Mainstream WeeklyEven 78 years after independence, land ownership in villages is highly skewed. Rich farmers continue to own vast tracts of land while the small farmers possess only a negligible portion. Share of agriculture being mere 16 percent of GDP, eventually 65 percent of rural population are sustaining livelihoods in near poverty. Unless crores of landless get land and democratically participate in production process, it may not be possible to rise agricultural production, productivity and above all improve rural livelihoods. Ironically, in present neolibearal times, distribution of surplus land has not only halted but land reforms are backtracked to benefit big corporations.
Food grain production touched 35.4 cr tons and milk output to 30 crore tons thanks to our hard working farmers. Yet, land less labourers and small farmers are half starved and are dependent on food rations dolled by government. Interestingly the structure of landownership in villages did not change significantly after independence. The lion