Holdings Act. 1961. were aimed at

bringing about certain institutional changes to

restructure the agrarian system.

Tenure Abolition Act:

The Abolition of Zamindari and Inamdari Tenure

Acts [The Madras Estates (Abolition and Conversion into Ryotwari) Act, 1948 and the TamiL Nadu ~nam Estates (Abolition and Conversion into Ryotwari) Act,

196~. were major steps to bring about a homogeneous system of land (Ryotwari) tenure allover the state of Tamil Nadu. In 1948, there were 5092 estates extending

21

over an area of 11,439 square miles. These estates

included all zamindari and inamdari lands in the

state. Apart from these, there were 13,565 minor

inam (personal and service inams) villages. The abolition of intermediaries enabled the government to

eliminate rack-renting and fix !YD~ari assessment on

these lands. The Estate Abolition Act provided for

payment of compensation to the ~amindars on a graded

scale of their net income as shown below.

Annual net income class upto Rs. 1000 30 times the annual net income

Annual net income Rs.1001 to 3000 25 times the annual net income

Annual net income Rs.3001 to 20000 20 times the annual net income

Annual net income Rs.20001 to 50000 17.5 times the annual net income

Annual net income Rs.50001 to 100000 15 times the annual net income

Annual net income Rs o 100000 12.5 times the and above annual net income

Tenancy Reforms:

To regulate the rent and to protect the unlawful

22

Qviction of tenants, the Tamil Nadu Cultivating Tenants Protection (from Eviction) Act, 1955 was passed. The Act envisages to (i) protect the tenants from unlawful eviction, with retrospective effect.

from 1st December 1953; (ii) enable the restoration of land to the tenants; (iii) permit resumption of land by the owner under certain specified conditions.

The fair rent was fixed by the Madras Culti-

vating Tenants (payment of fair rent) Act, 1956, based on the level of irrigation to protect the

farmers from being exploited by the land owners. The

relevant provisions of this Act are given below:

1. With effect from October 1, 1956 every

cultivating tenant shall be bound to pay, the land

owner shall be entitled to collect from the tenant

fair rent payable under this Act.

2. Fair rent shall be (a) in the case of wet land 40 per cent of the gross produce; (b) in the case of wet land, where the irrigation is supplemented

by lifting water, 35 per cent of gross produce, (e) in case of any other class of land 33.33 per cent of the

gross produce.

23

3. The fair rent may be paid either in cash

or in kind or partly in cash and partly in kind according to the terms of contract between the land-

lord and the tenant. In the absence of any such

contract the fair rent may be paid at the option of

the cultivating tenant.

4. Constitution of Rent Courts and Rent TJ:ibunals has also Deen provided for in the Act.

The Record of Tenants Act, 1969:

The Madras Agricultural Lands Record of Tenants

Act was adopted with a view to regulating the working

of other Acts, intended to protect the tenants. The

implementation of the Act involved in the preparation

of a record of tenants in the state. This Act enables

the government to maintain a list of actual tenants so

that the intermediary landholders would not be bene-

fitted by the measures that were meant to protect the

rights of tenants. The following table (Il.1) presents the progress of implementation of this Act upto April, 1973.

24

Table II.1 Progress of Tenancy Registration in 1973

Number Percentage District of of

tenants tenants

-1 Thanjavur 1,24,393 32.02 2 Thirunelveli 64,891 16.70

3 Thiruchirapalli 57,909 14.91

.::- Madurai 35,880 9.24

5 North Arcot 31,559 8.12

6 Ramanathapuram 15,146 3.90

7 Coimbatore 12,574 3.24

8 Chengleput 11,738 3.02

9 South Arcot 11,626 2.99

-10 Salem 8,883 2.29

11 Dharmapuri 8,804 2.27

12 Kanyakumari 3,891 1.00

13 Nilgiris 1,189 0.31

Total 3,88,483 100.00

Source: G Venkataramani, Land Reforms in Tamil Nadu, Sangam ~ublishers, Madras, 1973, pp. 55-56.

25

Highest number of tenants was recorded in

Thanjavur district which happens to be a highly irri-gated tract, and also a district selected for the

present study. Dharmapuri district which has a rela-

tively very low level of irrigation accounted for

about 2.27 per cent of the tenants, which was also

selected for the present study. A comparison of the

data on percentage of tenants and the percentage of

net area irrigated to the net area sown (Table 11.2) shows that there appears to be a positive association

between the extent of tenancy and level of irrigation.

Ceilinq on Land Holdings:

Ceiling on Land Holdings Act was enacted to

reduce the inequality in the distribution of land

holdings. The preamble to the 1961 Act of Ceiling

on Land Holdings states:

Whereas under the clauses (b) and (c) of Article 39 of the Constitution of India, the state

Silould, in particular, direct its policy towards

securing the ownership and control of the material

26

resources of the community so as to subserve the

common good and that the operation of the economic

system does not result in the concentration of wealth

Jnd means of production to the common detriment;

And whereas the area of agricultural land avail-

ahle for cultivation in the state is limited;

And whereas there is great disparity in the

ownership of agricultural land leading to the concen-

tration of such land in the hands of certain persons;

And whereas it is necessary to reduce such dis-

parity in the ownership of agricultural land in

the state;

And whereas it is necessary to fix a ceiling on

the agricultural land holdings;

And whereas it is necessary to acquire the agri-

cultural land in excess among the rural population

and distribute it to the landless;

And whereas such distribution will best subserve

27

the common good, increase agricultural production

and promote justice, social and economic.

Ceiling on land holdings was fixed by the

Madras Land Reforms (Fixation of Ceiling on land Iloldings) Act, 1961. According to this Act, a family consisting of not more than five members can hold

land upto 30 standard acres. In the case of families

consisting of more than five members, allowance was

made for five standard acres for every additional

IllGmber in excess of five to a limit of 60 standard

acres. The ceiling limit was lowered by the Madras

l.and Reform (Reduction of Ceiling on Land Holdings) (Amendment) Act, 1972 to 15 standard acres for a family of five members and the overall ceiling limit

to 30 standard acres for a family above this size.

The fixation of ceiling on land Act, 1961 came into

force with retrospective effect from April 6, 1960 and

covered the entire Madras state, except the hill areas.

The level of ceiling for other items are given

below.

(1) For an affiliated college - 40 standard

28

acres; (2) for a high school - 20 standard acreSj (3) for an elementary school - 10 standard acres; and (4) for students hostel, polytechnic, agricultu-ral school or orphanage - 25 standard acres.

Exemptions were given mainly in line with

National Guidelines. The Act exempted the following

items ..

(1) The land held by central and state govern-ment; (2) land held by any university by any law; (3) land held by commercial undertakings; (4) all plantations in existance on the date of the commence-

ment of this Act; (5) land converted on or before the first day of July 1959 into orchards or topes or areca-

nut gardens; (6) any land used for growing fuel trees on the date of the commencement of this Actj (7) Gramdan and land donated for purpose of the Bhoodan Yagna;

(8) land awarded for gallantry to defence personnel; and (9) any land assigned by the government to and held by, and land colonisation co-operative

society.

The abolition of the Zaminda~ Act provided

an incentive to the tillers to improve their cultivation

29

because, the exploitation by the intermediary, who

collected exhorbitant rent, was put to an end. Under

the Inam Abolition Act, 1:nam was abolished and the

government started collecting land revenue from the

Inamdar. But the implementation of these Acts did

not alter the operational holdings as the same culti-

vator continued to cultivate the land he was cultiva-

ting earlier by this Act.

The Tenancy Act provides cultivating right

to the tiller and fixed a fair rent and protected the

tenant from illegal eviction. The implementation of

tllis Act also did not alter the ownership as well as

operational holdings as this Act was not intended to

change the land ownership. Moreover, the tenancy Act

of 1955 facilitated the landlords to resume the land

for personal cultivation. The landlords could evict

the tenants by this provision. 3

Ceiling on land holdings Act was enacted to

reduce concentration of land holdings and redistri-

bute the surplus land to the landless, small and

marginal farmers. The impact of this Act in reducing

3 See K S Sonachalam, ~ cit. p.47.

30

tIle inequalities in land holding was only nominal.

TIle extent of land available for distribution con-

sequent to the fixation of ceiling was very low

because of the large number of exemptions, a high

level of ceiling limit and the provision to hold

more land, if the family members exceed five. The standard Acre, as defined in the law enabled a

family to hold land to a greater extent. 4 "The

retrospective effect of these Acts did not extend

for more than two years into the past. This made

possible all kinds of benami transactions by those

who were able to anticipate and evade relevant pro-

visions of the law in actual working".5

An estlmate6 shows that the actual distri-

bution of surplus land had no perceptible impact in

altering the distribution pattern of land holdings.

The particulars of the implementation of the

4 See G Venkataramani, op. cit., p. 23.

5 G Venkataramani, ~, p. 114.

6 G Venkataramani, Ibid, p. 66.

31

ceiling on land as on July 1, 1972 is given below:

'Area notified as surplus

Extent taken possession of

Extent assigned

38,043 acres

28,104 acres

20,977 acres I ~ 7

The above data reveal that about half of the

area notified as surplus could not be assigned. This

was due to judicial stay orders obtained by aggrieved land owners and due to inherent administrative delays.

Looking at the various land legislative

measures and their working, their impact on altering

the structure of land holdings appear to be of a very

limited nature. The major factors as indicated earlier, contributing to the observed changes in the distribu-

tion of land holdings could be identified as the

population pressure and the economic factors as ref-

lected in the extent of land sales.

7 G Venkataramani, Ibid, p. 44-45.

32

II Selection of the Study Area:

In this section, the methodology adopted for

the selection of districts, taluks, villages and

Jlouseholds, and the nature and sources of data, the

salient features of the selected districts in rela-

tion to the land tenure system are presented.

As the main issue of the present study is to

o~2mine the nature of land transfers taking place,

outside the state administered policy measures, the

direction was on land transfers caused by sales and

oLJlers like land partitions etc. The operation of

tJlese factors, it may be hypothesised, would be

greatly influenced by the land tenure system that

prevailed and the agro-climatic factors of a given

region or area. To bring out explicity the bearing,

if any, of these factors on the nature of land trans-

fers, it was thought meaningful to select two regions

(districts in the present case) that were divergent in the above respects. As a meaningful approach for

demarcating two different type of situations, level

of irrigation, by districts, was considered. Thus

adopting the level of irrigation as the basic criterion,

33

the districts, taluks and villages were selected.

Two villages, one from a highly irrigated district

and one from a district with the lowest level of

irrigation V\ere to be selected. The details of the

selection of the various units are presented below.

Selection of Districts:

The first step in the selection of the villages

was to identify the highly irrigated and least irri-

gated districts. This was done by ordering the

districts on the basis of the proportion of net

cropped area irrigated. The relevant data are pre-

sented in Table 11.2. Of the 16 districts in the state, Thanjavur had highest proportion (86.6 per cent) of cropped area irrigated. The least irrigated

district chosen was Dharmapuri with 18.9 per cent of its net cropped area under irrigation. Hence, this

district was selected for our study. Though the

Nilgiris District had the least irrigation, it was

not chosen because of its hilly terrain, predominance

of plantation crops, highest amount of precipitation

relative to other districts in Tamil Nadu.

34

Table II.2 Area Sown and Irrigated by Districts 1979-80

Sl Districts % of net area irrigated !~o to net sown area

1 Thanjavur 86.6 2 Chengleput 81.7 .3 South Arcot 60.4 "! Pudukottai 52.0 ::, North Arcot 51.3 6 Periyar 50.6 7 Ramanadapuram 41.7 8 Madurai 41.5

9 Tirunelveli 39.5 10 Coimbatore 39.0 'Ii Tiruchirappalli 36.2 12 Kanyakumari 35.9 13 Salem 34.7 14 Dharmapuri 18.9 15 The Nilgiris 7.0 16 Madras

Source: Department of Statistics, Statistical Handbook of Tamil Nadu, Ma~ras. 1981, p. 162.

,-), -

35

band Tenure System (Selected D~strlcts):

Before going into the selection of taluks

and villages, it may be in order to present some of

the salient features of the selected districts in

regard to the land tenure system. It may be seen

from Table 11,3 that Ryotwari system was the major feature of the agrarian economy of the selected

districts, Land under Ryotwari tenure was about

78 per cent in Thanjavur District while it was 72 per cent in Dharmapuri District during 1950-51 around the

Lime of the abolition of the zamindari system. Though

about 75 per cent of the land area was arable in

Thanjavur District in actually only about 68 per cent was under actual cultivation, that is,area cropped

including fallows and in the case of the dry district

Dharmapuri, these proportions were 55 per cent and 45

per cent respectively,

~election of Taluks:

Using the same criterion adopted for the

selection of the districts, one taluk from each of

I S [: C Ur.r.'lr;y. GAJI:CflLO[;{ ~C:'; r: ~\i8 ~L_ ~_~

.2.. \ {)

Table 11.3

Districts

Di~.Lr;but;on 0': L'~nd Bv Te.,u,ial r\l::::-L_- (;c~O-51) 'C v r-lu'-i-:e 0: _ l. _ _ .... c ~ ". _ _ Cl J _ Lt::Ld .',..... ~n.-,_ ..::>_ .I.

Tributory stat~ (Acres)

Ryot-waril Govern-ment

Inams Zamin-dari Total

Total arable area (Ryot-\\'ari, Inam & Zamin-dari)

Area in occupa-tion (Cropped area + fallows)

Percentage of area in occupation to the total areable area

1 Thanjavur 1875579 (78.39)

311018 (13.00)

206007 2392604 (8.61) (100,0)

1800958 1617943 90

2 Dharmapuri-:1- 1608665 (72.05)

98814 524327 2232806 ( 4.47) (23.48) (100.0)

1222812 1010139 83

Note: Figures in the bracket indicate the percentages.

"*

Source:

The data have been derived from the Salem District, as the Dharmapuri District was under the undivided Salem District before bifurcation.

Government of Madras, Statistical Atlas of the Madras State, Fasli 1360, (1950-51), Department of Statistics, pp.240-241 and 418-419.

w a-

37

these districts was selected. Details regarding the

level of irrigation by taluks for the two selected

districts are presented in Tables 11.4 and 11.5.

Accordingly, Nannilam taluk with highest irrigation

from Thanjavur District and Denkanikottah taluk with least irrigation from Dharmapuri District were

selected.

~election of Villages:

The selection of the sample Villages was not

as straight forward as in the case of the selection

of the districts or taluks. While keeping the level

of irrigation as the criterion for the selection of

Villages, factors like availability of the relevant

land records, their accessibility and terrain were

to be considered while selecting the villages. The

basic information regarding the location of the

villages and the level of irrigation were obtained

from the relevant records at the taluk office.

According to the records maintained at the

i'iannilam taluk (hereafter referred to as wet taluk) there were 150 revenue villages. And all the revenue

38

Table 11.4 Net Area Irrigated to the Total Area b) Taluks in Thanjavur District (1981~82

Area measured Net irri- % of Sl Taluks by geographi~ gated cohlmn No cal surveyor area (in 3 to 2 (in Hectares) hectares) (1 ) (2) (3) (4)

'1 Hannilam 49532 40776 82 .-, Tharangambadi 31278 23738 76 :i Valangaiman 25441 18657 73 -'~ Needamangalam 22987 16626 72 :;, Kudavasal 25771 18412 71 () Thiruvarur 31065 22214 71 7 Mannargudi 55128 38200 69 8 Thiruvidai

Maruthur 27111 18642 69 9 Papanasam 33632 22845 68 10 Thirllthurai-

poondi 45234- 30591 67 '1'1 Mayuram 41884 26896 64 12 Kllmbakonam 27751 17339 62 13 Thiruviarll 27183 16878 62 14 Orathanadll 58175 35041 60 15 Peravureni 28441 16093 57 16 Sirkali 44196 2503'1 57 n Nagappattinam 31087 17533 56 18 Pattukkottai 71247 36949 52 19 Thanjavllr 60835 19986 33 20 Vedaranyam 83268 11547 14

Total 821246 473994 58

Source: District Statistical Office, Season and Crop Report: Thanjavur District (Fasli 1391), 1981-82 ('G' Return), Thanjavur.

39

Table II. 5 Net Area Irrigated to the Total Area by Taltlks in Dharmapuri District (1981-82)

Area measured Net irri- % of ::;1 Taluks by geographi- gated column No cal surveyor area(in 3 to 2 (in Hectares) hectares) ( 1 ) (2) (3) (4)

'i Palacode 96180 11233 11.7

/.. Harur 172002 20016 11.6

3 J-losur 1525

40

villages are not necessarily be inhabited villages.

After ordering the villages by their level of irri-

grttion, it was found that the highest irrigated

village (Adambar Ukkadai) turned out to be an uninhabited village. Similarly in the case of the

next highest irrigated village (Vadagudi), it was [(lund that the relevant land records pertaining to this village were not available. This non-availability

of records was attributed to the change in the

administration of villages i.e. the abolition of the

traditional ~unsiff system. The next highest irri-

gated village namely, Nilakudi (hereafter referred Lo as wet village) with 97.4 per cent of cropped area un~er irrigation was selected after consulting the

concerned Village Administrative Officer (VAO) regard-ing the availability of detailed recorded information

on land holdings, etc. pertaining to this village.

In Denkanikottah Taluk (hereafter referred to as dry taluk), there were 84 villages, with 11 villages having no irrigation. Of these villages

with no irrigation facility 10 villages were not

easily accessible, because of their location in the

41

reserved forest area or on its periphery and were

left out of the list. And one village viz.,

Rayakottah also was not selected because of its urban

characteristics. The next least irrigated village viZ.,

Nallur (hereafter referred to as dry village) with 1.11 per cent of cropped land under irrigation was

selected. The location of the selected districts/

taluks/villages is shown in the Figure II.1.

The Data:

To examine the changes in the ownership of

land holdings over time, the relevant information

regarding the distribution of land holdings pertaining

to the selected villages was obtained from the

records maintained at the District Collector's Office

and Revenue Offices at the taluk and village levels.

The time period for which the data were available

from these sources was not uniform for the two selec-

ted villages. In the case of the selected wet village

the relevant information was available for the year

1896 from the Survey and Settlement Register giving

the distribution of land holdings by the name of the

land owner. The Resurvey and Settlement Record

('

? o Dh

43

pertaining to the year 1925 did not contain the name

of the owners of land. Hence size class distribu-

tion of land holdings could not be obtained for

this year. Information on distribution of indivi-

dual land holding was collected for the two later

time periods, 1972 and 1983 from the chitta register

Inailltained at the village level.

In the case of the dry village the earliest

time period for which information on the size distri-

bution of land holdings was available for the year

1961. As this village was under the Zamindari

system, such recorded information prior to 1961 was

not available. The data also have been collected from

tIle Authorised Officer, Land Reforms, with regard to

tile re-distribution of land to the beneficiaries.

Data on land transfers and value of land

pertaining to the period 1967 to 1983 was collected

from the Sub-Registrar's Office. The reason for

selecting 1967 was that only from 1967 onwards the

Index II Register was available with the Sub-Registrar's

Office. The choice of the terminal year 1983 happened

to be the latest year for which data.was available at

44

the time of the survey. The Index II register

maintained at the Sub-Registrar's Office contained

the following information: (i) nature (dry or wet) of land, (ii) name of the claimants, (iii) name of the executants, (iv) value of land etc. A struct-ured questionnaire was used to collect the necessary

data from the buyers and sellers of land. The

various aspects covered in the schedule were:

(1) demographic composition of the households, (2) details on land holdings including tenurial status, (3) occupation, (4) caste, (5) changes in the land holdings, etc. A pilot study was carried out in

the selected villages before finalising the ques-

tionnaire. The data from the selected respondents

was collected in the last quarter of 1984 in the case of the wet village and in the first quarter of 1985

in the case of the dry village. A copy of the

schedule is given in the appendix.

Primary Data:

Since the main objective of the study was to

45

examine the changing pattern of land ownership, the

data from all the buyers and sellers of land was

required. The actual number of land transfers in

the selected wet and dry villages is shown below

(Table 11.6).

As evident from the above figures a large

majority of land transfers are through sales. It was intended to contact all the individuals connected

TLlble 11.6

I

Number and Type of Agricultural Land Transfers in the Selected Villages Between 1967 and 1983

I I I I I i Village :Sales:Lease:Mort-: Gifts:Parti-:Others :Total type I I :gages: \tions I , I I I I

I I I I I I

Wet vi.llage 176 74 4 5 20 279

Dry village 401 62 203 62 13 5 746

46

with the land sales. However, this could not be

done for reasons like the non-availability of the

respondents who had left the village, and other

reasons. Only 125 respondents in the wet village,

and 241 in the dry village could be contacted. The

category to which the respondents belonged to is

shown in the Table 11.7.

Table 11.7

Village type

Wet village

Dry village

Total

Distribution of Respondents in the Selected Villages

Buyers Sellers Buyers & Buyers Total sellers sellers

& others

67 29 25 4 125

78 60 47 56 241

145 89 72 60 366

CHAPTER II

LAND TENURE SYSTEM AND SELECTION OF THE STUDY AREA

This chapter is broadly divided into two

sections. In section one, the land tenure system in

Tamil Nadu is highlighted. The discussion in this

section centres around the abolition of Zamindari

and Inamdari system, fixation of ceiling on land

holdings, and tenancy reform. Selection of the study

area, methodology adopted and the nature of data are

discussed in section two. The presentation in sect-

ion two more specifically relates to the salient

features of the selected districts in respect of the

land tenure system, the selection of districts, taluks,

villages and households, nature of data and scope of t.he study.

I Land Tenure Systems in Tamil NadU~ Basically three types of land tenure systems,

1 This section draws heavily on (1) G Venkataramani, Land Reforms in Tamil Nadu, Sangam Publishers, Madras, 1973, (2) K S Sonachalam, Land Reforms in Tamil Nadu : Evaluation of Implementation Oxf'O:i?Cl' & IBH Publishing Co., New Delhi, 1970, (3~ Govern-ment of India, Report of the National Commission on .!.'qriculture, 1971" Part XV, Aqra..,rian Reforms, Ministry of Agriculture ana Irrigation, New Delhi. '1976.

48

distribution of land holdings and income of the farmers examined the impact of land reform measures on the distribution of landholdings in the country

based on the NSS data for the years 1953-54 and

1961-62. He found that there was reduction in the

concentration of the owner cultivated holdings as

well as for all cultivators in 1961-62 compared to 1953~54. The author surmises the reduction in the concontration of land holdings to the land reform measure with no reference to any specific land reform

measure that could have led to a reduction in the dis-

tribution of land holdings.

Singh2 made an attempt to examine the struc-tural changes in the size distribution of landholdings based on NSS data relating to the years 1953~54 and 1970~71. He found that the number and area of opera-

tional holdings in small size holdings increased and

a decline in the nl.!l!lber as well as the area of land

holding in the higher size groups between 1953-54 and -1970,;,71. He attributes the change in the structure of

-

2 Harpal Singh, MStructural Changes in the Size Distribution of Holdings - A Macro View" Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, VoL XXX! , No.3, July-Sept. 197b, pp. 10-'i4.

49

landholdings to sub-division of large holdings and the growth of population.

George and Joseph3 analysed with respect to Kerala State the structural changes that have taken

place in the distribution of operational holdings

using the NSS and Agricultural Census Data. They

found a significant increase in the total number

of operational holdings during the period 1960~61 to 1970-71. The increaSe in the number of holdings

und area operated was confined only to the smaller

size groups. and the larger holdings showed a decline both in terms of area and number. The authors, how-

ever, attempt to trace these changes in the distri-bution of holdings to the various land reform measures, viz., Land Reform Act, 1963 as amended in 1969, effected in the state and to the growth of population.

3

4

An attempt was made by Rajapurohit4 to

M V George and P T Joseph, nChanges in the Struc-tures of Land Ownership and Use in Kerala and their Economic Implications l' , Indian Journal of ~gricultural Economics, Vol.xx~r;-No.3~ September, 176, pp. ~7-31. A R Rajapurohit. ULand Reforms and Changin9 Agrarian S-tructure". in Rajapurohit, A.H.. led). Land Reforms in India, Ashish Publishing House, ~fii. 18~PP:-188-206.

50

evaluate the effect of land reform legislation in

Karnataka at the district level using the data from

the Population Census of India, 1961, Census of Agri-

cultural Holdings in 1970-1971 and 1976-77. He found

that the proportion of owned and self-operated land

holdings to the total holdings increased to 88.8 per

cent in 1971 from 70.2 per cent in 1961 in Karnataka.

The extent of tenancy declined in 1971 compared to i961. He also found an increase in the number and

2rea of small and marginal holdings and a decline in

the number and area of large holdings between 1971 and 1977. Thus the author attributes the observed changes in the distribution of holdings and tenancy

to the implementation of the Land Reform Acts of

1961 and 1974.

Govindan5 examined the distribution of land

holdings in 1953-54 and 1956-57 in respect of three

v:Ulages in Tanjore District of Madras. In 1953-54

5 K Govindan, "Ceiling on' Land Holdings ~ A Study of the Problem with Particular Reference to Ianjore District of Madras Stata U , Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, \ToT:-XV. No.2, April-June, 1960, pr. 48~58.

51

the holdings above 40.00 acres accounted for 29 per r.ent of the total area owned, but in 1956-57, it

wa6 only 21.9 per cent. The author argues that

this might be due to the disposal of land by big

12ndlords for the fear of the impending land reforms.

Kurien6 examined the ownership pattern of l.and holdings in Tamil Nadu, based on the 16th and

26th rounds of the II!SS data pertaining to the years

'1959-60 and 1971-72. He compares the position of

change in the olfmership of landholdings betvJesn

1959",60 and 1971-72. His study showed that the

bottom 60 per cent of the holdings accounted for 3.39

pr' cent of the land in 1959-60 and 4.40 per cent in

1971-72, while the top 10 per cent of the holdings

owned 18.22 per cent in 1959-60 and 15.50 per cent in 1971-72. His study revealed that there was

some shift of land owned from the large farmers to

small farmers.

6 C T Kurien, DY7amiCS of Rural Transformation: A Study of 'tarn 1 Hadu, 19"50--1'"9'7'-,>, Orient 'Longman, '1981.

52

b. Studies Based o~ Primary Data:

7 Galgalikar ~.~., studied the structural chC'.nge in the distribution of ownership of land hold-

ings in a village of Maharashtra State. The data

:tn respect of the number of land holders and area held by them for different years, the mutations due

to sales, inheritance, etc., for the period 1947-48 -to 1972 .... 73, were collected from the Tahsil Offic9o

They found that the number and area operated by

small and medium farmers increased whereas the area

2nd number of large holdings declined. The authors

53

An attempt was made by Singh and Kahlon8 to

analyse the structural change in agriculture in

Punjab based on studies in the Economics of Farm Management which were conducted over the periods

1954-56 to 1967-70 and primary data for the year 1973-74. They found that the smallest and the largest

c

54

Tamil Nadu based on information collected from two

selected villages in Coimbatore District for two

points in time namely 1970-71 and 1979~80. From these data they observed a decline in the average

sj~e of holding for the various land owing size

rla~5es. The main reasons ascribed for the change land ol-mership were partitions and sale of

J.and. Among the various reasons for sale of land,

repayment of debts and expenditure on social funct-j.ons like marriage appeared to be an important in t.hat order.

Nancharaiah10 attempted to study the change

jn the land ownership in a village in Andhra !Jrildesh based on caste groups at different points

1n time, using the village land records, supple-

mented by primary data. He found that the extent

of land owned and the average size of the holdings

by non-Brahmins was more compared to Brahmins and

10 G Nancharaiah, Shift in Land (unpublished ph Waltalr, 1985.

"Caste and Land : A study of Ownership in .South India.

15~i'hesisJ, Andhra University,

55

Scheduled Castes in 1982 but the extent of land OI'mod and the average size of holdings by Brahmins \-laS more compared to non-Brahmins in 1930. He also 2nalysed the shift in the land ownership in different

points in time viz., 1930, 1948, 1965 and 1982.

The share of land owned by non-Brahmins increased

2nd the share of Brahmins decreased over time. The

share of land owned by the Scheduled Castes increased

"peo 1965 but their share decreased in 1982. The

non-Brahmins could move-up in the landed category.

as they were ex-tenants of the Brahmins and the

Brahmins started selling of the land due to irregular

payment of rent and lower rate of rent fixed by the go\'er:nment.

Kamble11 analysed the land transfers as a

part of his study on !Poverty Within Poverty'. This study relates to a village in Maharashtra State.

His study compares the position of the households in

11 N D Kamble, Poverty Within Poverty: Weaker Sections 1 n a Deccan Viflaqe, PufiTISFi"ers, Ne,'\! beIhl. f9"T9.

A Study of SterrIng'

56

1958-59 with those in 1942-43 and 1915. He found that the area held by Marathas increased and the land owned by Dhanger, Balutedar, Brahmin and others

declined in 1958-59 compared to 1942~43. The total land occupied by the Buddhists remained constant. This is because their 1.ands (Vata!) land) were not supposed to be transferred to any other community

other than their own.

Mukherji12 examined the transfers of land i.n Birbhum District of West Bengal based on data collected from Registration Department and Sub-

negistrar's Office. The reference period of the study was from 1928 to 1955. He found that the sale of land was more than the other forms of land transfers like lease, mortgage, gift, etc. He also found that

number of sales of land increased, while land mort-gaged decreased over a period of time.

12 Karunamoy Mukherji, "Land Transfers in Birbhum 1928-55, Some Implication of the Benoal Tenancy Act, 1985, Indian Economic and Social HistoLY. Re~, Vol. VIr-t. No.:r,-sepL 197T-;-pp. 241"'::21)3.

57

s1ngl113 conducted a study on land market

In Punjab villages based on 68 farm production units. The reference period of the study was from 1972-73 -(.0 1977=78. He found that the rich farmers purchased more land than they sold. The small and medium

farmers lost their land to the big farmers. The loss \~as more marked for small farmers. He also found

"Ghat family consumption expenses and social~religious

cp.:r.emonial expenses were the major reasons for land ~ales for all the farmers.

14 Rajasekhar" attempted to study the transfer of land in a village in Andhra Pradesh. The data

r!as collected from village land records. sample

households, etc. He found that the upper castes and small farmers lost their land and the middle castes

13 Baldev Singh, Land Market.: "theory and Practice 1,n Rural Ind.2:2.. AgrIcole PUF.iIISfiing Academy, .1~ew DelhI, \3t~ "

14 D Rajasekhar, ~Land Transfers in Andhra : A Case Study of a Village", Andhra Pradesh Economic Association, Fifth Annual Conference, Vol. I (Department of Economic s. Sri Kr."ishnadevarava Un! versi ty, Anantapur), January -1987. . pp. 108-147.

58

and rich farmers bought the land during 1948-61.

He also found that small and marginal farmers

2~quired the land and the upper castes and large farmers lost their land during 1961-1984. He also found that some of the landless scheduled castes acquired the land due to redistribution of surplus

]Clild through land reforms.

A study was carried out by Attwood15 to

evaluate the concentration of land holdings. The data for this study were collected from a village in

M~harashtra State. He attempted to analyse the dis~

t.ribution of land at two points of time. 1920 and

'j 970 and to compare with the resources of their

immediate ancestors. He found that not less than

25 per cent of the landless in 1920 had moved upward

into the landed category by 1970; 4 per cent of those

who were landed in 1920 had lost their land by 1970.

The important conclusions of the study are (i) the proportion of landless increased. This increase was

15 D W Attwood, "Why Some of the Poor Got Richer: Economic Change and Mobility in Rural Western Ind~a tI! S:.':lrrent Anth:7i'220]"o9Y. Vol. 20, No.3. Sep c. 'J 9 79, pp. 49'.)":::5iJa.

59

not due to downward mobility but it was a result

of immigration. (ii) the big landlords did not pm'chase the land, it was small farmers who did so,

U U) small farmers may have sold a large proportion of the land, but they compensated the sales by their

purchases; (iv) standard deviation of land holdings did not increase and mean and median size of the holdings diminished, (v) there waskrelative mobi-"~ lity because of demographic fluctuations or different

pattern of family organisations; (vi) the partitions of land among multiple heirs were also an important

cause of downward mobility.

Ra016 attempted to study the land transfers

in Ryotwari areas of Maharashtra. The data for this

study were collected from all the families in 28

selected villages. He found that (i) in the decade prior to 1956, the process of growing concentration

16 "V Iv! Rao, "Land Transfers in Rural Communities, Some Findings in Ryotwari Region, "Economic & I'_o)J. tical Weeklx. Vol. VII, No. 40, Sept. 30, 1972 (Review or Agriculture); A 133-A 144.

60

of land ownership operated in the study area with

land being transferred from 80 per cent of land owners to the top 10 per cent. There was no evidence of such a process being in operation during the years

after 1956; (ii) the implementation of tillers day legislation which was in progress during the period of study in the selected villages enabled purchase of leased-in land by the tenants and that a substan-

tial transfer of ownership occurred as a result. (iii) in the majority of the villages, the land pur-chased by the resident community exceeded the land

sold by them; (iv) during the period of study, land owners in the villages were not losing land to non-cultivating classes like money lenders and traders;

(v) a majority of buyers were either landless or land-holders in 1956. Similarly, a majority of tenants were buyers of land; (vi) there was no evidence of cultivators selling the land and becoming tenants on the land previously owned by them.

Jodha17 analysed the inter-class transfer of

17 N S Jodha. "Famine and Famine Policies : Some Empirical Evidence", Economic and Political We~~lX, Vol. X, No.41. Oct.1~. f9~o; pp.~609-1b2

61

land in a drought prone area in three villages in

Viestern Rajasthan during 1953-19640 He found that nearly half of the land was transferred due to suh-

d:l vision 01" gift to circumvent the land ceiling

h~\.'s< He also found that the lands were transferred from small and medium farmers to relatively large

[armel'S and traditionally non-land owning money lenders.

Ramalingam18 studied the fluctuation in land

,'alue and land transfers. Ten villages in the taluk

of Chidambaram in Tamil Nadu were selected for this

SLl!d y. The ref erenc e period wa s 1930 to 19700 He

found that the bulk of the land transfers were among

tlw agriculturists and agriculturally dominant

castes. The small and middle farmers were rapidly

parting with their lands. He also found that the

buU~ of the land transfers was within the village

and sellers from distant places were more in number

18 A K Ramalingam, "Fluctuations of Land Values in Chidambaram Talu1((!ur:Ln

62

than the buyers from the distant places. The main reason for the sale of the land was for the repay-

rnent of old debt.

A similar conc~usion was arrived at by sayana19 ':'ilo conducted a study on land sales, land values and

land transfers in 10 villages of Dharwar Dlstrict of

Dombay state and 6 villages in Telugu speaking

63

Indian villages and increase in the inequality in

the Bangladesh village. 7he author also found that

the net change in the relative shares of total

owned land for successive decile groups. As far as

Indian villages are concerned, the middle groups have

gained whereas in the Bangladesh village the top 20

per cent have gained. The proportion of landless households declined in all Indian villages whereas

landlessness increased in the Bangladesh village.

Thus the author attributes the change in the land Iloldings in India to land reform legislation.

Dubey and Ratna Murdia21 made an analysis of land alienation in Tribal areas. This study was carried out on the basis of sample survey in Thana,

Nasik and Dhulia Districts of Maharashtra during 1973-74. They found that with respect to education, 72 per cent of transferers were illiterates, whereas

on the contrary, 72 per cent of transferees were

literates. The transferees were engaged in various

21 S N Dubey, and Ratna Murdia (ed.), Land Aliena-tion and Restoration in Tribal Communities in India, HImalaya PublishIng House, ombay, lSrrt; pp. 32-57.

64

occupations such as agriculture, business, teaching,

etc" Out of 62 transferees 45.31 per cent had no

land before transfer of land. Repayment of old

debts, consumption expenditure, purchase of agricul-

tural implements, expenditure on festivals and c~remonies etc., were the main reasons for transfer

Shankar22 conducted a study on land trans-

fers in uttar Pradesh. This study was confined to

registered transfers with the government covering

past zamindari abolition period till 1982-83, i.e.,

30 years. The information was collected from 19

solected Nyaya Panchayats in 19 districts of the

state. The sample consisted of all households which

sold or purchased the land in the area. The total

number of land transfers studied were 1730. He found

that (i) the landless and marginal land holdings were the net losers while the medium and large farmers

were the net gainers, (ii) the annual income category

22 Kripa Shankar, "Land Transfers in Ut.tar Pradesh, Economic and Poli tica 1 Weokl'y, Vol. XXII, No .30. July 23, 1988, pp. 1514-1517.

65

of the households less than ~.5,OOO were the net losers while all others were the net gainers,

(iii) those with assets less than ~.10,OOO were the net losers while all others were the net gainers,

(iv) the high caste Hindus and Muslims were the net losers and Backward Castes, Scheduled Castes and Sikhs were the net gainers. He also found that those who left the village after selling the entire land was 31 per cent of the total land alienated, repayment of debt accounted for 20 per cent and marriage accoun-ted for 17 per cent.

Alam23 attempted to analyse the effects of floods on indebtedness and land transaction 1n rural Bangladesh. He collected data from 200 households. He found that the small farmers were more seriously affected by flood and they benefitted less from the government relief than medium and large farmers. Most of the small and marginal farmers were compelled to

23 Jahangir Alam, -The Effect of 1984 Floods on Indebtedness and Land Transaction in Rural Bangladesh: A Case study in Four Districts-, The Asian Economic Review, Vol. XXVIII, No.3, becember 1986, pp. 51-61.

66

sell both land and non-land assets in order to sur-

vive. A few medium and large farmers bought most

of those assets and became net gainers in the process

of transaction. The small and marginal farmers sold their land at low price on account of their deterio-

rated conditions.

Choudhury and Rahman24 made an attempt to

study the transfer of land ownership in two villages

in Bangladesh for the period 1970-78. They found

that the highest amount of land was sold by farmers

belonging to the 3.01 - 6.00 acres size group. The owners over 6.00 acres of land were found to have sold the lowest amount of land. The highest amount of land was purchased by largest land holding group.

Landless and small farmers did not purchase any land.

The major cause for the sale of land was mainly for consumption. The buyers were found to be knowledge-

able and resourceful. They were found to be prompt

24 Md.Hossain Ali Choudhury and M M Rahman, "Transfer of Ownership of Agricultural Land in Two Villages in Mymensingh District". Bangla-desh Journal of Aricultural Economics, Vol. 3: No.2, December, 1 80, pp. 57-66.

67

in adopting modern technology. All the buyers had

subsidiary income from such sources as construction

works, business, money lending, etc. They also found that both buyers and sellers were the residents of the same area with the exception of one who was in service and in an urban area,

Joshi25 conducted a critical survey of studies conducted in India on the question of agrarian

structure and land reforms. He found that the social

scientists have not sufficiently researched on the

problem of agrarian structure and land reforms. He

also attempted to indicate the problem areas which need to be explored. One among them was the "Nature and Magnitude of Land Transfers". He also favoured

that studies on land transfers have to be done for

different regions of the country,

Thus the available studies considered in the

foregoing analysis fall broadly into two groups

25 P C Joshi, Land Reforms in India: Perspectives, AllIed PUblIshers, 1982.

Trends and New DelfiI,

68

(a) studies specifically attempting to examine the changes in the structure of land holdings and (b) studies that concentrate more on the transfer of land holdings with specific reference to the social

groups and reasons for the observed land transfers.

Studies of the former type bring out specifically

changes in the distribution of land holdings. either

owned or operated. based primarily on large scale survey with reference to specific regions at diffe-rent paints of time. What emerges from the results of these various studies is that there has been a change in the distribution of land by size group of land holdings. These changes have been by and

large towards reducing the concentration of land in

the larger size groups and a consequent increase in

the number as well as area under the relatively

smaller hoI

69

land reform measures that were being implemented at different points of time by different states at varying degrees of intensity. Many of these studies

almost categorically state that these observed consequence

changes were a / of the land reform measures that were being implemented. A difficulty with these large number of studies is that they do not discuss, even cursorily, the various land reform measures that could have brought about the observed changes. To

our understanding, the land reform measures that could

have brought about a shift in the ownership holdings

are the abolition of the tenancy, which was not uni-

form in all the Indian states, and the fixation of

a limit on the land holdings of individuals and dis-tributing the surplus land consequent to such ceiling limits to the landless or the marginal farmers. But the available information on the acquisition and

land distribution of surplus/reveals, that such distri-butlon could not have altered the distribution of

ownership holdings in any perceptible order. Even

in states where the tenant cultivation was legally

abolished, its impact on the distribution of ownership

70

is of a small order and these changes were confined

Lo smaller geographic areas.

The other set of studies, which are by and large based on micro level surveys, do not discuss

,;0 much about the changes in the structure of land

holdings but to attempt to look into the question

L,f land transfers by social groups or size of land

holdings and the reasons for such land transfers.

These aspects are covered by different studies and

comprehensive studies dealing with all these aspects

wi th reference to specific areas are lacking. Identi-

fying this as a gap in the available literature, the

present study makes a modest attempt to examine the

various aspects connected with land transfers in an

unregulated and free market, wherein, it takes into

account the present land tenure system which had its

origin in the then prevailing land Tenure System and the various other economic and social aspects of

those involved in the types of land transfers.

CHAPTER Iy

THE VILLAGE SETTLEMENT

This chapter on 'The Village Settlement'

(',overing the following aspects : (1) location of the selected villages; (2) demographic features; (3) the

~and tenure system; (4) the Inam Abolition; (5) tenancy reform; (6) the temple land; (7) distri-bution of land holdings; and (8) socio-economic profile, is designed to serve as a background for the analysis carried out in the later chapters.

The information on these various aspects

\'Jere drawn from the relevant Survey and Settlement

Registers pertaining to the then Madras Province and

-lhe Record of Tenancy Registers (RTR); Population data for the later years was taken from the Population

Census of India, 1961 and 1971.

The British Government carried out the Survey

and Settlement of Land for the first time in 1793.

This was done primarily to assess the land revenue.

72

After the survey the land revenue was fixed taking

jnto consideration the quality of land in terms of 50jl types, irrigation facilities and cropping pi!ttern. However, the survey and settlement was

confined only to the J;lyotwari villages. After the

ettainment of Independence, the survey and settlement

':.'as carried out in area s which were then under the

_;;amin.~ land tenure system. The survey and settle-ment though were to be carried out once in thirty

years, these were not carried out regularly. The first survey and settlement was carried out in the selected wet village in 1896. The land was resur-

veyed in 1925. Hence, information from the survey

and settlement records could be obtained for the

tvlO years 1896 and 1925 in the case of the selected wet village.

The first Survey and Settlement was conducted in 1961 in the selected dry village which was under

.?a_mindari system. It was only after the enactment

of the Madras Estates (Abolition and Conversion into B~twari) Act, 1948, this village came under the direct control of the government.

73

The settlement registers provide the follow-

5.ng information : survey number. sub-division, government or ~ land, irrigation status (dry/wet), source of irrigation, single crop or double crop,

clcss and type of the soil, extent, assessment, name

of the .eattadar (owner), etc.

1. Location of the Selected Villages:

The wet village is situated in east

Thanjavur and is about 13 kms. south from Nannilam, the taluk head quarters and 5 kms. from Thiruvarur

211 adjacent taluk head quarter. According to the 'i896 survey and settlement record this village con-

sisted of 7 Khandams or sub-divisions and 124 survey

Belds with 70 boundary stations, 32 division

stations and 727 field stones. As per the resettlement of 1925 this village contained 177 survey fields. The Ryots were to be responsible for the maintenance of the survey marks. It was the duty of the Village

Officers to prevent any damage to the survey mark.

According to the Survey and Settlement of 1896, the

74

area of the village was 1030 acres by revenue accounts

?nel 1096 acres by survey. The boundary of the 'llJ.age remained unchanged in the 1925 Resettlement

while the total area of the village was 1085.27

"eras both by revenue accounts and the resettlement

records.

The dry village is situated 2 miles from

P,'w.:tkottah, a major village with the sub-office of the revenue department and 48 miles from Bangalore City.

According to the Survey and Settlement of 1961, this

village consisted of 483 survey fields. Maintenance

of the survey marks was made the responsibility of

the l.yots. It was the duty of the Officers to pre-

vGnt any damage to the survey marks. While the

village boundary remained unaltered after the survey

?.ncl settlement, the total village area under agricul-

tural and non-agricultural uses, prior to settlement

\'!as 3209.95 acres, by settlement, it was 4042.80 acres.

2. Population:

The distribution of population for the wet

75

village is shown in the Table IV.1. As can be seen

from the table while the total population of the

selected village increased by 2.6 per cent between

1901 and 1911, it recorded a decline between 1911

and 1921. However, between 1921 and 1971 it increased

at an annual compound rate of 1.76 per cent. The

Table IV.1 Distribution of Population (Wet Village)

Census No.of Average size Year house- Males Females Total of the house-holds holds ..,..~----

'1901 78 168 213 381 4.9

'191'1 88 172 219 391 4.4

'i921 81 170 180 350 4.3

'1971 203 420 419 839 4.1

Source: 1) Resurvey and Settlement Register, Nilakudi, 1925.

2) Census of India, 1971, Tamil Nadu, Part X-B, District Census Handbook, Thanjavur District, Director of Census Operations, Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, 1972.

76

average size of the households showed a decline from

4,9 in 1901 to 4.1 in 1971.