Land Reforms Land Titling to Emerging Paradigms of Land Governance in India Pradeep Nayak SAGE was founded in 1965 by Sara Miller McCune to support the dissemination of usable knowledge by publishing innovative and high-quality research and teaching content. Today, we publish over 900 journals, including those of more than 400 learned societies, more than 800 new books per year, and a growing range of library products including archives, data, case studies, reports, and video. SAGE remains majority-owned by our founder, and after Sara’s lifetime will become owned by a charitable trust that secures our continued independence. Los Angeles | London | New Delhi | Singapore | Washington DC | Melbourne AdvAnce PrAise This book undertakes a critical analysis of the transformation of presumptive nature of land records and ownership to a conclusive land title regime while focusing on its legal and institutional context along with its relevance to Indian realities. The book examines the impact of the concerted policy push under the National Land Records Modernization Programme on diverse land tenure system of the coun- try by deploying a variety of primary sources to correlate it with the changing requirements of economic policy. Deploying a historically informed and politico-economy located frame, the book fills a vital gap on this subject matter and is a significant contribution in the field. —Amit Prakash Professor, Centre for the Study of Law and Governance, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India In this bold new book, a civil servant with years of experience in land governance painstakingly traces a land regime in transition. He goes past the headlines to place the shift from land reform to land titling within India’s changing politics and political economy. Concern for social jus- tice and the poor is writ large in this impassioned account as Dr Nayak interrogates who wins and who is set to lose as India liberalizes and modernizes its land regime. When much of our land economy is being regulated and irregulated in a far from transparent manner, this book is an essential reading for scholars, policymakers and the alert public to understand the inner workings of India via a vital resource. —Nikita Sud Associate Professor, Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford, UK Treading a delicate path of expositing the political economy of India’s turn away from redistributive land reforms to achieving techno- managerial efficiency through land titling, Dr Nayak, like no one else thus far, has laid bare the trappings of neoliberal designs that under- mine the pre-existing nature–society relationship of an intrinsically pluralistic people. Rich in insights, historicity and ability to decipher the fine print of the legalities in land titling, this masterly study would not only enrich our knowledge on the complex subject of land rights but would also set us thinking if the policy aims for social justice and has not fallen hostage to capital or hegemony. —Keshab Das Professor, Gujarat Institute of Development Research, Ahmedabad, India Land Reforms Land Titling to Land Reforms Land Titling to Emerging Paradigms of Land Governance in India Pradeep Nayak Copyright © Indian Institute of Advanced Study (IIAS), Shimla, 2021 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. First published in 2021 by SAGE Publications India Pvt Ltd B1/I-1 Mohan Cooperative Industrial Area Mathura Road, New Delhi 110 044, India www.sagepub.in SAGE Publications Inc Indian Institute of Advanced Study, 2455 Teller Road Rashtrapati Niwas, Shimla 171005, India Thousand Oaks, California 91320, USA SAGE Publications Ltd 1 Oliver’s Yard, 55 City Road London EC1Y 1SP, United Kingdom SAGE Publications Asia-Pacific Pte Ltd 18 Cross Street #10-10/11/12 China Square Central Singapore 048423 Published by Vivek Mehra for SAGE Publications India Pvt Ltd. Typeset in 10.5/13 pt Berkeley by AG Infographics, Delhi. Library of Congress Control Number: 2020944944 ISBN: 978-93-5388-521-2 (HB) SAGE Team: Amrita Dutta, Satvinder Kaur, Madhurima Thapa and Rajinder Kaur To my parents, Swayamprava and Swati