Impact of the abolition of Zamindari system led to which of the following?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → Removal of layer of intermediaries between cultivators and the state
Option (1) Increasing economic and political power of Zamindars — Incorrect. This is the opposite of what happened. In most areas the abolition took away the superior rights of the zamindars over the land and weakened their economic and political power, strengthening the actual landholders and cultivators instead.
Option (2) Wiped out landlordism — Incorrect. The abolition removed only the top layer of landlords in a multi-layered agrarian structure. Landlords below the zamindars kept their land, so landlordism was not wiped out.
Option (3) End of share cropping system — Incorrect. Sharecropping, where the tiller pays the landowner a share of the crop, continued in many areas after zamindari was abolished; it was a matter for the separate tenancy laws.
Option (4) Removal of layer of intermediaries between cultivators and the state — Correct. Under colonial rule the zamindars stood between the cultivators and the state, collecting revenue from the one and paying the other. The first important land reform law after Independence, the abolition of the zamindari system, removed this layer of intermediaries, and of all the land reform laws it was probably the most effective.
Note: The lines that zamindari abolition did not wipe out landlordism or the tenancy or sharecropping systems, and removed only the top layer of landlords, were there in the pre-rationalised NCERT, which NTA followed in 2023. They have been deleted from the NCERT book (2025-26), though the chapter and its account of zamindari abolition are still there.
NCERT (2025-26): “Independent India … The first important legislation was the abolition of the zamindari system, which removed the layer of intermediaries who stood between the cultivators and the state. Of all the land reform laws that were passed, this was probably the most effective, for in most areas it succeeded in taking away the superior rights of the zamindars over the land and weakening their economic and political power. This did not happen without a struggle, of course, but ultimately the effect was to strengthen the position of the actual landholders and cultivators at the local level.…” NCERT (Pre-rationalised): “…However, zamindari abolition did not wipe out landlordism or the tenancy or sharecropping systems, which continued in many areas. It only removed the top layer of landlords in the multi-layered agrarian structure.…” |