©Copyright Asian Development Research Institute (ADRI) Publisher Asian Development Research Institute (ADRI) BSIDC Colony, Off Boring-Patliputra Road Patna – 800 013 (BIHAR) Phone : 0612-2265649 Fax : 0612-2267102 E-mail :
[email protected] Website : www.adriindia.org Printer The Offsetters (India) Private Limited Chhajjubagh, Patna-800001 Disclaimer This monograph may not reflect the views held by the Asian Development Research Institute (ADRI) or any of its sister concerns. Usual disclaimers apply. Preface Land and Labour have been at the core of a ‘civilised’ human existence since the very beginning. While they have provided body to various other kinds of labour (other than working on land), they have been both an instrument as well as foundation of power systems outside the body of labour itself, be it in the form of a primitive tribal community or a feudal society or a modern state. In fact, an economic formation/system and its laws of motion are explained not only by the conditions of labour, but also by an interaction of these with the other elements of the property system, amongst which the essentials of the property system in land are found to be of paramount importance. Since the inception of political economy/economic thought, there has been a near consensus on the centrality of land in facilitating the well-being through economic transformation. In particular, at the current juncture, the importance of access to land for the rural masses in ensuring a decent livelihood in most developing countries/societies is generally acknowledged throughout the academia. The first chapter of this report titled ‘Current Agrarian Situation in Bihar’ tries to bring forth this relationship between the ‘access to land’ and ‘well-being of masses’ in Bihar.