There is something refreshingly honest about Dr Kamal
Siddiqui’s writings on reform and management aspects of land in South
Asia, where land is considered a source of prestige and political power.
He has the analytical sharpness of an economist and the disciplined
coolness of a bureaucrat. The author’s objective is to help shape land
management policy appropriate to the needs of South Asia. He selects for
investigation the time-period from the late 1940s to the present and
studies seven entities: Punjab, Sindh, Utter Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh,
Tamil Nadu, Bengal, and Bangladesh, in three countries, viz., Pakistan,
India, and Bangladesh. However, Nepal, Bhutan, and Sri Lanka have not
been included. We do not know why these smaller but equally important
states were omitted from the land management perspective.