Land ceilings

♤ There are some cases where assignments on benami basis have been made.

♤ Implementing the reforms at a slow pace, in fact, failed the programme. This is because landlords transferred land to their relatives, friends etc., thereby coming under the ceiling on paper.

♤ Rise in agricultural productivity, rising land values and higher income from cultivation added to the economic strength of landlords. Substantial landowners who wield great authority in rural India are bitterly opposed to a ceiling on agricultural holdings. They are able to have their way because no serious effort has been made to organise the landless and the landed poor and enlist their support in favour of reforms.

♤ The Land Ceiling could not yield enough land to fulfil land requirement of vast population of tenants.

♤ The law provided a number of exemptions, for instance the one for sugarcane farms orchard.

♤ A large chunk of land which was recovered remains undistributed and uncultivated. In other words, where there is no return from the land and the government has already compensated those from whom it has been acquired, such land can be developed with little investment and effort.

♤ Litigation slowed the implementation of reforms.