Land Reforms in India: Tamil Nadu: An Unfinished Task

This is the ninth volume in a major series which studies the status of land reforms throughout the country. It focuses on Tamil Nadu and brings together contributions from scholars, activists, social workers, lawyers and administrators. The government of that state has enacted several important legislations relating to land reforms aimed at rendering social and economic justice to the rural poor. However, as the contributors of this volume document, the ground realities in Tamil Nadu remain disturbing. Widespread inequalities continue to prevail in the agrarian structure which, when combined with social rigidities, have served to keep the vast bulk of the landless poor and marginal farmers in dire straits. Critically examining the implementation of land reforms legislations, the contributors address all the major issues including land and caste, temple lands, common property resources and absentee landlordism. They show that, due to laxity in implementing legislation, resourceful landowners successfully hold on to their surplus lands using various essays explain the reasons why the provisions have not been efficacious and also suggest ways to overcome the problems. In this connection, one essay documents the success story of Land for Tiller’s Freedom (LAFTI) in Thanjavur district while another discusses the role that Panchayati Raj institutions can play in the vital battle to implement land reforms in this era of liberalization. Bringing together both field-level evidence and secondary research and given the wide range of topics covered, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of political economy, land reforms, agriculture, and rural development. It will be of equal interest to activists, NGOs and administrators engaged with the issue of land reform.