Land Reforms Related to Land Ownership

In 1947, at the time of the independence of Pakistan, the landownership structure was badly skewed, being based on many small-scale farms and a small number of very large estates.

Twenty five percent of the total agricultural land was covered by less than one percent of the farms, which were owned by big absentee landlords who contributed little to the production, and most of their land was ignored and uncultivated. At the other extreme, only fifteen percent of agricultural land was owned by about sixty five percent of the farmers, with a holding of

even less than five acres. These two extremes generated two poles in society: one was the landlord elite with their political power, and the other was poor and uneducated farmers.

In this situation, the government recognized the need to standardize the farm size and secure the rights of landowners. For this purpose, in the land reforms of 1950s, provincial governments tried to pass a bill relating to the absentee landowners, but they had little success in the face of strong opposition and because of this, an atmosphere of uncertainty was created in the countryside and intensified the animosity between wealthy landlords and small farmers.

During the era of Ayub Khan, a special commission was formulated for the betterment of the agricultural sector, and as per recommendations of this commission, the government issued new land reform regulations in 1959. This commission suggested a maximum farm size with a ceiling of about four hundred and ninety four acres (two hundred hectares) of irrigated land and nine hundred and eighty eight acres (four hundred hectares) of non-irrigated land, for an individual owner. In the case of the small landholders, the government considered an average holding of twelve to thirteen acres (about five hectares) necessary for a family's subsistence, and if a family had about sixty acres, then that family was considered as an economically stable household. The government allowed the transfer of extra land to the family members, and because of this exemption, slightly less land was surrendered. The land reform regulations made no serious attempt to break up large estates or could not reduce the power of the landed elite. However, these reforms were helpful to reduce the poverty gap by defining upper and lower limits of the land, and by allotting more land to individuals (through parental property or by government allotment), the risk of land wastage, mismanagement, and fragmentation of farm plots was decreased.

According to the land reforms of 1972, the landownership ceiling was lowered to about twelve to thirteen acres of irrigated land and thirty acres of non-irrigated land in 1973. In the case of poor quality of land, the owner was allowed to keep more land for himself; similarly, if the owner had his own tube well and tractor, then he could claim twenty percent additional land for cultivation. The Bhutto government imposed some taxes and other charges and obtained some desirable results. Thus, in 1977, they further reduced ceilings on the private ownership of farmland to about ten acres of irrigated land and about twenty acres of non-irrigated land.

Currently, the land reforms of 1972 represent the latest regulations in Pakistan, and according to these reforms, no one can keep more than one hundred and fifty acres of irrigated

land; in the case of non-irrigated land, the limit is two hundred acres. Transfer among family members and others is allowed, but the rule of compensation charges for the landowners who surrender their extra land has been abolished (this was only pertinent in the land reforms of 1959).

5.9 Summary and Conclusion

Pakistan has adopted some legislation from the legal setup of the former subcontinent Indo-Pak. For land administration, various acts are present in Pakistani law: for example, the Transfer of Property Act 1885, Land Registration Act 1908, Land Revenue Act 1887, Stamp Act 1892, and Land Acquisition Act 1894. These laws were amended according to the needs of the newly born country and came into force just after the independence of Pakistan.

According to the Transfer of Property Act, the people are allowed to transfer their movable and immovable property to the other persons. Various conditions are defined for the person who is authorized to make such transfer. Similarly, the Land Registration Act provides the facility for the registration of the property for secure investment in the future. The Stamp Act helps to deal with legal matters in the absence of the owner through the power of attorney.

The inheritance law helps in the distribution of assets of the owner on his death.

Although this whole setup of legislation is helpful for the people, it is extremely complicated, and generally people cannot understand it. Unawareness generates many problems, especially for those landowners who are poor and illiterate. They do not know about the legal requirements and the procedures to save their rights. Similarly, the land reforms are very old and are not greatly much supportive of the farmers and landowners with small farms or those having the problematic land.

6 Do Property Rights Matter for Land Degradation? Evidence from