Land reforms in India V.1 ; Bihar Institutional constraints / B. N. Yugandhar and K. Gopal Iyer

This is the first volume in a major series which studies the status of land reforms throughout the country. This volume focuses on Bihar and contains original essays by scholars, activists and administrators who have in depth knowledge of the current situation regarding land reforms in that State.

Using both field-level primary data and secondary sources such as land records, this volume focuses on three major issues: land ceiling laws; the status of tenant-cultivators; and the progress in the allotment of government lands to the poor and landless.

Examining the administrative and legal lacunae in the implementation of land re forms in Bihar, the contributors emphasise the need to mobilise the rural poor as a necessary condition for implementing land reforms. The volume provides a holistic view of the several programmes pertaining to land reforms, as also presents issues from a political economy perspective. Avoiding the use of jargon, it brings together the combined knowledge and experience of administrators, experts and activists to high light the issues from a legal, administrative and people's point of view.

This volume constitutes a landmark in the field of land reforms studies. With its admirable presentation of the ground realities, it will serve as a sound basis to initiate remedial measures. As such, students of land re forms and agrarian change, state and central government officials dealing with program mes for the rural poor, and others interested in the areas of political economy of agriculture, problems of rural development, labour and social welfare will find this book of tremendous interest.