With reference to land reforms in independent India, which one of the following statements is correc

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Question

With reference to land reforms in independent India, which one of the following statements is correct?

Accepted Answer

Correct Answer: B — The major aim of land reforms was providing agricultural land to all the landlessStep-by-step Solution:Option A — Ceiling laws aimed at family holdings, not individual: This is incorrect. The unit of application of ceiling differed from state to state. In states like Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Punjab, Haryana, UP, West Bengal, MP, and Maharashtra, the ceiling was applied on the basis of an individual 'landholder.' In other states, it was applied on the basis of a 'family.' So it was NOT uniformly aimed at family holdings — individual holding ceilings also existed in many states. The 1971 policy reforms tried to standardise the approach to a family of five. ✗Option B — Major aim was to provide agricultural land to all landless: This is correct. Land Reforms in India aimed at: redistribution of ownership holdings; conferring ownership rights on tenants; providing security of tenure; fixing rents; and ultimately — providing agricultural land to the landless rural poor. The overall goal was a more equitable distribution of land ownership, ending the zamindari/feudal system, and giving cultivating peasants ownership of the land they tilled. ✓Option C — Land reforms resulted in cash crops predominating: This is incorrect. Post-independence land reforms were primarily aimed at food crop production, not cash crops. The Green Revolution (which followed land reforms) focused on wheat and rice (food grains) in Punjab, Haryana, and UP. Land reforms encouraged switching from cash crops to food crops to ensure food security. ✗Option D — Land reforms permitted no exemptions to ceiling limits: This is incorrect. Various states permitted significant exemptions to ceiling limits — including: orchards and plantation crops; land under personal cultivation; religious/charitable institutions; co-operative farms; land used for industrial purposes; efficiently managed farms. These exemptions significantly reduced the effectiveness of ceiling laws. ✗Key Concept: Land Reforms in India (post-1947): Three phases: (1) Abolition of zamindari/intermediaries (1950s) — mostly successful; (2) Tenancy reforms — security of tenure, regulated rent (1/4 to 1/5 of produce), right to purchase — partially successful; (3) Land ceiling — fixing maximum landholding, redistribution of surplus — largely unsuccessful due to loopholes, benami transfers, and political resistance. States that implemented land reforms most effectively: West Bengal (Operation Barga — crop share fixation), Kerala — achieved more equitable land distribution than most states.

With reference to land reforms in independent India, which one of the following statements is correct?

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With reference to land reforms in independent India, which one of the following statements is correct?

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