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TENANCY REFORMS
or indefinite cesses. By the Amendment
Act of 1938, all kinds of illegal cesses as
codified in the original Orissa Tenancy
Act 1913, were deleted so as to make
it more purposive. Further with respect
to recovering from a landlord (by means
of a legal suit), the amount exacted by
the landlord in excess of the rent, the
Amendment Act of 1938 empowered
the Collector of the District or any
Deputy Collector on his behalf to take
action and impose on the landlord such
penalty not exceeding Rs.500/- or simple
imprisonment not exceeding six months.
Thus the amended provision incorporated
certain features for preventing collection
of illegal cesses from tenants. But
for all matters whatsoever, such as illegal
exaction, collections of exorbitant rent, a
ryot was required to move to court of law
and the financial vulnerability and powerful
influence of potential landowning
class taken together could not allow a
majority of poor tenants to realize the
fruits of legislation.
However as a result of the passing of
various Tenancy Acts, i.e. of 1881, 1885,
and in 1913, some well-to-do tenants
could also acquire hereditary rights to
occupancy ryots, and with their legally
protected right, followed the path of their
masters, and found it more profitable to
rent out the land to the under-tenants
and share-croppers who became more
tenants-at-will. They could be evicted
on short notice and virtually enjoyed no
security of tenure. Taking cognizance of
this actuality, immediately after independence,
various tenancy legislation
and subsequent amendments to them
were passed with a view to minimise
the sufferings of the tenants. A brief account
of these legal developments are
given below:
a. The Orissa Tenants’ Protection
Act of 1948
Under the Orissa Tenants Protection
Table-3: Percentage Distribution Of Lessor And Lessee Households
And Leased-in And leased-out Area By Size Class Of Land Ownership
Holdings In Rural Orissa,1991-92
Size Class Of
Ownership
Holdings(ha.)
Percentage Of
Total Lessor
Households
Percentage f
Total Tenant
Households
Percentage f
Total Leased-
In Area
Percentage of
Total Leasedout
Area
Less than1.01 63.96 89.21 89.76 29.40
1.01-2.00 25.96 6.42 5.61 51.18
2.01-4.00 7.01 3.56 4.16 11.51
4.01-10.00 2.38 0.81 0.47 3.53
Above10.00 0.69 0.00 0.00 4.38
All Sizes 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00
Sources: N.S.S. Report 48 th Round (1991-92)
Act, 1948, it was declared that notwithstanding
anything contained in the
law, contract or usage or any decree of
any court, a person who was cultivating
any land as a tenant on the first day
of September, 1947, should continue
to have the right to cultivate such land
and no landlord was legally entitled
For all matters whatsoever, such as illegal exaction, collections
of exorbitant rent, a ryot was required to move to
court of law and the financial vulnerability and powerful
influence of potential landowning class could not allow a
majority of poor tenants to realize the fruits of legislation
to evict such tenant, O.T.P Act, 1948,
Section 3 (1) (b).
Further as per the Act, tenants enjoying
occupancy rights were not bound
to pay more than one third of the gross
produce as rent to the superior ryot (c)
tenants without security of tenure were
not bound to pay more than two fifths
of the gross produce as rent to the landowners.
However this Act lost its real
purpose of protecting tenants as it allows
landowners (owning 33 acres of land) to
evict his/her tenants from land holding.
b. Orissa Tenants’ Relief Act, 1955
This Act intends to confer security of
tenure, resumption of land for personal
cultivation and regulation of rent so
as to bring relief to the oppressed and
exploited tenants. The Act defined a
tenant a person who under the system
commonly known as Bhag, Sanjha, Kata
or such similar terms under any other
system, law, contract, custom, or usage
cultivated the land of another person on
payment of rent in cash or in kind or
in both or on condition of delivering to
THE INDIA ECONOMY REVIEW
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