Tenancy and Interlinkages in Rural West Bengal:NIE Perspective

A revival public interest in tenancy reforms has been witnessed in recent years. Tenancy continues to be a problem in modern agriculture characterized by insecurity of tenure. Tenancy is an institution which has been characterized by both pre-dated and post-dated feudalism. Since the efficient production and active participation of people in economic activities depend on various institutional frameworks, the New Institutional Economics (NIE) incorporates ‘institutions’ as an important constraint for economic growth and development. So, the various reforms in institution provide an efficient relationship between tenants and landlords. Land reform provides a sense of social security i.e. permanent and heritable right to cultivation to the tenants in Rural West Bengal. Besides, the changing tenancy relations in West Bengal are the outcomes of organization and their mobilization. However, the weaker tenants get exploited as landlords keep in their mind that a better rent might be come from owner-cum-tenants who have some experiences over land rather than landless tenants. The relation between landowner and tenants is somehow a regulation by which their behaviour and expectations reflect. Institutional arrangement drives as an agents’ Individual choice and collective-choice process by a community under New Institutional Economics (NIE).