scholarly journals LAND REFORMS IN AN INDIAN STATE: LESSONS FROM THE EXPERIENCES OF IMPLEMENTATION

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Prabhat Kumar Datta ◽  
Panchali Sen
Keyword(s):  
Land Reform ◽  
West Bengal ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Social Situation ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Land Reforms ◽  
The Poor ◽  
National Economic ◽  
Indian State ◽  
Left Front

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. 

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
Keyword(s):  
Land Reform ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
West Bengal ◽  
Land Reforms ◽  
Reform Implementation ◽  
Political Determinants ◽  
Indian State ◽  
The Right ◽  
Lack Of Commitment ◽  
Left Front

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)

scholarly journals LAND REFORMS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

2010 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 527-547 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans Gersbach ◽  
Lars-H. R. Siemers
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Human Capital ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
Land Reform ◽  
The Political ◽  
Land Markets ◽  
Human Capital Formation ◽  
Land Reforms ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Rights Issues

We examine the nexus between land transfers and human capital formation. A sequence of land redistributions enables the beneficiaries to educate their children and thus to escape from poverty. A successful land reform allows the transition of a society from an agriculture-based state of poverty to a human capital–based developed economy. We find that a temporary state of inequality among the poor is unavoidable. Finally, we discuss the political economy of land reform, whether access to land markets should be allowed for beneficiaries of land reforms, and property rights issues.

Land and Power: The Marxist Conquest of Rural Bengal

1994 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 357-380 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arild Engelsen Rund
Keyword(s):  
Communist Party ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
West Bengal ◽  
Long Period ◽  
Electoral Support ◽  
The World ◽  
Indian State ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Left Front

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.

Beyond Conspiracy and Coordinated Ascendancy: Revisiting Caste Question in West Bengal under the Left Front Rule (1977–2011)

2021 ◽  
pp. 2455328X2110084
Author(s):  
Ayan Guha
Keyword(s):  
Land Reform ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
West Bengal ◽  
Political Mobilization ◽  
Unintended Consequence ◽  
Political Support ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Tactics ◽  
Lower Castes ◽  
Left Front

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.

English immersion and Bangla floatation? Rendering a collective choice private

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 (253) ◽  
pp. 79-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manabi Majumdar ◽  
Rahul Mukhopadhyay
Keyword(s):  
Language Ideology ◽  
English Language ◽  
West Bengal ◽  
Language Training ◽  
School Life ◽  
Great Opportunity ◽  
Reciprocal Relationships ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Indian State ◽  
Disproportionate Burden

Abstract This article aims to revisit the importance of nurturing reciprocal relationships of equality and enrichment between Bangla and English in the school life of children residing in the Indian state of West Bengal. We couple the descriptor “immersion” with English and “floatation” with Bangla to serve as metaphors for language ideology. After a brief review of the language in education policy in the country and in Bengal in both colonial and post-Independence periods, we draw on conversations with schoolteachers about the preference for English and the relative disregard for Bangla to present three basic arguments. First, there is no reason to be forced to choose between English and Bangla in Bengali education. There is even less reason – indeed, there are greater costs – to follow the policy of immersion in English and mere floatation in Bangla. Second, the equity-enhancing potential of “empowering people with English” may get neutralized if a disproportionate burden falls on the poor of purchasing minimal proficiency in English in schools providing “have-little” English. Third, unless English language training happens in the company of Bangla, children in schools of Bengal will lose a great opportunity to cultivate their freedom of self-expression.

Inequality and Radical Land Reform: Some Notes from West Bengal

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

Syed Nawab Haider Naqvi, Mahmood Hasan Khan and M. Ghaffu Otaudhry (edt.). LaJld Reforms in Pakistan, A Historical Perspective. Islamabad: Pakistan Institute of Development Economics 1987. viii+216 pp.Price: Rs 220 (USS 35) for hardcover; Rs 140.00 (USS 20) for soft-cover.

1988 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-218
Author(s):  
Luther Tweeten
Keyword(s):  
Land Tenure ◽  
Land Reform ◽  
State Ownership ◽  
Land Reforms ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Rural Pakistan ◽  
The Status ◽  
Land Tenure System ◽  
Ownership Of Land ◽  
High Degree

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).

The Paradox of Poverty: Socio-Economic Aspects of Population Growth.— By T. Scarlett Epstein and Darrell Jackson. The Macmillan of India Limited Delhi, 1975. pp.127.

1978 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 380-382
Author(s):  
M. Javed Akbar Zaki
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Social Situation ◽  
Economic Security ◽  
Rural India ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Number Of Children ◽  
Economic Progress ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Fertility Decision ◽  
The Social

To many social theoreticians, the population explosion, particularly in the developing nations presents a crippling threat to their developmental pro¬cesses. Their argument's validity rests mainly on the assumption that expected economic progress is swallowed up by unbalanced rise of numbers in the population. The book being reviewed deals mainly with this subject matter and is divided into two parts, each containing three articles contributed by various researchers. Part one, 'The Social context of Fertility Decision' is focused on analyzing the role of factors affecting fertility at the micro-level decision making process. The first article 'Fertility decision in rural India' by Vinod Jainath, examines the applicability to rural India of various models of the process of fertility decision making and finds most of these wanting with respect to the Indian social situation. While analyzing the fertility patterns of Rural India, he points out the positive need for larger families among the poor small farmers mainly due to labour supply considerations. The author argues that unemployment and under¬employment actually motivate the poor to have more children as it better ensures their economic security in their old age. As the chances of gaining employ¬ment for their offspring diminish, they are induced to increase the total number of children in order that atleast one will be able to support them. Thus a vicious circle of poverty arises in large families because of each of the parents wanting to increase their children's chances of employment by ultimately reducing the overall employment opportunities even further and exacerbating their poverty.

Conservation and privatization decisions in land reform of New Zealand’s high country

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Adena R Rissman ◽  
Molly C Daniels ◽  
Peter Tait ◽  
Xiaojing Xing ◽  
Ann L Brower
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
Biodiversity Conservation ◽  
Land Reform ◽  
Private Land ◽  
Conservation Easement ◽  
Land Reforms ◽  
Lower Productivity ◽  
Ecological Values

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.

Tribal Land Rights: A Situational Analysis in the Context of West Bengal

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 193-209
Author(s):  
Sudipta Biswas ◽  
Sukumar Pal
Keyword(s):  
Land Reform ◽  
West Bengal ◽  
Land Rights ◽  
The State ◽  
Situational Analysis ◽  
Tribal Population ◽  
Political Commitment ◽  
Large Section ◽  
Tribal People ◽  
Tribal Land

Tribal communities in India are most deprived. Socio-economically, they are poor and marginalised. The root cause of socio-economic marginalisation can be attributed to alienation of tribal people from their land, territory and resources. The overall situation of the tribal population of West Bengal is not better than the national average, even more deprived than the tribal population of other states. Despite progressive land reform laws and political commitment to implement such laws, issues of tribal land rights have not been addressed adequately. There is no such exclusive study to understand the situation of tribal land rights in the state of West Bengal. This article analyses the status of tribal land rights in the state context and makes some suggestions for improving the situation. It is found that despite distribution of land titles, a large section of the tribal population remains landless. A sizable portion has not received received record-of-rights. Claims of many tribal people for forest patta remain pending or stand rejected. Tribal land alienation continues to be a matter of concern. The state has not taken any concrete steps for the restoration of unlawfully alienated tribal lands. A large section of the tribal sharecroppers in the state remain unrecorded.

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