- Strategies:
- Abolition of Intermediaries: Zamindars, jaghirdars were abolished to link cultivators directly to government.
- Tenancy Reforms: Aimed to guarantee security of tenure, reduce rents, and give ownership rights to tenants.
- Ceilings on Landholdings: Defined maximum land size an individual/family could own for redistribution to landless.
- Consolidation of Land Holdings: Bringing scattered small plots into one compact block.
- Success:
- Abolition of Intermediaries: Quite successful, about two crore tenants became landowners.
- Tenancy Reforms: Met with limited success; tenancy pushed underground, tenants became ‘farm servants’.
- Ceilings on Landholdings: Met only partial success due to exemptions, benami transfers, judicial interventions.
- Consolidation: Faced obstacles like poor cultivator response, complicated process, lack of political will.
- Overall, land reforms had mixed success, with significant achievements in abolition but limitations in other areas.