Impact of Tenancy Reforms on Production and Income Distribution - A Case Study of Operation Barga in West Bengal

West Bengal has made a significant progress in agricultural and rural development in the recent past. Land reforms in the State is claimed to be a factor. There are others who do not subscribe to this view. Without entering into the controversy it may be pointed out that production relations are universally considered an important determinant of production and productivity. The large land owners traditionally dominated the rural scene and this was inextricably associated with the exploitative rural power structure and the social status. This was one of the basic reforms on the political agenda in the independence struggle and the West Bengal Estate Acquisition Act 1954 and the West Bengal Land Reforms Act 1956 sought to redress this constraint. Evaluations showed that in West Bengal and other states progress on this front was tardy. The situation in West Bengal, however, took a radical turn with the assumption of power by the Left Front Government in 1977. Implementation of land reforms was. placed on top of the political agenda. Remarkable success followed in terms of acquisition of surplus land and its distribution to the rural poor, especially the landless agricultural labourers. The Government of West Bengal initiated the programme called Operation Barga to record bargadars (tenants) and provide them with legal security. The programme has been a grand success in terms of the number of bargadars recorded. However, controversies and debates ensued in the late eighties about the nature and magnitude of the impact of Operation Barga on production, productivity, income, cropping pattern, cropping intensity, input use, employment, etc., on barga lands vis-a-vis non-barga lands.