scholarly journals Determinants of Redistributive Politics: An Empirical Analysis of Land Reforms in West Bengal, India

2010 ◽  
Vol 100 (4) ◽  
pp. 1572-1600 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pranab Bardhan ◽  
Dilip Mookherjee

We investigate political determinants of land reform implementation in the Indian state of West Bengal. Using a village panel spanning 1974–1998, we do not find evidence supporting the hypothesis that land reforms were positively and monotonically related to control of local governments by a Left Front coalition vis-à-vis the right-centrist Congress party, combined with lack of commitment to policy platforms. Instead, the evidence is consistent with a quasi-Downsian theory stressing the role of opportunism (reelection concerns) and electoral competition.(JEL D72, O13, O17, Q15)

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Prabhat Kumar Datta ◽  
Panchali Sen

Until the shift of developmental policy in India in 1990s the state used to play an instrumental role India’s development. By the time India attained independence it was widely regarded that semi feudal landlordism was the main obstacle in the way of national economic regeneration. In this paper an attempt has been to capture the processes of land reforms in India’s West Bengal under the Left Front rule and to critically review impact of this programme on village society. This paper also seeks to identify reasons with the help of empirical studies why it has not been possible for the Left Front Government to achieve the declared objectives of the programme. Major transformations in economic, social and political fields during the first two decades of the Left Front rule characterized by the successful implementation of land reform programmes but failed to produce sustained benefits to the poor beneficiaries of land reforms. The panchayat institutions were unsuccessful in making the poor realize that the existing social situation was not conducive for meeting their basic needs. The concluding part of the paper tries to bring together the lessons that the other countries or states in a federal system can learn from the experiences of implementation of land reforms programme in West Bengal. 


LAW REVIEW ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dr Anurag Kumar Srivastava

This paper is mainly focused on compensation and its protection under Indian Constitution, judicial approach and development of concept of compensation, relevant principles of compensation mean general rules whose application enables us to determine the market value. The problem of valuation and determination of present market value in relation to lands and buildings under laws relating to Land Acquisition. Cases decided by the the Supreme Court in Bela Banerjee v. State of West Bengal 2 and State of West Bengal v. Subodh Gopal Bose 3 is deeply analyzed to test the law providing for acquisition or extension of interest of private owners in properties. It is observed that the power of the sovereign to take private property for public use and the consequent rights of the owner to compensation are well established. In justification of the power, two maxims are often cited Salus Populi est Supreme lex (regard for the public welfare is the highest law) and Necessities Public a major est quam Privata (Public necessity is greater than private necessity). The Land Acquisition Act seems to be very special as much legislations are based on it; facilitating awaited industrialization, giving a solution to unemployment4, widening the divide between urban and rural5, threatening environment and propagating disguised unemployment6etc. The tops-turvy journey of Indian Supreme Court has been swaying in between the idea of ‘Social Justice’, ‘Distributive Justice’, land reforms and Zamindari abolition by compensatory acquisition of land. But in doing so the achievement of Indian Supreme Court has that one size fit all type of computation formula for calculation of compensation cannot be applied to each and every case. The Judiciary has discussed all pros and cons of various types of valuation method. However due to variety of properties and allied attachments, one type cannot be applied to each case uniformly.


1994 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 357-380 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arild Engelsen Rund

The Indian state of West Bengal is governed and politically dominated by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M) for short) which has been in Government there since 1977 as the largest constituent party to the ruling Left Front. The CPI(M)'s position in West Bengal is unique both in India and in the world in the sense that it is the only Communist party to be popularly elected and reelected to power for such a long period. Today it draws most of its electoral support from the rural areas where the party is supported by peasants of practically all socio-economic sections. It is to an interesting period in the history of Communism in Bengal that this article will turn, namely to the creation of a particular alliance of Marxists and peasants in the restlessness in that state in the late 1960s and the virtual elimination of non-Marxist forces in large areas.


2021 ◽  
pp. 2455328X2110084
Author(s):  
Ayan Guha

This article has critically engaged with the speculative claim that the disappearance of caste question from public discourse during Left rule in West Bengal was a result of conscious upper-caste ploy to silence articulation of caste interests and tactfully eliminate the possibility of Dalit political assertion. To verify the veracity of this claim, this study has critically scrutinized Left Front’s political mobilization strategy of rural population and also its landmark land reform initiative. The investigation attempted by this article, in this regard, has revealed that there is little to suggest the existence of any organized upper-caste conspiracy. It is, however, true that the articulation and aggregation of political demands along the lines of caste was indeed averted in West Bengal through political tactics and developmental strategies devised by the upper castes. But, the marginalization of the caste question in mainstream politics was an unintended consequence of such political tactics and developmental strategies which were primarily designed with the objective to preserve and enlarge the political support base, rather than to contain the lower castes. Thus, political motives acted as far more important determinants of political and developmental activities rather than any inherent caste bias.


Asian Survey ◽  
1979 ◽  
Vol 19 (7) ◽  
pp. 718-727 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jnanabrata Bhattacharyya
Keyword(s):  

1988 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-218
Author(s):  
Luther Tweeten

The authors describe how Pakistan has grappled with land reform, surely one of the most intractable and divisive issues facing agriculture anywhere. The land-tenure system at independence in 1947 included a high degree of land ownership concentration, absentee landlordism, insecurity of tenant tenure, and excessive rent. Land reform since 1947 focused on imposition of ceilings on landholding, distribution of land to landless tenants and small owners, and readjustments of contracts to improve the position of the tenant. These reformist measures have removed some but by no means all of the undesirable characteristics of the system. The authors list as well as present a critique of the reports of five official committees and commissions on land reform. The reports highlight the conflicts and ideologies of the reformers. The predominant ideal of the land reformers is a system of peasant proprietorship although some reformers favoured other systems such as communal farming and state ownership of land, and still others favoured cash rents over share rents. More pragmatic reformers recognized that tenancy is likely to be with Pakistan for the foreseeable future and that the batai (sharecropping) arrangement is the most workable system. According to the editors, the batai system can work to the advantage of landlord and tenant if the ceilings on landholding can be sufficiently lowered (and enforced), the security of the tenant is ensured, and the tenant has recourse to the courts for adjudication of disputes with landlords. Many policy-makers in Pakistan have come to accept that position but intervention by the State to realize the ideal has been slow. The editors conclude that" ... the end result of these land reforms is that they have not succeeded in significantly changing the status quo in rural Pakistan" (p. 29).


2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Nuah Perdamenta Tarigan ◽  
Christian Siregar ◽  
Simon Mangatur Tampubolon

Justice that has not existed and is apparent among the disabilities in Indonesia is very large and spread in the archipelago is very large, making the issue of equality is a very important thing especially with the publication of the Disability Act No. 8 of 2016 at the beginning of that year. Only a few provinces that understand properly and well on open and potential issues and issues will affect other areas including the increasingly growing number of elderly people in Indonesia due to the increasing welfare of the people. The government of DKI Jakarta, including the most concerned with disability, from the beginning has set a bold step to defend things related to disability, including local governments in Solo, Bali, Makassar and several other areas. Leprosy belonging to the disability community has a very tough marginalization, the disability that arises from leprosy quite a lot, reaches ten percent more and covers the poor areas of Indonesia, such as Nusa Tenggara Timur, Papua, South Sulawesi Provinces and even East Java and West Java and Central Java Provinces. If we compare again with the ASEAN countries we also do not miss the moment in ratifying the CRPD (Convention of Rights for People with Disability) into the Law of Disability No. 8 of 2016 which, although already published but still get rejections in some sections because do not provide proper empowerment and rights equality. The struggle is long and must be continued to build equal rights in all areas, not only health and welfare but also in the right of the right to receive continuous inclusive education.


2013 ◽  
Vol 45 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 77-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leif Magne Lervik

In June 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees an individual the right to keep and bear arms. Two years later, this decision was also made applicable to state and local governments. Today, seven U.S. states have provisions allowing the carrying of concealed weapons on their public senior high school campuses. This article, introduced by a brief comment on the Second Amendment’s legal and academic history, traces several recent developments of legal change. It discusses relevant arguments and attitudes towards guns on campus, and explores issues of future concern for public colleges and universities within the realm of firearms and campus safety.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Adena R Rissman ◽  
Molly C Daniels ◽  
Peter Tait ◽  
Xiaojing Xing ◽  
Ann L Brower

Summary Neoliberal land reforms to increase economic development have important implications for biodiversity conservation. This paper investigates land reform in New Zealand’s South Island that divides leased state-owned stations (ranches) with private grazing leases into state-owned conservation land, private land owned by the former leaseholder and private land under protective covenant (similar to conservation easement). Conserved lands had less threatened vegetation, lower productivity, less proximity to towns and steeper slopes than privatized lands. Covenants on private land were more common in intermediate zones with moderate land-use productivity and slope. Lands identified with ecological or recreational ‘significant inherent values’ were more likely to shift into conserved or covenant status. Yet among lands with identified ecological values, higher-threat areas were more likely to be privatized than lower-threat areas. This paper makes two novel contributions: (1) quantitatively examining the role of scientific recommendations about significant inherent values in land reform outcomes; and (2) examining the use of conservation covenants on privatized land. To achieve biodiversity goals, it is critical to avoid or prevent the removal of land-use restrictions beyond protected areas.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bingsheng Liu ◽  
Tao Wang ◽  
Jiaming Zhang ◽  
Xiaoming Wang ◽  
Yuan Chang ◽  
...  

AbstractAchieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is a long-term task, which puts forward high requirements on the sustainability of related policies and actions. Using the text analysis method, we analyze the China National Sustainable Communities (CNSCs) policy implemented over 30 years and its effects on achieving SDGs. We find that the national government needs to understand the scope of sustainable development more comprehensively, the sustained actions can produce positive effects under the right goals. The SDGs selection of local governments is affected by local development levels and resource conditions, regions with better economic foundations tend to focus on SDGs on human well-being, regions with weaker foundations show priority to basic SDGs on the economic development, infrastructures and industrialization.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document