History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c96.s2.41

v7.c96.s2.41

Some people took it into their heads to decide that agricultural land should belong to him who tilled it. Therefore, in Bombay and some other States legislation was enacted, first holding that he who tilled another's land for six years was to be regarded as a 'protected tenant' (i. e. practically a permanent tenant); later on the owner was prohibited from selling the land to a non-agriculturist and ultimately(by Bombay Act. LXVII of 1948, sec 32) the tenant was made the owner, being liable to pay to the original owner the price fixed by the Revenue authorities spread over twelve yearly instalments. Whatever may be the case in Zamindaris, in the Deccan and some South Indian States the Ryotwari system prevails and persons belonging to the lower middle class purchased lands at high prices (not getting more than three or four percent as rent on the money invested) as land was deemed a stable investment. The present author, having been a practising lawyer for forty-five years, knows personally thousands of village people. In many cases although four or five years have passed away, the Revenue authorities have not yet decided the prices of the lands over which ownership of erstwhile tenants has been declared. Most of the erstwhile tenants (now become owners) have not paid a pie for four years and the real owners have been robbed of the benefit to be derived from the price, if paid. Supposing Government was solicitous of increasing production by making tenants owners there is no reason why Government should not have recovered the price or instalments as a revenue demand. There is no judicial probe in the ordinary courts of law, the appeal lies only to the Govt (that means to the Collector), no owner is entitled to engage a pleader (sec 80 A) and very complicated provisions are made if the former tenant fails to pay each instalment But the present state of things is sheer spoliation and looks like robbing Peter to pay Paul and is a sample of what democracy might mean to people of the lower middle class. There is no evidence that by these measures production of food grains has greatly increased. But Congressmen are complacent because they know that in the elections the vast majority of illiterate agriculturists who are to benefit by such legislation will cast their votes in favour of 'oxen' adopted as symbol by the Congress party. Many States have introduced by legislation ceilings in land holdings, viz no man or family is to hold more then 48 acres of dry land and no more than 24 acres of irrigated land. Even agriculturists have now begun to grumble and to ask why no ceilings are placed on the accumulation of wealth, when they see rich people flaunting their wealth in cars eighteen or twenty feet in length, obstructing narrow roads and causing serious casualties²⁶⁴² Most people complain that the poor are getting poorer and the rich richer under the policies of the present Government Government is not able to hold the price line and agriculturists, workers in industries and the lower middle class are dissatisfied and there is great danger of communistic ideas spreading among the majority of the inhabitants of this ancient land, that once honoured sages Prime Minister Nehru said on the Congress manifesto for the elections of 1962²⁶⁴³ 'If the great majority of people in India for some reason or other become communists in the sense of thinking that way, it may be good or bad, I do not know, but I am quite convinced it would not be India, then it would be something else. I do not want that to happen, even though I want India to take up modern scientific techniques, scientific theories, economic theories, economic organizations. I accept all that to the extent it is good for India. It is for us to choose. I do not rule out any-thing but I rule out being uprooted from India'.