Tenancy and Inequality in Land Ownership in India: Evidence From Household Surveys

The institution of tenancy has the capacity to reduce rural inequality by more equitable distribution of operational holding than that of ownership holding. This paper attempts to examine the distributive implications of tenancy on the landholding pattern of farming households across Indian states, with specific focus on West Bengal. The study is based on both secondary and primary sources of data. The secondary source of information on distribution of ownership and operational holdings is exclusively based on decennial land household surveys (from 1970–71 to 2012–13) by NSSO. Due to a certain underestimation of the extent of landlessness and the extent of tenancy and inequality in ownership and operational holdings in the NSS data, a renewed attempt has also been made in this paper to shed some light on the micro-empirical aspects of the distribution of landholdings and leasing behaviour of households in the district of Burdwan, West Bengal. Empirical evidence suggests that the institution of tenancy acts as a redistributive mechanism to reduce rural inequality by making the distribution of operational holding more egalitarian than the ownership distribution. It is expected that the institutional intervention by transferring property rights would create a conducive environment for ensuring inclusive rural development.