Question

to what extent did the landless service castes benefit from these reforms​

Answer 1

Answer:

Land policy in India has been a major topic of government policy discussions since the time prior to Independence from British rule. The peasants of the country strongly backed the independence movement and the "Land to the Tiller" policy of the Congress Party because of the prevailing agrarian conditions. The agrarian structure during British administration emerged with a strong historical background (Baden Powel, 1974; Dutt, 1976; Appu, 1996). The land-revenue system implemented by Todar Mal during Akbar's regime can be traced as the possible beginning of systematic efforts to manage the land. This method incorporated measurement, classification and fixation of rent as its main components. Under the various pre- British regimes, land revenues collected by the state confirmed its right to land produce, and that it was the sole owner of the land. British rulers took a cue from this system and allowed the existence of noncultivating intermediaries. The existence of these parasitic intermediaries served as an economic instrument to extract high revenues (Dutt, 1947) as well as sustaining the political hold on the country. Thus at the time of Independence the agrarian structure was characterized by parasitic, rent-seeking intermediaries, different land revenue and ownership systems across regions, small numbers of land holders holding a large share of the land, a high density of tenant cultivators, many of whom had insecure tenancy, and exploitative production relations (Appu, 1996).