Question

Write the meaning of the land ceiling and mention its purpose.

Answer 1

Hint: Land fragmentation refers to the fact that a single farm is made up of many separate parcels that are typically spread out across a broad area. In the form of borderlands, boundary disputes, and litigation costs, it results in wasteful use of soil, money, and labour. Cultivation efficiency is significantly lowered, and land improvement is also hampered.

Complete answer:
The land ceiling acts to limit the amount of land that a single person or family can own. By 1961-62, all of India's state governments had passed land ceiling legislation. However, the ceiling restrictions differed per state. In 1971, a new land ceiling regulation was developed to bring uniformity among states.

The primary goals of the land ceiling are:
- To reduce economic, status, facilities, and opportunity disparities.
- To ensure that the functioning of the economic system does not lead to wealth concentration.
- To ensure that all citizens have access to appropriate means of subsistence.

Plantations of crops such as tea and coffee, Bhoodan Yagna Committees, registered cooperatives, and other organisations were also granted exemptions. The land ceiling also addresses surplus land acquisition and redistribution among small farmers and landless labourers. However, the progress of surplus land redistribution has been disappointing.

The failure of the land ceiling can be attributed to a number of factors, including separate ceilings for major sons, exemptions for religious and charitable institutions, Benami transfers, falsification of land deeds, judicial interventions, loopholes in-ceiling laws, non-availability of land records, inefficient administration, and a lack of political will. Other factors include the generally poor quality of excess lands and a lack of financial and institutional support to cultivate them.

Note: National guidelines were established in 1972, with ceiling limitations of 10-18 acres for finest property, 18-27 acres for second-class land, and 27-54 acres for the rest, with a somewhat higher limit in hill and desert areas. Prior to 1972, the land ceiling was based on an individual as a unit rather than a family. The family has been the unit of application for land ceilings since 1972.