After India became independent, Nehru and his policy advisors embarked on a programme of planned development that focused on agrarian reform as well as industrialisation. The policymakers were responding to the dismal agricultural situation in India at that time. This was marked by low productivity, dependence on imported food grains, and the intense poverty of a large section of the rural population.

Which of the following was the first effective legislation which helped in changing the landholding patterns in Indian villages?

Abolition of the Zamindari system Abolition of raiyatwari Increase in the wages of agricultural labourers. Decrease in the rents of tenant farmers.

Abolition of the Zamindari system

The first important legislation was the abolition of the zamindari system, which removed the layer of intermediaries that 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