Impact of Land Reforms on Socio-economic Life of Scheduled Castes

Abstract

In India possession of a plot of agricultural land, howsoever small, carries with it high psychological and social value. It helps to raise the status of the weaker sections of the society and give them a sense of belonging to the hub of social life. Thus, the land reform programme has been rightly viewed as not only an economic development but also as a measure of social uplift. The main Socio-economic problems affecting the bulks of the Scheduled Castes population are landlessness; lack of education, forced labour, lack of
employment, low wages and the problem of child labour. In the above circumstances the
present study is mainly concentrated to know the impact of land reforms on socio-economic life of Scheduled Castes in study area. The study based on 90 respondents who got
agriculture land (patta) during 2007-2012 under land reforms in Tehsil koil of the district
Aligarh U.P. Stratified random sampling has been adopted for selection of respondents.
Proportionate number of respondent’s selected using random number table. It was found
that in rural societies, ownership of land is coterminous with social status. Its unequal
distribution reflects prevailing social stratification and helps maintain the hierarchical
structure of the society. Allotment of agricultural land to Scheduled Castes in the research
area impacted the socio-economic life positively. Scheduled Castes people are utilizing
and developing allotted agriculture land for their socio-economic development and also
health and educational development of their children.