Trajectories of land redistribution in India: a case study from Odisha

Land redistribution was one of the policy initiatives of independent India to reduce inequality between the “haves” and the “have-nots”. However, no substantial outcome was achieved, and the legislation was shelved. This paper contributes to understanding the dynamics of unsuccessful land redistribution policy, focusing on the case of Odisha. Drawing on empirical data and the politics of development, it finds that the ruling elites did not implement the land reform legislation in its true spirit. The redistribution agenda has gone missing from successive government agendas and policies, nationally and globally. This paper argues that the ruling castes continued to dominate the state, and that their conflict of interest in the redistribution of land, followed by the shifting global developmental agenda, has resulted in a failure to achieve successful redistribution. At the same time, marginalised communities remain unorganised; they have been unable to emerge as a pressure group.