Agrarian Reforms

There were certain basic constraints due to which the Congress ministries could not undertake a complete overhaul of the agrarian structure by completely abolishing zamindari. These constraints were:

(i) The ministries did not have adequate powers.

(ii) There were inadequate financial resources as a lion’s share was appropriated by the Government of India.

(iii) Strategy of class adjustments was another hurdle since zamindars, etc., had to be conciliated and neutralised.

(iv) There was constraint of time since the logic of

Congress politics was confrontation and not cooperation with colonialism.

(v) War clouds had started hovering around 1938.

(vi) The reactionary second chamber (Legislative Council) dominated by landlords, moneylenders and capitalists in United Provinces, Bihar, Bombay, Madras and Assam had to be conciliated as its support was necessary for legislations.

(vii) The agrarian structure was too complex.

In spite of these constraints, the Congress ministries managed to legislate a number of laws relating to land reforms, debt relief, forest grazing fee, arrears of rent, land tenures, etc.

But most of these benefits went to statutory and occupancy tenants while sub-tenants did not gain much. Agricultural labourers did not benefit as they had not been mobilised.