Publication

This paper traces Indian policy towards land use and ownership from pre-independence times till 2012. It notes that ‘land reform,’ an ill-defined term, began to disappear from political platforms and policy agendas from the 1970s. The report then offers four simple explanations as to the disappearance. In dealing with each explanation, the paper exposes its inadequacy and analyzes essential features of land reform questions in India. The paper concludes that by the first decade of the 21st century, ‘land’ for various socioeconomic groups had become ‘real estate.' The authors describe it as now being a platform for people to buy, sell and build on, not a place on which to live and grow food.