Land Reforms in India: New Perspectives

Abstract

In democracies, public policymaking entails balancing the interests of various selfinterest groups. This is even more true when it comes to land reforms. The Indian land reform initiative had justified social and economic goals, but over time these measures appear to have generated some real economic challenges. While the elimination of land middlemen, as well as all forms of tenancy, benefited the actual tillers, placing limits on the size of landholdings did not help enhance production in Indian agriculture. The country's landholdings are unprofitable due to government policies including land limitations and inheritance rules. Private investment in agroprocessing has been hindered by restrictions on corporate occupancy. As a result, existing land ceiling and tenancy laws must be relaxed to allow Indian agriculture to profit from globalization.