With reference to land reforms in independent India, which one of the following statements is correct?

Question

Question

This question was previously asked in

Official UPSC Civil Services Exam 2019 Prelims Part A

The ceiling laws were aimed at family holdings and not individual holdings.
The major aim of land reforms was providing agricultural land to all the landless.
It resulted in cultivation of cash crops as a predominant form of cultivation.
Land reforms permitted no exemptions to the ceiling limits.

Answer 1

The correct answer is option 2.

Key Points

Land Reform:

The major aim of land reforms was to provide agricultural land to all the landless. Hence, option 2 is correct.

Land Ceiling

It means fixing the maximum size of landholding that an individual/family can own.
The ceiling laws aimed at fixing the maximum size of land which could be owned by an individual. Land Ceiling laws were applied to family holdings as well as individual holdings. Hence, Option 1 is incorrect.
The outcome of Land reforms
- (i) abolition of intermediaries,
- (ii) fixation of ceilings on land holdings, and
- (iii) redistribution of surplus land among landless or semi-landless peasants.

Cultivation and Exemption:

Cultivation of cash crops requires much more other inputs rather than the mere availability of holdings.
Commercialization of agriculture, and not land reforms, led to an increase in the cultivation of cash crops. Hence, Option 3 is also incorrect.
Certain exemptions to the ceiling limits were allowed for plantations of crops like tea and coffee, Bhoodan Yagna Committees, registered cooperatives, and other bodies.
Certain exemptions in land reforms were permitted to the ceiling limits. Example -Exemptions for Garden Lands, Forest Land, Barren Land, etc. Hence, Option 4 is also not correct.