THE INDIAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS

(Organ of the Indian Society of Agricultural Economics)

Vol. XII APRIL—JUNE 1957 No. 2

CONFERENCE NUMBER

YPROCEEDINGS of the SEVENTEENTH CONFERENCE held at Cuttack, December 1956

SUBJECTS

I. PATTERN OF EMPLOYMENT OF HIRED LABOUR IN AGRI- CULTURE IN .

2. EFFECTIVENESS OF PROVISION IN THE TENANCY LEGISLA- TION FOR (I) SECURITY OF TENURE AND (ii) IMPROVE- MENT IN TENURIAL STATUS OF TENANTS.

3. TRENDS IN THE OPERATION TECHNIQUES AND ORGA- NISATION OF AGRICULTURAL MARKETING IN INDIA.

Rs. 6.50 C ON'T ENTS PAGE

WELCOME ADDRESS—DR. P. PARIJA • • • • 1 INAUGURAL ADDRESS—r:SHRt RADHANATH RATH • 3 PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS—PROF. D. G. KARVE • • • •'• 6

PATTERN OF EMPLOYMENT OF HIRED LABOUR IN.: AGRICULTURE IN INDIA

(1) S. BHATTACHARYA AND CHITTA MITRA' • • • • • • • . • • 14.3 (2) A. S. KAHL9N AND M. L. BHARDWAJ • • • • 23 (3) D. D. JENA .. • • • • • • • • • ." 28 (4) G. D. AGRAWAL • • • • • • .. 34 A..MUJUIVIDAR N. • • (5) • '' '' a. • .. .. • . • 37 (6) V. StJNIjARA RAJAN . .. • • • • • • • • • '- .-. 43 (7) SHRIDHAR MISRA AND PREA.I BEHARI LAL VAISH • • 48 (8) R. C. PATNAIK .. • • .. • • • • • • • • 58 (9) P. K. MUKHERJEE • • • • • • • • • • 66 (10) M. S. PRAKASA RAO .. • • • • • • • • 72 (11) J. K. PANDE .. • • • • .. • • 77 (12) DANIEL AND ALICE THORNER • • • • • • 84 (13) M. SRINIVASAN • • • • • • • • • • • • 97

DISCUSSIONS • • • • • • .• • • • • 109

EFFECTIVENESS OF PROVISION IN THE TENANCY LEGISLATION FOR (i) SECURITY OF TENURE AND (ii) IMPROVEMENT IN TENURIAL STATUS OF TENANTS

(1) MAIIESH CHAND .. • • • • .. • • • • 114 (2) B. MISRA AND B. JENA • • • • • • • • • • • • 117 (3) P. N. NARASINGA RAO • • • • • • • • • . • . 121 (4) M. K. SHINGAREY • • • • • • • • • • • 126 (5) D. D. JENA • • • • • • • • • • 135 (6) M. BALASUBRANIANIAN • • • • • • • . 142 (7) C. H. SHAH AND TARA SHUKLA . • • • • • • 151 (8) B. S. MAVINKURVE •. • • .. • • • • • • • 156 DISCUSSIONS • • • • • • •. • • • • .. 168

TRENDS IN THE OPERATION TECHNIQUES AND ORGANISATION OF AGRICULTURAL MARKETING IN INDIA

(1) M. L. DANTWALA •. .• • • •• •• •• •• 182 (2) E. T. MATHEW .. • • • • • • •• •• •• •• 186 (3) A. VENKATESWARLU •• •• •• .• • • • • 196 (4) A. V. RANGACHARI •- • • • • • • • • • • • • 201 (5) M. B. GHATGE AND R. V. S. RAO • • • • • • • • .. 211 (6) N. P. PATIL • • •• •• •• • • • • • • • • 222

.. a• (7) SALIM • • 0, ABU •• • •• • • • 229 DISCUSSIONS • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 233 APPENDICES

PAGE

SUBJECTS FOR THE NEXT CONFERENCE OF THE SOCIETY . • • • 239 CONSTITUTION OF THE SOCIETY • • • . • • • • .. 239 REPORT OF THE HONORARY SECRETARY AND TREASURER FOR THE YEAR ENDING 31ST DECEMBER 1956 .. • • • • • • 240 BALANCE SHEET AND INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31ST DECEMBER 1956. .. • • • • .. 244 LIST OF DELEGATES AND MEMBERS WHO ATTENDED THE CON- FERENCE .. .. • • • • .. • • • • • • .. 250 LIST OF MEMBERS OF THE SOCIETY AS ON MARCH 31, 1956. • • 252 LIST OF SUBJECTS DISCUSSED AT THE ANNUAL CONFERENCES OF THE SOCIETY 1940-1956. • • • • • • • • • • • • 260 ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE PRIZE AWARDS 1956 AND PRIZE AWARDS FOR 1957. • • • • • • • • • • . • 262 PREFACE

The current issue of the Journal GB contains the Proceedings of the 17th Annual Conference of the Society held in December 1956 at Cuttack. The Conference was attended 39 by nearly 130 members from Central and State Governments, Universities 39 and Research Institutions. The subjects chosen tO for discussion at the Conference were : 1) Pattern of Employment 14 of Hired Labour in Agriculture in India. 2) Effectiveness of Provision 50 in the Tenancy Legislation for (i) Security of Tenure and (ii) Improvement 52 in Tenurial Status of Tenants. 3) Trends in the Operation 50 Techniques and Organisation of Agricultural Marketing in India. 52 An unusually large number of papers were received and read on Subject I, while on the other two subjects also there were select contributions. The level of discussions was maintained at the usual high level.

Unlike the previous Conference, it was not possible to arrange for a tape- recorder to record the discussion. Instead, arrangements were made to take down notes of the discussion by stenographers. However, notes have not been taken of the speeches of all the participants in the discussion. Hence, the dis- cussion part on the respective subjects contain only reports which could be made available.

We take this opportunity of thanking the Utkal University under whose auspices the Conference met. We specially record our grateful thanks to Dr. S. Misra, the Local Secretary of the Conference, who had made excellent arrangements and to the Members of the Reception Committee for their generous hospitality.

15th May, 1957 Manilal B. Nanavati President 'EFFECTIVENESS OF PROVISIONS IN THE TENANCY LEGISLATION FOR SECURITY OF TENURE TO THE TENANT B. S. tl(javinkurve Research Officer Rural Economics Division, Reserve Bank of India, Bombay A decade ago, the major land problem in India appeared to be that of reform- ing the land tenure system. With the removal of intermediaries on land in most of the States which had the Zamindari and allied feudal tenures, the emphasis of land reform legislation has now been mainly laid on to the problem of providing security of tenure to the cultivating tenant and, recently, to that of enabling him to acquire ownership rights in land. It may be noted that with the progress, as envisaged by the Second Five-Year Plan, in the direction of conferment of owner- ship rights on bona fide tenants, prohibition of transfer of land to non-agriculturists and placing severe restrictions on letting and sub-letting of land, tenancy cultivation is bound to diminish in extent gradually. In other words, the problem of providing security to the tenant is essentially one of transition. Broadly speaking, security of tenure would imply not only guarantee of protection against eviction save in exceptional circumstances, but also ensure the tenant conditions conducive to economic stability. Without such security, the tenant is exposed to exploitation by the landlord, loses the incentive to better farming and better land management and feels economically insecure. Most of - the State Governments, therefore, have enacted laws for regulating the tenant the landlord relationship. In this paper, an attempt is made to broadly review working of the major provisions included for this purpose in the tenancy laws of the several States and to see how far they have been able to achieve their objectives.

MAGNITUDE OF THE PROBLEM The Census data, however, do not readily show the actual extent of tenancy. According to the 1951 Census, "cultivators of land wholly or mainly unowned and their dependents" numbered 32 million or 13.1 per cent of the total agricultural classes. This, however, under-estimates the extent of tenancy, inasmuch as it excludes tenants who cultivate 'partly unowned land'. According to the Agri- cent cultural Labour Enquiry conducted in 1952, tenant households formed 34 per tenant of the total rural households. Non-official estimates, however, place the population near about 40 per cent of the agricultural population. The area cultivated by tenants, according to the First Report of the National Sample Survey a (8th Round), was 24 per cent of the total area under cultivation, and showed variation between 17 per cent and 37 per cent in the several States. This, however, is also an under-estimate, as it excludes area cultivated by permanent or protected per tenants. According to the Agricultural Labour Enquiry of 1952, over 41 cent of the 'total cultivated area was under tenant cultivation.

FACTORS AFFECTING SECURITY OF TENURE which A number of factors have a bearing on the tenant's security of tenure, legal can be classified into two broad groups. One group of factors, such as the which status of the tenant, the period of lease and the various circumstances under The a tenant can be legally ejected have a direct bearing on the tenant's security. EFFECTIVENESS OF PROVISION IN THE TENANCY LEGISLATION 157 other group consists of such factors as rent regulation, transferability of land, the social status of the tenant and, lastly, enforcement of the law, all of which indirectly influence the security of the tenant. We shall briefly discuss these factors with a view to ascertaining how far the provisions in respect of them in the tenancy laws are adequate and how far they have proved satisfactory in their working.

LEGAL STATUS OF THE TENANT

The two major categories of leaseholders in agriculture are (a) tenants and (b) share-croppers. In most of the ryotwari States, the tenancy laws do not make any distinction between these two categories and give them equal protection. In the former non-ryotwari States, however, a share-cropper is in a relatively less secure position than a tenant, as the latter is protected by the provisions of tenancy laws in this regard while the former is only a farm-servant or a tenant- at-will. His position is all the more invidious because, in addition to this handicap, much of the risk of cultivation devolves on him only. Obviously, such a system of cultivation is not conducive to efficient use of land. Share-croppers in a number of the former Zamindari States, such as , Uttar , , Travancore-Cochin etc., continue to cultivate land under such conditions. One important reason for this state of affairs is that, these share-croppers, as for instance, Bargadars in West Bengal, cultivate those lands which are resumable by the landlord for personal cultivation. Very often, they cultivate on crop-share basis specifically as a stop-gap arrangement where the cultivating owner, due to some difficulty, is temporarily not in a position to cultivate it personally. To minimise the risk borne by such cultivators as also to facilitate efficient use of land, it would be desirable to abolish crop-sharing system and to extend to these cultivators, the same protection as provided to other types of tenants in respect of regulated rents, compensation for inexhausted improvements in case of eviction etc. Lest this Stop-gap arrangement to lease out land be abused by the landowner, the law Should not only restrict the conditions under which such leases would be allowed but also lay down that where this arrangement is resorted to continuously for more than a specified number of years, occupancy rights will accrue to the cultivating tenant.

Among the tenants, again, there are two broad categories, viz., superior tenants and inferior tenants. The former category includes occupancy tenants, protected tenants, permanent tenants etc., who are known by different names in different States but all with one common characteristic of having secure rights of occupation, subject to right of resumption by the landlord ; this right, in turn, is exercisable only under specified conditions. Except for this qualification and the fulfilment of other obligations under the law, their tenure is as secure as the ownership rights of the landlord.

The other category consists of tenants, known as non-occupancy tenants, sub-tenants, under-raiyats or tenants-at-will. In some States, as in Assam and of , their rights are not defined and, therefore, they have no security tenure; in some others, as in Mysore and Kutch, such tenants are only ensured a the minimum period of lease, at the end of which, the landowner may resume entire area. Generally, their rights are neither heritable nor transferable. 158 THE INDIAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS

It has generally been the practice in many States to confer security of tenure on all tenants who have been cultivating a leasehold for a period usually varying bet- ween 6 and 12 years prior to the tenancy enactment. Tenants holding for a period of less than the specified number of years as also tenants admitted subsequently could not acquire such superior rights.

Mainly for these reasons, the Planning Commission recommended that the right of occupancy should be conferred on all tenants, irrespective of the period of possession, but subject, firstly, to the landlord's right to resume a limited area for personal cultivation and, secondly, to the fulfilment of certain specified obligations by the tenant such as regular payment of rent, observance of rules of good hus- bandry etc. This would automatically ensure the tenant, protection of his interests in all cases where he cultivates land in excess of the resumable limit. For the effective enforcement of this provision, the landlord's right to resume land would need to be further qualified on the lines suggested subsequently.

We may now proceed to discuss the implications of the major grounds on which a tenant can be evicted by the landlord.

GROUNDS OF EVICTION

A landlord is normally entitled to eject the tenant from his holding for such reasons as (a) failure to pay rent, (b) acts which cause permanent injury to soil, (c) sub-division or sub-letting of land (without sufficient justification),(d) use of land for non-agricultural purposes, or (e) landlord requiring the land for personal cultivation. Tenants with protected or occupancy rights, however, can be evicted only where the landlord wants back the land for personal cultivation; this right of resumption is subject to a ceiling as in Assam, Berar and Hyderabad or to the condition that land is the major source of income of the owner, as in Bombay. These grounds of eviction have come to assume increasing importance in recent years owing to the growing tendency among the landlords to defeat the progressive efforts on the part of the State Governments to confer superior rights on the tenants. It is thus noticed that in Bombay, over 2. 2 lakh applications were filed during 1946-47 and 1948-49, under the Tenancy Act ;' majority of these applications appear to have been those by landlords. A sample study of these applications in one of the districts in Bombay showed that 83 per cent of them related to resump- tion of land by the landlord.2 Actually between 28-12-1948 and 31-3-1953, nearly 67,000 tenants in were ousted from their land by the owners, under one plea or another and more than 4,05,000 acres of land were taken back from them. This excludes 26,000 more applications from landlords which were turned down.' Largely, as a result of this, the number of protected tenants in this State declined from about 17 lakhs to 13.6 lakhs or by 20 per cent during the period between 1948 and 1951 and the area cultivated by them declined by 18 per cent.' Same was the experience in Hyderabad where the tenancy legislation was more or

1. Bulletin of the Bureau of Economics and Statistics, Government of Bombay, Oct. 1949, p. 56 2. H. B. Shivamaggi : Agrarian Reforms in Bombay State—Thesis submitted for the Ph. D. degree of the University of Bombay, 1955 (Not published), p. 344. 3. Bombay Legislative Assembly Debates, 1953—Q. No. 1102, by Shri A.M. Desai. 4. Report of the Committee on Tenancy Reforms, Planning Commission, Government of India, 1956, p. 42. EFFECTIVENESS OF PROVISION IN THE TENANCY LEGISLATION 159

less on the lines of the Bombay Tenancy Act of 1948. After 5 years of the working of the Hyderabad Act, the Hyderabad Land Commission enquired into the actual working of this measure and found that the number of protected tenants is practi- cally going down more through eviction of tenants or surrender of lands by them, than through acquiring ownership rights by tenants.5 The number of protected tenants in that State declined during the four years between 1951-55 from 2.11 lakhs to 90 thousand and the area held by them from 26.8 lakh acres to 10.9 lakh acres.6 Eviction of tenants on a similar scale were reported also from the Punjab and some other States.

It is not possible to say categorically to *hat extent these evictions were on legally justifiable grounds. But there are reasons to believe that they were consider- able in proportion. As observed above, out of the total number of applications for evicting tenants in Bombay between 1948 and 1953, nearly 30 per cent were turned down. It is not improbable that in many cases, the village records, not being always efficiently maintained, tilted the scales of justice in landlord's favour. The fairly widespread tendency among the landlords to oust the tenant on legally untenable grounds is further borne out by a recent survey of Songadh taluka of Surat district.7 According to this investigation, an analysis of the evictions in one village during a period of 5 years from 1947-48 to 1951-52 showed that almost 50 per cent of the cases studied were "false" evictions, i.e., lands, though resumed for personal cultivation, were subsequently given on lease to other tenants. The remaining cases were partly evictions for resuming land by owners for personal Cultivation and partly 'unrecorded' evictions ; the latter appear to have been largely in the nature of surrender of land by the tenants under pressure from the landlords or lands cultivated by owners for some time after resumption but subse- quently leased out to tenants without indicating this actual position in the village records. These false or unrecorded evictions were attributed to such reasons as (a) carelessness or indifference on the part of the tenant,(b) disinclination on the tenant's part to antagonise the landlord, (c) tenant's ignorance about the tenancy legislation and his feeling that the landlord has, as a birthright, absolute claim on. his land,(d) fear of losing the privilege of cultivating the land even as a tenant-at- (e) promise from the landlord that he would get better land in place of the one from which he is evicted,(f) a written agreement obtained by the landlord from the tenant that he is only a labourer, etc. Sometimes, the landlord, as a purposeful tactic, did not demand payment of rent for 3 years and then suddenly filed a suit for evicting the tenant on the ground of failure to pay rent.

It is thus obvious that the right of resumption of land for personal cultivation given to the landlord provided the main plank for eviction of the tenant by him. We may, therefore, closely scrutinize the legal provisions pertaining to resumption Of land by owners and see how far they can be improved upon to ensure better protection of tenant's interests.

5. First Report of the Hyderabad Land Commission, 1954, pp. 13-14. 6. Report of the • Committee on Tenancy Reforms, Planning Commission, Government of India, p. 42. 7. Vasant M. Mehta : The Effect of Tenancy Legislation on the Economic Conditions of }Mils of Fort Songadh Taluka—Thesis submitted for the M.Sc. (Agr.) degree of Gujarat University, 1955 (Not published), p. 189 ff. 160 THE INDIAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS

RESUMPTION OF LAND BY OWNERS

• Tenancy laws, while giving security of tenure to the tenant, have admitted the landlord's8 right to resume land, subject to certain conditions. One condition com- mon to such laws in all the States where such a provision exists is that, the land must be required by the owner for personal cultivation if he fails to cultivate it himself, the land must revert to the tenant. As for other qualifications to this right of resuming land, tenancy laws in the various States show considerable diversity. Many States, for instance, have put a statutory limit on the resumable area. This limit, however, varies between 7 acres of wet land in Orissa and 50 acres in Berar and Kutch. Another qualification placed in this regard is that the tenant must be left with a minimum area for his own subsistence. In Bombay, for instance, under the latest amendment Act, the landlord may resume land upto a maximum of 3 "economic" holdings, subject to the condition that the tenant retains half his land. In the Punjab, no tenant can be evicted from a minimum area of 5 standard acres, unless he is allotted alternative land by the State Government. Tenants in and are similarly entitled to a minimum holding or a specified portion of the holding taken by them on lease. Not all States, however, have safeguarded the tenant's interests in this manner. In some States, as in Assam and in Berar (), the landlord's claim is given priority over that of the tenant upto a specified limit, with the result that where land is below this limit, the whole area can be resumed by the owner.

But the most fundamental point in this connection which has gone against the spirit of a full-fledged tenancy reform is the definition of "personal cultivation." Though the main principle was to confine resumption of land only to bonafide cultivators, the loose definition of the term "personal cultivation" has left the door open to non-cultivating landlords to evict tenants through abuse of this clause. In the Bombay Tenancy Act, for instance, "personal cultivation" was defined as cultivation (i) by one's own labour or (ii) by the labour of any member of one's family or (iii) by servants on wages payable in cash or kind but not in crop share or, (iv) by hired labour under one's personal supervision or the personal supervision of any member of one's own family. It is too obvious that such a definition leaves wide latitude to the owner to resume land upto the ceiling limit prescribed and then to get it cultitvated by a "labourer" who is virtually a tenant. It would indeed be an interesting survey which would find out the extent of area under such "personal" cultivation by urban residents. This weakness in the law is reflected by the fact that, in Bombay, upto March 1950, nearly 17,000 landlords filed appli- cations for resuming their lands for personal cultivation. Of the 15,400 which were disposed of, as many as 9,500 or 61 per cent were decided in favour of the tenants, because they were made on untenable grounds.9 Not only has this provision thus left a loophole for evasion of law but, as will be seen subsequently, the absence of an adequate machinery to enforce the law and to supervise over its operation has offset much of the protection afforded to the tenant against eviction. So far as the legal provisions themselves are concerned, experience gained so far shows that the landlord's right to resume land is bound to defeat the purpose of tenancY reforms, unless it is qualified by some conditions on the following lines :-

8. Agrarian Reforms in - Bombay State, op. cit., p. 358. 9. Legislative Assembly Debates, Vol. 19,. Part 5, pp. 282-83 EFFECTIVENESS OF PROVISION IN THE TENANCY LEGISLATION 161

(a) Minimum Areafor the Tenants

In a number of States, as for instance Assam, Berar (Madhya Pradesh), Orissa and Hyderabad, a ceiling has been placed on the extent of land resumable by the owner, but no provision has been made to ensure that, after the resumption, the tenant is left with a minimum holding. Consequently, wherever the tenant cultivates a holding below the ceiling, he is liable to be entirely thrown out of land. To avoid such hardship to the tenant, the law may provide that, in the case of tenants who have been cultivating a holding continuously for 3 years or so and Where the owner is a non-cultivating landlord, the latter's right to resume land should be subject to the tenant's right to retain a minimum holding.

(b) Ceiling A statutory limit should be imposed on the maximum area which a landlord can resume, as has been done in many States. This ceiling, however, must be determined on the basis of an average cultivator's ability to cultivate land personally, With the prevailing technique of cultivation and in conformity with the rules of good husbandry. It is also necessary that this ceiling should not be merely an overall limit ; it should vary according to type of land, quality of soil, crops grown etc., so as to be more realistic in its objective. Furthermore, the owner's right to resume land should be operative, as in Bombay, only in cases where the income from cultivation of land is the principal source of income for maintaining his family.

(c) Time Limit for Exercising the Right of Resumption

Under the latest Bombay Tenancy Act, if the landlord required the land for Personal cultivation, he has to give notice to that effect before 31st December, 1956. In States where such immediate transfer of land is not envisaged by the law, a period of not more than two years should be specified, whereafter, if it is not resumed by the holder, the tenant should be granted full and permanent occupancy rights in the land. Such a provision would not only give security of tenure to the tenants but would be also conducive to efficient use of land from the standpoint of long-term land improvements.

(d) Demarcation of Resumable Area

If the law does not lay down any lines for demarcating the "resumable" part of land, a landlord can create difficulties for the tenant by declaring that he intends to resume the very area which the tenant is cultivating or intends to buy under the Provisions of the tenancy law. To avoid such complications, the law should Prescribe a period, preferably not more than one year, within which the landlord should declare the resumable part of his holding. In the case of land belonging to non-cultivating owners, the tenant may be given the priority of right to decide the non-resumable area.

(e) 'Personal' Cultivation

The law should define "personal cultivation" in such a way as to prevent abuse of this provision and to permit only bonafide cultivators to resume land. The 'Ian rung Commission has recommended that personal cultivation may be definpd, 162 THE INDIAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS as cultivation with the assistance of agricultural labour to the extent customary among those who cultivate their own lands. This definition is rather too broad to specifically indicate the obligations of the owner with regard to the cultivation of land. The definition, therefore, should be such as would require the land owner to continuously and actively participate in all the stages of cultivation. It may be noted in this'connection that the Agrarian Reforms Committee prescribed certain amount of manual labour as a necessary qualification of the 'personal' cultivator. Many Western economists like Prof. Ashby have expressed the view that personal cultivation implies "more than half of the total manual labour done on the land" on the part of the owner and members of his family.

The minimum requirements of 'personal cultivation,' therefore, are that (1) the owner must bear the entire cost of cultivation, (ii) he must stay near the farm during the agricultural season, and (iii) he must actively participate in all the culti- vating operations almost to the same extent as other cultivators in the village. Only such a comprehensive and precise definition of'personal' cultivation would remove the existing scope for non-cultivating owners to evict the tenant.

VOLUNTARY "SURRENDER" OF LANDS BY TENANTS 1. So far about the eviction of tenants on the ground of resumption of land by the owner for 'personal' cultivation. But wherever the landlord was not in a position to prove the bona fides of his intention to cultivate the land personally, he managed to induce the tenant to "surrender" the land. In some areas, these "surrenders" accounted for the larger extent of loss by tenants than any other single factor. A study of tenants who lost their lands in some of the villages in Bijapur district after the enactment of the Bombay Tenancy Law of 1948 showed that out of 184 such tenants, as many as 152 or nearly 82 per cent reported having surrendered their lands.'° In Hyderabad too, an enquiry showed that in 77 per cent of cases of dispossessed tenants, the tenancies were terminated as a result of surrenders."

For obvious reason, no tenant can be stopped from surrendering to the owner a holding which he does not want to cultivate. However, the Bombay Tenancy Act, as amended in 1952, provided that such a surrender should be in writing and should be verified before the Mamlatdar. Even so, this provision, as seen above, was abused by landlords more than the clause permitting them to resume land for personal cultivation, as inducing the tenant to surrender land was the least expensive and most expeditious way of getting back their land. With the social and economic power he wields in the village, the landlord could, with little difficulty, induce the tenant to resign the land in his favour. The devices usually adopted for this purpose were promise of alternative or better holding to the tenant, threat of filing a suit against the indebted tenant, promise to lease out the holding to the same tenant on reduced rent and the like. The tenants had to submit to such pressure as, very often, they were socially as well as economically too inferior in status to resist it or to take effective legal action against the landlord for ascertaining their rights.

10 Agrarian Reforms in Bombay State, op. cit., p. 358 11 Report of the Committee on Tenancy Reforms, Planning Commission, Government of India, 1956, p. 45 EFFECTIVENESS OF PROVISION IN THE TENANCY LEGISLATION 163

The main cause responsible for this widespread practice of "surrenders" was inadequate arrangements for effective supervision over the working of the tenancy law. This, again, has been aided by defective maintenance of village records on the one hand and the tenant's own ignorance about the legal protection afforded to him by the law. Before we come to these factors, we may discuss a few other major shortcomings or abuses of the provisions of the tenancy laws, so that neces- sary remedial measures could be evolved.

II

FACTORS CONTRIBUTING INDIRECTLY TO TENANT'S SECURITY OF TENURE Anything which strengthens the bargaining capacity of the tenant vis-a-vis the landlord contributes in one way or another to making the former's position more secure on land. The more important among such factors are (a) regulation of rent, (b) landlord's right to mortgage his interests in land,(c) payment of com- pensation for land improvements effected by the ejected tenant, (d) facility for purchasing land and, finally,(e) administrative help to avail of the protection given by the law. Each of these factors is briefly discussed below.

Regulation of Rent Regulation of rent contributes to security of tenure of the tenant in as much as it minimises the chances of evicting one tenant to replace him by another agreeing to pay higher rent. The Planning Commission recommended a ceiling at ith or 1/5th of the gross produce on rent payable to the landlord. A few States, e.g., Madras and Andhra, have yet to give effect to this recommendation. The case for relating rents to land revenue instead of gross produce as also for abolishing rent payments in kind, though justifiable on many grounds, is outside the purview of this paper.

Owner's Right to Mortgage Land In a few cases, landlords are known to have gone so far to circumvent legal provisions providing security of tenure to the tenant as to getting the land, presumed to be under "personal" cultivation, actually cultivated by a tenant who is shown as a mortgagee and from whom some advance money is also taken. To stop this evasive practice, mortgages with possession should be severely regulated with regard to period, rate of interest, interval between two such consecutive mortgages etc.

Compensation to Ejected Tenants If the law provides that an ejected tenant is entitled to compensation for the permanent and the unexhausted improvements effected by him, it would not only remove any reservation on the part of cultivating tenant to invest in land improve- ment but also lessen the tendency to freely eject a tenant on the part of the landlords.

Scope for Purchasing Land by Tenants Of late, provision of facilities to tenants to acquire ownership rights in land is finding a place in the tenancy legislation of an increasing number of States in India. The most progressive measure in this regard is the recent Bombay Tenancy and '164 THE INDIAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS

Agricultural Lands (Amendment) Act, 1955 whereby all tenants would become owners of land they cultivate, on 1-4-1957,(i) upto a ceiling limit prescribed in the Act, and (ii) except where the landlords have declared their intention before 31-12-56 to cultivate land personally. These tenants will be required to pay to the landlord a stipulated price for these rights, as specified in the Act. The purchase of land, however, would be ineffective if the tenant fails to pay the price of land within the prescribed period, in which case it reverts to the owner and the latter is entitled to recover rent.

An equally bold step for removing the divorce between cultivation and owner- ship has been taken by the Government of Hyderabad.12 There the right to purchase land is optional to the tenant at present but the law lays down that on a future notified date, all the cultivating tenants would become owners of land, as in Bombay. Tenants have been given the right to acquire ownership rights in land they cultivate in a few other States as in Rajasthan, Vindhya Pradesh and Pepsu ; in some States as in Mysore, the tenant cannot initiate a purchase but he has the right of pre-emption where the owner offers his land for sale.

There is no gainsaying that the step taken by Bombay is the most radical one, in as much as it does not mend the tenancy situation but ends it by ousting the rentier class. It is true that the land owning classes are also given an opportunity to cultivate their lands. All the same, it may lead to some distress in the case of some small holders who, in recent years, invested all their hard earned earnings in a small plot of land either as a dependable source of income to supplement their insignificant earnings from some urban calling or in the hope of settling on land after some years ; if the tenants acquire land from these small holders, the price the latter would get would be nominal as compared to the owner's investment. This problem of such small holders may need special consideration. Another drawback of this Act is that it expects tenants who have been living on a subsistence economy for a number of years to have the necessary finance to pay the price of the land as also to carry out necessary improvements in land or in the technique of cultivation. This drawback assumes all the more importance because a tenant who does not avail of this facility to own land is liable to ejectment. In those parts of the country where these problems present serious difficulties, an alternative course would, therefore, appear to be that of granting superior rights in land to tenants, only on the condition that they form better-farming co-operative societies. This would not only ensure efficient use of soil but also solve the problem of small cultivating units left to tenants where landlords will have exercised their right of resumption on a large scale. Incidentally, it would mean a healthy organisation of tenants which would strengthen their bargaining capacity vis-a-vis the landlord and minimise the scope for the latter to evade the law.

Whatever the methods to provide greater incentive to tenants to adopt better methods of farming, it would greatly add to their bargaining capacity if they are given opportunities (but not necessarily compelled) as also facilities to buy lands which they cultivate. This would help tenants in more favourable circumstances to move up the agricultural ladder, lessen the competition for lands among their own class and thus contribute indirectly to making the position of tenants more secure on land. 12 This as in all earlier cases relates to the position prior to the Reorganization of States. EFFECTIVENESS OF PROVISION IN THE TENANCY LEGISLATION 165

IMPLEMENTATION OF LAWS

Investigations into the working of tenancy legislation have shown that more sharm has resulted to the tenant from the failure to enforce effectively the existing laws rather than from any loopholes or short-comings in the provisions themselves. For one thing, the main burden of enforcing the measures has developed on the Mamlatdar and the Avalkarkun at the taluka headquarters, with no duly authori- sed administrative agency to attend to their effective enforcement in the village. Secondly, the village records themselves not always being up-to-date or maintained with due care, it sometimes becomes difficult to prove evasion of law by the land- lord even where he has wrongfully evicted a tenant." Thirdly, the landlord being both socially and economically more powerful has been able to take advantage of the tenant's ignorance about the law and his inability to resort to court even where he is conversant with the provisions of the Tenancy Act. It is interesting to note that, according to one investigation in this regard, even in 1952, out of the 197 tenants examined in some villages in Bijapur district, 21 per cent did not know anything about the Bombay Tenancy Act; about 61 per cent knew something about it but did not know precisely its provisions, aims and objects, while 19 per cent gave vague replies. Of the tenants examined, nearly one-half did not know whether they were protected or ordinary tenants; a large number did not bother about their status." It is not surprising that under such circumstances, the landlords managed to exploit the situation and resorted to all sorts of mal-practices for evading the law. "All along our tours" says the Report of the Committee on Tenancy Reforms (Planning Commission),"we noticed that, inspite of a new legislation in the Statute book, the old practice still obtains in the field. Tenancies continue to be governed by custom or agreement. Old rents still continue to be paid and accepted, though the law has scaled them down. . . and made the receipt of higher rent illegal."15 The same report complained of dispossession of tenants in the Punjab and Pepsu, "notwithstanding the fact that the law had provided for stay of ejectment."18 In Hyderabad, the Land Commission found that inspite of the Tenancy Act, tenants are cultivating mostly on annual basis on payment of contract or customary rent.'7 An investigation into the working of the Bombay Tenancy Act in some of the villages in Songadh taluka (Surat District) has shown that 50 per cent of the area resumed by the landlords was again leased out by them partly to new and partly to old tenants, thus defeating the provision relating to resumption of land by owners for self-cultivation.'8 A closer scrutiny of the practices resorted to by the landlord for evading the law would be helpful in devising the remedial measures for them.'° As already stated, a landlord who did not want to personally cultivate the resumed land would

13 The Effect of Tenancy Legislation on the Economic Conditions of Bhils of Fort Songadh Taluka, op. cit., pp. 51-52. 14 Agrarian Reforms in Bombay State, Op, cit., p. 358. 15 Report of the Committee on Tenancy Reforms Op. cit., p. 43. 16 lbid, p. 41A. 17 First Report of the Hyderabad Land Commission. pp. 13-14. 18 The Effect of Tenancy Legislation on the Economic Conditions of Bhils of Fort Songadh Taluka, Op. cit., p. 273. 19 Based on the Agrarian Reforms in Bombay State and the Effect of Tenancy Legisla- tion on the Economic Conditions of Bhils of Fort Songadh Taluka, Op. cit. 166 THE INDIAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS mortgage it to the cultivating tenant by taking the rent in advance as mortgage money ; the same device would also enable him to exact more than the legally permissible rent. Sometimes, the landlord got false agreements written from the tenant that he was only a labourer and thus weakened his case for seeking redress of any sort under the tenancy law. Sometimes, the landlords changed over a part of their land to some one else's name in the Government record, so that they could resume more from their leased out lands. Many landlords used the right to resume land as a handle to increase the rent from the tenant at the threat of ejectment. The clause in the Bombay Tenancy Act limiting the area resumable by the owner to "agricultural holding" was misconstrued to exclude the area already under cultivation by the landlord and thus made a ground for eviction of the tenant entirely from his land, though the total area thus coming into his posses- sion became more than the "agricultural holding."

The foregoing account shows that it is not enough to enact a good law; the problem of ensuring effective enforcement of the law is as serious as that of formu- lating the law itself. The following are a few suggestions which would help in implementing the provisions of the tenancy law more effectively than hitherto.

(a) Publicity of Tenancy Law: To begin with, the tenants have to be educated about their rights and privileges and the various safeguards provided to them under the law against eviction or exploitation by the landlord. This can best be done by bringing out small brochures in Question and Answer form and suitably illustrated, with due consideration to the fact that any literature which is too technical does not attract the villager.

(b) Written Lease: The next step would be to introduce the system of written leases, on the lines of a standard lease to be prepared for this purpose by the Govern- ment. The lease contract should specify, as stated earlier, not only rent but also the landlord's customary share, if agreed upon, in the items of farm expenditure. Experience both in the West and in some of the Eastern countries such as Japan, has shown that written leases are conducive to minimising the friction between the landlord and the tenant and safeguarding the latter's interests.

(c) Collection of Rent by State: The most effective way of preventing collec- tion of rent above the legal limit is for the State to collect it along with land revenue or, as recommended by the Planning Commission, have it collected through the Panchayat ; if necessary, the landlord may be charged a small commission for this undertaking. If the present grouse of the landlords that the tenants evade payment of rent has any basis, such an arrangement for collecting rent by the State should be welcomed by them as well.

(d) Efficient Maintenance of Village Records: The ultimate source for veri- fication of the rights and interests of landlords and tenants' interests in land are the village records. These should be maintained in such a way that they should give full particulars about the interests of the owner and the tenant on each holding, the nature and important terms of their contract, etc. They should record any' change in the situation with regard to every holding; to ensure this, periodical inspection of these records shoUld be arranged. Failure to report changes by EFFECTIVENESS OF PROVISION IN THE TENANCY LEGISLATION 167

landlords or tenants to the village official must be made liable to fine, so as to make both the parties alert in this regard.

(e) Local Administrative Agency: Finally, we come to the local agency which should undertake the responsibility for enforcing the tenancy reform together with allied measures of land reform. The present arrangements in this regard appear very inadequate. Measures taken by the Government of Japan and the Philippines to ensure efficient implementation of their land reform policies may provide useful guidance in formulating similar measures in India. In Japan, the Land Reform Law was administered by local, prefectural and national land com- missions which were bodies of elected representatives of the several interests invol- ved. The Local Commission, for instance, consisted of 10 elected members 5 representing the tenants, 2 owner farmers and 3 landlords in the village. The brunt of this administration, obviously devolved on the local committees which took the agrarian reform to 11,000 villages of Japan. The Commission's consent was necessary in all such vital matters as eviction of tenant, sale of land etc., so that the landlord could not evade the law ; any transaction or deal violating provisions of law by the landlord was not only invalid but punishable. So long as the tenant in India is not helped on these lines to resist the overpowering influence of the landlord, it is hard to enforce any law intended to safeguard the tenant's interests. A local committee of this type for each village or group of a few villages would greatly facilitate effective enforcement of such measures. The local com- mittees should be entrusted not only with the general supervision over the operation of the tenancy law but also made responsible for checking cases of evictions, surrenders, change of tenants, lease contracts, increase in rents, mortgages or sale of lands, demarcating resumable areas etc., which provide scope to the landlord for circumventing the law. Finally, any evasion of these provisions should be made punishable so as to discourage this unhealthy tendency which appears fairly Widespread among landlords.

CONCLUSION

The above is a broad outline of major loopholes and drawbacks in the tenancy legislation in the various States ; it is also an attempt to suggest some measures to overcome these shortcomings of the legislation, so as to give fuller security of tenure to the tenant and to improve his legal status. It would, however, be a serious error to believe that action along these lines alone would solve most, if not all, of our tenancy problems. Under no circumstances can tenancy legislation be taken as a final and positive step of this type. For, in the ultimate analysis, it appears that rack-renting, insecurity of tenure, and allied evils of the tenancy system are symptoms of a highly overcrowded agriculture and as such are implicit in an under-developed economy. Viewed in that wider context, the long-term solution of the tenancy problem depends on an all-round economic development of the country.